THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Even today, more than five years later, residents still talk about the fire. The chemical facility burned for three days, leaked toxic runoff into the waterways, forced schools and businesses to close and prompted a shelter-in-place order for everyone in Deer Park — a city just southeast of Houston in Texas’ crowded petrochemical corridor.

Eventually, after a thick layer of pollution covered the area for days, residents learned that a tank at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. had erupted in flames and that employees had been unable to contain it. Following the event, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent and nonregulatory federal agency, opened an investigation, finding that a lack of proper safeguards, among other issues, was to blame.

Numerous companies announced at a prominent energy conference in March that they will invest more heavily in oil and gas, scaling back past commitments to renewables. The news has drawn criticism from environmental advocates.

More than 25 major consumer brands and petrochemicals have been traced to fracking in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s ‘carbon bombs’.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS

HOUSTON — Climate activists expressed concern that discussions behind closed doors at the nation’s largest energy conference, CERAWeek by S&P Global, will further contribute to environmental health risks.

As energy executives and political leaders across the nation convened for the conference in Houston, Texas this week to discuss the future of energy, representatives from the Gulf Coast, Rio Grande Valley, Ohio River Valley, and Cancer Alley highlighted the fossil fuel industry's impact in their communities.

The Guardian

At a major oil and gas conference in Texas this week, companies publicly retreated from their flashy climate pledges of years past, redoubling their commitment to planet-warming fossil fuels.

The withdrawals illustrate the companies’ allegiance not to ordinary Americans, but to their shareholders and the climate-skeptical Trump administration, advocates said.

“We didn’t necessarily feel that those climate goals were really being done in a sincere, earnest way in the first place,” said Shiv Srivastava, an organizer and policy researcher with the Houston-based environmental justice organization Fenceline Watch. “It’s bad that they’re walking them back, but the problem was always that they could choose to walk them back if they wanted.”

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Hundreds gathered in downtown Houston’s Discovery Green Park Sunday to protest oil and gas company executives attending the upcoming CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.  

The community-focused climate justice event, “Sunday for the Future,” drew people from around the state and country for free music, food and workshops, with the goal of educating attendees on the role large energy companies play in Houston’s ongoing struggle with climate disasters. Sunday’s gathering kicked off a week of activism events planned by Future Generations in response to CERA Week, including a rally and march in downtown Houston on Monday. 

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS

HOUSTON — It was just after noon on August 26, 2024, when Shiv Srivastava recorded the skyline of Houston’s East End while an industrial flare from TPC Group roared in the distance after power loss.

Srivastava is the policy director at Fenceline Watch, an environmental nonprofit based in Houston’s East End. As the cloud of black smoke expanded over the downtown skyline, he worked with Yvette Arellano, Fenceline Watch’s executive director, to research air quality updates to share with community members on social media. It was not the first time they responded to air pollution problems like this one.

EXXONKNEWS

Yvette speaks about the health implications living along the Houston Ship Channel caused by the Petrochemical facilities, with majority of communities being low income and people of color.

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Environmental activists rallied, shouted and sang at a "Festival for People & Planet" Monday to protest CERAWeek by S&P Global and actions by top oil and gas company executives attending the annual conference to talk growth in the energy industry. 

JUST SOLUTIONS

Fenceline Watch Executive Director Yvette Arellano & Policy Director Shiv Srivastava discuss key areas of concern for communities when it comes to hydrogen.

In January 2024, Just Solutions' Research Collaborative released the Hydrogen Environmental Justice Framework to highlight the environmental justice concerns of hydrogen technologies. As federal policies provide record-breaking funding for this technology, it is essential that EJ communities are protected and we understand the technology and its potential impacts. This webinar will review the Hydrogen Environmental Justice Framework as a tool to ensure that hydrogen energy production engages in equitable practices and advances environmental justice in the communities where hydrogen energy facilities will be located. We will discuss key areas of concern for communities when it comes to hydrogen as well as advocacy opportunities to leverage the collective voice. In this installment of our hydrogen series, we delve into the key EJ principles that should be evaluated for hydrogen technologies outlined by environmental justice advocates. The webinar will also feature a dedicated Q&A session.

The transportation sector accounts for nearly 10% of workers in the US and is the largest contributor of US greenhouse gas emissions. And whether we're talking about motor vehicles and highways, mass transit, railroads, or school buses, it is workers, frontline communities, and our climate that are thrown into crisis by corporate greed. At the same time, a sole focus on electric vehicles won't solve the climate or frontline pollution crises, nor guarantee good union jobs, nor prevent toxic derailments.

CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS

Fenceline Watch Founder & Director Yvette Arellano, was recognized by the second annual Environmental Leader Awards, an independent project administratively supported by the Center for Rural Affairs.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NEWS

Fenceline Watch attends Exxon Mobil’s permit renewal in Baytown. Policy Director Shiv Srivastava comments on the permit renewal stating “your zip code should not determine whether or not you get cancer.”

The Shell Deer Park Chemicals facility disaster that occurred on May 5th, and is still ongoing, is a disgraceful event that lays bare Shell’s disregard for public safety and health. This disaster is simply the most recent disaster in a pattern of safety violations that put the surrounding neighborhoods and fenceline communities in Deer Park, Houston, and surrounding areas in harm's way.