Air Texans Breathe Being Polluted by ‘Accident’

Texas is turning a blind eye as state refineries and industrial plants spew millions of pounds of “accidental” pollution each year, a new report charges.

The pollution is hitting the communities of Corpus Christi and Port Arthur particularly hard, where refineries operated by San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp., Flint Hills Resources, Motiva Enterprises, BASF Corp. and TOTAL Petrochemicals were cited as being among the biggest offenders, according to the report by the Washington-based Public Citizen advocacy group.

At issue are events called “upset pollution” — theoretically unavoidable incidents where facilities have to burn off chemicals, typically during start-up, shutdown, maintenance or mechanical malfunction.

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