Air Pollution

Breath Easy: Cleaner Burning Diesel

In 2001, PRW co-released a report with Public Citizen on the health impact of pollution from diesel engines. These include high levels of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, as well as fine particles linked to increased risk of heart failure and carcinogens. This research helped convince the Texas Department of Transportation and the Austin Independent School District to switch their fleets to cleaner-burning fuels.

Follow the Money: Air Pollution and Campaign Contributions

For thirty years the Grandfather Loophole in the Clean Air Act of 1971 exempted many older polluting facilities from installing modern pollution control devices. In 1999 Public Research Works issued its first major research report on the political contributions of the top 100 companies with “grandfathered” air emissions.

PRW discovered that the Political Action Committees (PACs), lobbyists and industry associations made more that $10 million in political expenditures from 1993 to 1998. Sitting Texas state legislators, the Governor and Lt. Governor had received more than $4.6 million in direct campaign contributions during this period.

PRW set up a searchable database on the Web of campaign contributions to Texas politicians. PRW also tracked the contributions to the Presidential candidates in the 2000 elections. This research garnered coverage in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Newsweek, Time, National Public Radio, MSNBC, The Toronto Star, and television broadcasts from Japan, the United Kingdom, and Belgium. The Grandfather Loophole in the Texas Clean Air Act was closed by the state legislature in May 2001.

E-Waste Focus

Advocating for E-Waste Solutions

PRW co-released a toolkit in 2006 with its sister organization, Texas Campaign for the Environment outlining the benefits of producer takeback recycling for local governments. It is titled “Toolkit for Passing Electronic Waste Producer TakeBack Recycling Resolutions in Texas.” It was distributed to household hazardous waste managers at their quarterly meeting at the TCEQ headquarters and to local activists and local government officials. Over a dozen local governments in Texas have passed resolutions in favor of producer takeback recycling for electronic waste.

Mother's Milk: Flame Retardants and Green Chemistry

In 2003, PRW assisted in research projects which found toxic fire retardants used in electronics and other consumer products in the breast milk of every American woman tested. Generally, the levels of these chemicals were 10 to 100 times the levels of European women.  Research released by PRW helped convince the U.S. EPA to reach a voluntary agreement with the manufacturer to phase out some of these fire retardants.

Poison PCs and Toxic TVs

In 2004 PRW assisted in the travel of youth activists to Portland, OR. to participate in a demonstration at the final meeting of the National Electronics Products Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI). The demonstration was part of our pressure on NEPSI partners to oppose efforts by IBM to place the costs of electronic waste recycling on taxpayers. In Portland, the national Computer TakeBack Campaign (now the Electronics TakeBack Coalition) released a national report “Poison PCs and Toxic TVs,” which documented the extent, the environmental impact and cost of the electronic waste problem nationally and in Oregon. The demonstration and report released were covered by radio media, including the statewide National Public Radio station in Oregon.

General Issues

Citizen's Compaints: Is Anybody Listening?

For decades environmental advocates have championed the Right to Know as a basic cornerstone principle. PRW extended that idea to the public's right to know about citizen pollution complaints. In 2000, PRW issued a groundbreaking study of citizen pollution complaints that had been filed with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ) between 1996 through 1999. We also decided to put the database of 35,000 records in a searchable format on the Web.

PRW also developed a number of case studies from around the state.  These detailed case studies indicated that many complaints were never recorded by the agency and that some staff actively discouraged the public from filing complaints. Furthermore, evidence showed that staff often overlooks serious problems and failed to enforce environmental laws when clear violations existed.

“We as land owners complain, we file complaints, and it disappears down a black hole. You get no feedback, nobody will tell you anything, and you get stonewalled.”
-Charles Markhum, testimony to the Texas Senate Natural Resources Committee 2001

The outpouring of community dissatisfaction and PRW’s report convinced policy-makers and the TCEQ to adopt reforms. The agency has since:
• Put information on its own website about the complaint process, including the toll-free complaint number
• Allowed complaints to be filed by email
• Developed an informational brochure for citizens about filing complaints
• Adopted procedures to respond to complaints after business hours
• Accepted credible citizen-gathered information for enforcement action
• Issued annual reports on citizen pollution complaints
• Made the complaint data available on its website on a real-time basis

Landfills and Recycling Focus

Stronger Landfill Rules to Stop the Trashing of Texas

In 2006, PRW co-released a report comparing the rules for trash facilities in Texas with the standards in other states and with the standards for other major polluting facilities regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The report was titled “Texas Trash Rules Matter: Why Stronger Rules are Needed for Super-sized Landfill to Stop the Trashing of Texas.” It was released at a press conference in Dallas with the cooperation of residents near proposed landfills. The report garnered excellent television and print coverage in the Dallas area and was the catalyst for print stories in other major daily newspapers such as The Houston Chronicle and The Austin American Statesman.