Retirees give ‘other side’ of emissions story

TEXAS CITY — They’ve read the media reports, seen the long lines of people wanting to meet with lawyers, and they’ve seen the barrage of ads from plaintiffs’ attorneys. What Texas City residents Jose Boix and Jack Cross claim is that the community hasn’t really seen or heard the other side of the story about air quality and industry emissions.

“We feel that based on the news reports and what these law firms are saying a lot of the people joining these lawsuits truly feel that they may have been exposed to unsafe concentrations of benzene,” the two men said in a joint statement. “Our reason for speaking out is that these lawsuits are unprincipled and do much harm to the image of a good community.”

Community Group Support

Boix and Cross are members of the Texas City-La Marque Community Advisory Council. It’s an industry-friendly collection of residents and representatives of the local petrochemical representatives.

The group meets quarterly to discuss industry matters, including reviewing annual air quality reports compiled by the Galveston County Health District, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the company contracted to operate and maintain most of the nine air quality monitors that are in the city.

Two weeks ago the council’s nonindustry members, mostly in response to a recent 40-day emissions event at BP’s Texas City refinery that sent more than 500,000 pounds of chemicals into the air, approved having Boix and Cross make public its latest results of air quality studies.

“The CAC works to provide our communities with factual information about issues impacting us, including air quality issues,” Boix said. “Whether they show improvement over time or have changed to be a potential impact to human health or the environment. And based on the current data available to us from the community monitors, our air quality is well below the state TCEQ benchmarks and has had a downward trend for years.”

Industry Defense Tour

Cross recently took his defense on the road with a presentation to the city commission, while Boix and Cross are scheduled to make their presentation again at the St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Men’s Club on Wednesday.

Part of that presentation is a copy of the air quality report created by URS Corp., the firm hired to monitor and maintains the air quality monitors in Texas City.

While they don’t have any other presentations scheduled, the men said they would make the presentation to any group that asks.

Petrochemical Background

The two men don’t come at their staunch defense of industry as outsiders. Both men worked for decades within the petrochemical industry.

Cross worked 34 years for Monsanto and Sterling Chemical as an operator, noting that he worked around benzene for almost his entire career.

Boix worked 34 years for Monsanto as well at operation facilities across the globe, including in Great Britain and Spain. He also served 11 years as a member of the Texas Chemical Council and authored a report on the use and design of emergency flare systems.

The sources of the BP emissions event between April 6 and May 16 were two flares that were needed after a sub unit on the refinery’s ultracracker unit went offline.

While the two men are active members of the Community Advisory Council — Boix serves as the group’s facilitator — they note that outside of the air emissions report, their comments are theirs and not the council’s.

Perception Vs. Enforcement

While the men defend industry’s overall air quality performance, they do not take issue with recent enforcement actions slapped against BP for the air emissions event.

“Regulations and enforcement are not part of the mission of the CAC,” Boix said. “However, we do ask for explanations from the responsible parties and assurances that the air quality in the community has not exceeded the protective benchmark.

“If violations are happening, of course they should be enforced and printed in the press.”

While not arguing something happened at BP, Cross and Boix are quick to point out, “The CAC has seen no evidence that emissions in the community have increased, and in fact they have been well below the health-based levels for years.”

Conditions Improving

They also make an argument that the numbers of reportable emission events have decreased significantly.

According to data Boix gathered from the TCEQ, the number of emission events at Texas City facilities — including some nonheavy industry sites — dropped from 385 in 2004 to 165 in 2009.

This year, there have been 51 reportable emission events at Texas City facilities — including BP’s 40-day-long event, Boix claims.

Actually, according to state data, there were only 36 events classified as emission events since January. There were 15 reported maintenance events or unit startups or shutdowns that resulted in some sort of emissions, but many were at levels below state required reportable standards.

State Standards Criticized

Even so, the use of state data comes under fire from environmental groups that argue the Texas standard of self-reporting is flawed.

Paul Rosenfeld, an environmental chemist and lecturer with the University of California at Los Angeles School

of Public Health and author of “Best Practices in the Petroleum Industry,” claims petrochemical facilities drastically under report their emissions. Rosenfeld’s firm recently was retained to provide research on behalf of the plaintiff’s attorneys suing BP about its emissions event in April and May.

Luke Metzger the director of Environment Texas said the TCEQ’s reliance on self-reporting is a major flaw in the system.

Those Suing Give

community a ‘black eye’

Boix and Cross stand behind the figures and their assertions that overall air quality in the community is safe.

“What the lawyers are saying about high levels of benzene and the data and presentations we and other CAC members have seen just don’t square,” Box said.

“(The lawsuits) undermine everything citizens, city government, the chamber and economic development corporations do to promote the communities of Texas City and La Marque as a good place to live, work and do business,” Boix said. “These stories travel nationwide and, unfairly and void of any supportive facts, give our communities a black eye.”

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At A Glance

WHAT: Air Quality in Texas City presentation

WHO: Members of the Texas City-La Marque Community Advisory Council

WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Our Lady of Fatima Kukral Hall, 1600 Palmer in Texas City

MORE ON THE WEB: Review latest report from URS Corporation on air quality in Texas City