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Article

5 Sep 2017

Author:
Gregory Wallace, CNN

Industrial pollution spikes in Harvey's wake

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Texas' dominant energy industry has spewed millions of pounds of pollution into the air in the wake of Hurricane Harvey... Experts say the quantities of pollution are massive and are steadily rising as the oil and gas industries perform the pollution-intensive process of restarting operations that were halted by the storm. That process requires a greater than normal amount of "flaring" -- the burning off of gas byproducts... "We're concerned about these (emissions), but also about what's not reported," said Cyrus Reed, the conservation director at the Sierra Club in Texas... Public health experts expressed concerns about the health implications for people in the region and say the affects are already being noticed... [We're] seeing concentrations higher than anything recorded "in over a decade... the Houston area has seen six months' worth of pollution in a few days," said Elena Craft, a senior toxicologist at the Environmental Defense Fund... Authorities said they are monitoring an additional toxic concern in the region hit by Harvey: superfund sites... "These waters are filled both with chemicals, with waste and things like that, that can pose real health hazards," [according to Governor Abbott].