SOS and 20 others ask EPA to strip Texas’ environmental agency of its water pollution management authority

SOS Alliance and 20 other conservation groups filed a formal, 40-page petition asking the U.S. EPA to revoke the authority of Texas’ environmental agency, the TCEQ, to approve permits authorizing the discharge of pollutants into public waters.  The request to either revoke or force TCEQ to fix its water pollution control powers rests largely on TCEQ’s chronic and systemic failure to prevent degradation of Texas waters, as required by the Clean Water Act. 
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TCEQ’s approval of a permit allowing Dripping Springs to discharge up to 822,500 gallons per day of treated sewage into Onion Creek, which SOS had thrown out by a Travis County District Judge, is one of several examples cited in the petition where TCEQ ignored mandatory Clean Water Act standards in reviewing pollution discharge requests.  Read our press release and the complete petition and/or watch yesterday’s press conference here. Read the San Antonio Express-News coverage, quoting SOS attorney Kelly Davis, here.  ​

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