"EPA Showdown: Who in Texas Wants Tighter Refinery Regulation?"

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will set up its microphones for an all day hearing Tuesday in Galena Park, a community on Houston’s east side in the heart of the enormous Houston Ship Channel refinery complex. It’s the second of two such hearings with the first held last month in a similar community in Los Angeles.

At issue: new EPA rules that would make oil refineries invest in better equipment to reduce pollution emissions from storage tanks and to improve the efficiency of flares that burn emissions during plant “upsets”. Refineries would also have to increase fence-line monitoring to track exactly what pollution is blowing into adjacent communities.

The EPA says complying with the new requirements will cost refineries an estimated $240 million and would have a “negligible impact” on the price of gasoline and other products. The industry says the new rules will cost “billions” and aren’t needed."

Dave Fehling reports for StateImpact Texas on NPR August 4, 2014.