1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Drilled. 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:04,800 Speaker 2: I'm Amy Westervelt. 3 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: This week we're thrilled to be re publishing a series 4 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: on our site from the Xylum, about a small town 5 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: in Texas that happens to be the country's top boil 6 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: export hub. It wasn't always that way. About ten years ago, 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: residents bought houses next to a naval base. Maybe not ideal, 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: but they could get a house near the ocean in 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: an affluent, sleepy community. Then the naval base shut down, 10 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: the export terminals took over, and this predominantly white, conservative, 11 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: affluent town became a fence line community. Alex Ip, who 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: reported and wrote the series, is here to tell us more. 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 3: Hi. My name is alex Ipp. I'm the founder, publisher 14 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 3: and editor of The Zilo. 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 2: I would love to hear, Alex how you first stumbled 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 2: across this town, because it has so many standout, weird 17 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 2: little facts about it, and I'm like, ho, have I 18 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 2: never heard of this place? 19 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 3: Yes? So I have to thank the Society for Environmental Journalists, 20 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 3: which I am a member, and also the Institute for 21 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 3: Journalism and Natural Resources. They organized a post conference tour 22 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 3: in SDJ twenty twenty two, which was in Houston at 23 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 3: the time, and I was invited to participate in the 24 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 3: strip along with a number of other journalists to go 25 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 3: down to South Texas to the Texas Coastal Bend, which 26 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 3: is where Corpus Christie is, and also to surrounding towns 27 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 3: and as villagists. So we wanted to understand what are 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 3: some environmental challenges facing this part of the country where 29 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 3: there's a lot of oil and gas activity. So this 30 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 3: little town that we're talking about is Ingleside on the 31 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 3: Bay in Texas. This town has around six hundred and 32 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 3: fourteen people has the last census, and it is a 33 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 3: reasonably wealthy town in South Texas. 34 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 2: It has the. 35 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 3: Second highest home prices within the Corpus Christi metro area. 36 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 3: It has access to Corpus Christie Bay, which is one 37 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 3: of the larger bays that connects to the Gulf of Mexico. 38 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 3: It is also a town that's really white. Census data 39 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 3: shows that roughly eighty five percent of their residents are white. 40 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 3: It is also quite a conservative town. It voted for 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 3: Trump for a margin of over fifty points in the 42 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 3: last three presidential elections. But what is also really interesting 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 3: about Ingleside on the Bay is that it is located 44 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 3: in close proximity to free crude oil export aminals. So 45 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 3: when you know America drills oil, a lot of the 46 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 3: oil it exports to various countries. So in order to 47 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 3: have the oil get from the oil fields to other countries, 48 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 3: you have to use pipelines to send them to where 49 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 3: it meets the ocean, where it gets loads up into 50 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 3: oil tankers and then they go their way to different countries. 51 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 3: Angleside On the Bay has two of the largest crude 52 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 3: oil export terminals in the entire US. 53 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 2: It has the. 54 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 3: Single largest crude oil export terminal in the US. It 55 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 3: has the second largest crude oil export terminal in the US. 56 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 3: There used to be a third one, but it got 57 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 3: purchased by the biggest one, so now there's only two left. 58 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 3: In effect, based on what we can estimate, half of 59 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 3: US's crude oil export industry is found in this little 60 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 3: town and residents live less than two miles and in 61 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 3: certain places, maybe you know, half a mile away from 62 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 3: crude oil export terminals where these oil tankers just come 63 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 3: in and out, in and out, and they load oil 64 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 3: and sometimes there are accidents. Sometimes there are incidents and 65 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 3: residents have to deal with it on a daily basis. 66 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 2: I think the thing that struck me most about this 67 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 2: story when you first were talking to me about it, 68 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: is that this is not maybe the type of community 69 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 2: we often think of or see when we're talking about 70 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 2: frontline community. So this is a pretty affluent, pretty white town, 71 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 2: and they are a fence line community. I'm curious what 72 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: you found when you talk to people, like, how do 73 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 2: they view themselves in comparison to other fence line communities. 74 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 2: Are some of these people folks who have maybe voted 75 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 2: for policies that they're now being negatively impacted by. 76 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, So I do want to add a caveat that 77 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 3: I never asked directly any of the sources that I 78 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 3: talk to, you know, what political party they identify? 79 00:04:58,000 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 2: Who did you vote for? 80 00:04:59,320 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 4: No? 81 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 3: I can ask them because this is not an issue 82 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 3: that belongs to one political party or not. This transcends 83 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 3: political boundaries because you can just observe the impact that 84 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 3: they're facing on a day to day basis. It doesn't 85 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,239 Speaker 3: care whether you belong to a political party or another 86 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 3: political party, or you don't believe in political parties at all. 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 3: One thing I did notice was a lot of residents 88 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 3: moved in about ten years ago. That's when the home 89 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 3: prices started increasing. A lot of them weren't really aware 90 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 3: of what was happening because the place where all these 91 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 3: crewed export terminals used to be was a naval station, 92 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 3: but people just sort of live with it. There are 93 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 3: drawbacks to being next to a naval station, but that 94 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 3: people lived with it. There's a lot of people who 95 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 3: used to be related to, you know, the military communities, 96 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 3: and now this former naval base has in your life 97 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 3: as a crude or export terminal. And these residents were 98 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 3: sort of just thinking about retiring, thinking about having a 99 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 3: good time. Wanted to go fish, they wanted to go 100 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 3: eat seafood, They want to just do hang out, do 101 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 3: their thing, and now they're realizing that this is no 102 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 3: longer something they can do on a day to day basis, 103 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 3: and they are upset about this. There are shocked, I 104 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 3: would say, they couldn't really figure out why this would 105 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 3: happen to them, But this is also something that they 106 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 3: are determined to put a stop to. So they are 107 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 3: organizing not just within their little town, but also organizing 108 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 3: with various groups across the coastal band, across the Corpus 109 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 3: Christi metro area that has different racial backgrounds, different ethnicities, 110 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 3: different income backgrounds, different political leanings. They realize that the 111 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 3: best way to respond to these challenges is to work 112 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 3: together with groups who might have, you know, different ideas 113 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 3: of how to do it, but they have a same 114 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 3: ultimate goal of making sure that there's good regulations on 115 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 3: the crude altern criminals and also to maybe just stop 116 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 3: them wherever they can. 117 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 2: That's super interesting for some of these people. This is 118 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 2: maybe their first time organizing, right, what's their experience with 119 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 2: having to organize and being in a situation where, you know, 120 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 2: the local government, the state government, et cetera, is not 121 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 2: necessarily on their side. 122 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 3: Yes, So one thing I would say for this town 123 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 3: Ingleside on the Bay is residents do recognize some of 124 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 3: the connections and privileges they have, and so they're able to, 125 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 3: for example, apply for various philanthropic funding that could help 126 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 3: support the work they've been doing. They realize that they 127 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 3: need to show up in numbers. That's why they show 128 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 3: up to various public meetings hearings, and they also try 129 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 3: to coordinate a message. They want to coordinate with a 130 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 3: simple message that they can remember from the top of 131 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 3: their head and they could just speak clearly about what 132 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 3: their demands are and what they are not happy about. 133 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 3: What I also noticed is for a lot of these folks, 134 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 3: some of their educational background helps, or some of their 135 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 3: previous business background helps, and it's trying to figure out 136 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 3: how in this stage of their lives they're trying to 137 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 3: look out for their kids and their grandkids, and how 138 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 3: can they use the remaining time that they're around the 139 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 3: town or the energy that they have to put it 140 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 3: to a purpose that they think that could benefit the 141 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 3: people around them. 142 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 2: Right, that makes sense. What are the sorts of things 143 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 2: that people are dealing with as a result of having 144 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 2: these facilities nearby. What are some of the daily things 145 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 2: that they are having to deal with. I know you 146 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 2: mentioned accidents and incidents before, but what do those look 147 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 2: like and what's the experience like for these people. 148 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 3: Yes, So, in a span of a year and a week, 149 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 3: there were two oil spills that happened right next to 150 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 3: Ingleside on the day. And this doesn't just affect go 151 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 3: side on the Bay obviously, because when you have an 152 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 3: oil spill, there are chemicals that are in the air, 153 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 3: there are chemicals that are in the water, and it spreads. 154 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 3: And so what residents have described through you know, the 155 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 3: public social media posts or through conversations that I have 156 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 3: with them or when they're testifying publicly, is that everything 157 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 3: from you know, they're feeling really nauseous. They can't you 158 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 3: open the doors, open the windows. They notice that, you know, 159 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 3: fish have been dying, crabs have been dying. They can't 160 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 3: fish as much as they did anymore. Their pets are 161 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 3: going insane because pets also can smell what's in the air, 162 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 3: or they can feel that something's not right, and in 163 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 3: certain cases, certain residents report that they have asthma. Now, 164 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 3: while I am not able to establish, you know, a 165 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 3: cause a relationship between these facilities and their asthma, these 166 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 3: residents do say that they have never had asthma or 167 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 3: health issue before moving to Ingleside on the Bay. One 168 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 3: thing that also is a big point of anger of 169 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 3: these residents is that they bought these homes to be 170 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 3: by the bay. That's what Ingleside on the Bay is about, 171 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 3: and they found that it is getting harder and harder 172 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 3: for them to do recreational activities or fishing, simply because 173 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 3: there's a lot of oil tankers going around there's a 174 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 3: lot of dredging to deepen the channel, and they're concerned 175 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 3: that this prevents them from physically accessing a lot of 176 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 3: these spaces that they can do such activities. And finally, 177 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 3: you know, residents are concerned of a future risk of 178 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 3: their home prices getting lowered. 179 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 2: Okay, let's have you set up the TCEQ hearing. 180 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 3: So the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which residents commonly 181 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 3: refer to as TCQ, they're supposed to have a regulatory 182 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,679 Speaker 3: process before they issue a state permit for Clean Air 183 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 3: Acts or other federal laws. So in this case, in 184 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 3: January twenty twenty four, they had a notice in comment 185 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 3: hearing where representatives from Enbridge, the Canadian oil and gas 186 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 3: company that's trying to get the permit renewed for five years, 187 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 3: get to speak to residents and also with other concerned citizens, advocates, 188 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 3: elected officials, and collects public comments. TCQ did in February 189 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:41,080 Speaker 3: greenlit the permit renewal. So this was a view of 190 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 3: the process of how it happened. 191 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 2: Thank you. 192 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 4: My name is Lynn Porter. 193 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 3: I live on Engle Side. 194 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 4: On the day, I am approximately a half a mile 195 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 4: from your wonderful facility. You just talked about vapor relief. 196 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 4: I know there's vapor release. I see it, I smell it. 197 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 4: I have to stay inside. 198 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 3: I'd like to thank you. 199 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,479 Speaker 4: And then now at sixty three, I have two inhalers 200 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 4: that I have to have never had them before until 201 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 4: three years ago when I lived on the bay and 202 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 4: I am a runner, so luve should be pretty good. 203 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 4: My main concern is CCQ. 204 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 3: There are five. 205 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 4: Hundred elementary children from three to six one point six 206 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 4: miles from this and I know where those vapors, so 207 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 4: the wind takes them. There is no monitor by that school. 208 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 4: Why that should be in the permit. There is no 209 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,719 Speaker 4: monitor at any of our schools. 210 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 2: I was really struck by this woman who has been 211 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 2: a runner of her whole life. You know, still wants 212 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 2: to run every day, but she's now having health issues 213 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 2: because the air quality is so bad. I'm just curious 214 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 2: if you heard that from multiple people, and what kind 215 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 2: of daily annoyances people are having just from being exposed 216 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 2: to all these little organic compounds in the air too. 217 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, so not just phototile organic compounds, but when the 218 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 3: oil spills happen, right, there were just yellow clumps of 219 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 3: stuff that's on the shore that's not being cleaned, and 220 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 3: residents have sent me photos of those clumps of oil. 221 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 3: So there are two layers to this. The one thing 222 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 3: is that it's very annoying nauseous to inhale this on 223 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 3: a daily basis, or to walk through the oil spills 224 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 3: whenever they happen. The other thing that residents are concerned 225 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 3: about is they don't know what's really in the air, 226 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 3: or they don't feel like they have the knowledge or 227 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 3: don't know how to fully understand this. And that's a 228 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 3: hard thing knowledge that they don't know what's really in there. 229 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 3: The uncertainty of what am I inhaling on a daily basis, 230 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 3: what is there in the world or what's on the shore. 231 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 3: They don't really know, and I think that adds to 232 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 3: the stress that residents have living in Ingoside on the Bay. 233 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 2: Where do things stand right now for this community and 234 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 2: what kinds of things are they hoping to get done? 235 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 2: Where are they at now in their fight? 236 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, So two of the US's largest crude oil export 237 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 3: terminals are located right next to Ingleside on the Bay. 238 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 3: Not only that, there's been a plan for one of 239 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 3: those companies, Enbridge, a Canadian oil and gas company to 240 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 3: work with Yara, who's a Norwegian chemical company, to build 241 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 3: a facility that creates ammonia, and this ammonia will be 242 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 3: exported to support agricultural needs and that won't be sold 243 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 3: in the US. So a lot of residents are trying 244 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:59,239 Speaker 3: to fight the ammonia facility. They're also trying to intervene 245 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 3: in this process were these facilities need to get their 246 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 3: licenses renewed every five years, and so residents have been 247 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 3: showing up to public readings, showing up, writing letters, writing 248 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 3: public comment, and the public comment petition period is still 249 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 3: active until May twenty eighth, and residents are hoping that 250 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 3: the federal government would step in and hold not just 251 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 3: the oil company accountable, but also the TCEQ, which is 252 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 3: the state level environmental regulatory agency, accountable, so they could 253 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 3: make sure that these companies don't polude the environment and 254 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 3: also not to admit various being hold gases or various 255 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 3: pollutants that would harm the community. One thing I also 256 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 3: wanted to know is how much data is important and 257 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: how when we don't have data, things fall apart. So 258 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 3: one thing that's really struck me and I was doing 259 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 3: this reporting process, which was also confirmed by the TCEQ, 260 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 3: was that they did not have a single air quality 261 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 3: monitor that the states set up in the entire county 262 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 3: of where Ingleside on Debay is. So this is San 263 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 3: Patricio County in South Texas. All the sensors are in 264 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 3: Nuasis County, which is on the other side of Corpus Christie. 265 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 3: So the question is if there's no data that residents 266 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 3: can access from the state government, then what they can 267 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 3: do in this case, do they buy their own sensors 268 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 3: and risk not having the data that they collected from 269 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 3: these sensors accepted by various agencies. Do they just give 270 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 3: the best shot at what the government can give them, 271 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 3: or do they trust self reported data from all these 272 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 3: oil and gas companies and try to make the best 273 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 3: out of it. That's a big thing, you know. If 274 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 3: you don't have data, it's very hard to start a conversation. 275 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 3: Or if you don't have the data, you can't see 276 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 3: the trends, you can't see the outliers. What we can 277 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 3: know is that the risk of toxic chemicals in San 278 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 3: Patricio County, which is where this little town is located, 279 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 3: has increased seventeen times since twenty eighteen, which means that 280 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 3: it is now more risky to live on the side 281 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 3: where Ingleside on the Bay is compared to where Corpus 282 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 3: Christie is and where all the oil and gas development 283 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 3: happened earlier last decade. The final thing that I've been 284 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 3: noticing is that, you know, the Trump administration has deleted 285 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 3: certain federal data and federal databases, and that has affected 286 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,360 Speaker 3: residents and has affected my reporting. When I was starting 287 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 3: this investigation, it was laid into the Biden administration. At 288 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 3: the time, there was data, but the data has been 289 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,880 Speaker 3: outdated because it takes, you know, up to a calendar 290 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 3: year for the reporting to happen and for them to 291 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 3: be uploaded to public databases for people to see. Which 292 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 3: also means the data that we're working with that we're 293 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 3: citing in this reporting represent a snapshot in time. It's 294 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 3: something in the past, and we're looking at the breakneck 295 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 3: pace of how this oil and gas expansion has been. 296 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 3: You know, we've been hearing that Enverage, for example, nearly 297 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 3: doubled how much oil they export every day just in 298 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 3: the past year. Then that's something that residents are essentially 299 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 3: playing a game of catchup. And now in the Trump administration, 300 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 3: certain databases such as yjscreen or short for Environmental Justice Stream, 301 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,440 Speaker 3: which looks at various types of risk, that's certain neighborhood 302 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 3: space that's been taken offline, which means that residents have 303 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 3: fewer data to work with to compare their own situations, 304 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 3: what's happening to nearby towns across the state, or compared 305 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 3: to some environmental justice hotspot set as cancer Allity or Beaumont, Texas. 306 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 3: And when we have less and less data, our journalism 307 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 3: work is harder. For one, and the second thing is 308 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 3: resonent just feels like, you know, they're being hit in 309 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 3: the dark, that they don't know what's happening to them. 310 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:20,360 Speaker 2: And that is. 311 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 3: Something that you know, we have to grapple with as 312 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 3: environmental journalists moving forward. How can we gather data that 313 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 3: is accurate and authoritative, you know, without relying on what 314 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 3: the federal government has given us in the past. 315 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 2: That's so huge right now. I don't think people really 316 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 2: realize what we're losing as the government eliminates programs that 317 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 2: collect this data, takes the data offline, makes it illegal 318 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 2: to share the data, you know, the Environmental Defense Fund 319 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 2: just had to sue the government to get the greenhouse 320 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 2: gas inventory released, for example. 321 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 3: And I love Republica. They've been doing top notch work. 322 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 3: I love you know, inside climbing News, they've been doing 323 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 3: top notch work. I want to shout out the work 324 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 3: that Lisa's song al saw, Lila Jones and also Dylan 325 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 3: Bador has been working on in this region. And I've 326 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 3: benefited a lot from their poor of reporting before I 327 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 3: started my reporting, But what I realized was, you know, 328 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 3: they rely on data as well. And for example, when 329 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 3: Republica published the most detailed map of cancer causing industrial 330 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 3: air pollution in the United States, it published the story 331 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 3: in twenty twenty one, but the data in the MAC 332 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 3: covers emissions from twenty fourteen to twenty eighteen, which was 333 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 3: three years ago the time that we had to spend 334 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 3: to verify all the data, which also means that we 335 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 3: are playing catch up as well, and we're not being 336 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 3: able to show residents in real time what they're dealing 337 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 3: on a day to day basis and when we are 338 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 3: sharing risk. Risk is also something that it's like playing 339 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 3: Russian roulette. You have a more likely chance of getting cancer, 340 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 3: but you know, some big incident can happen and the 341 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 3: numbers change really quickly, or or some folks it's like 342 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 3: when it happens, it happens. So how can we communicate 343 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 3: this risk to residents and provide them with useful information 344 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 3: so they can act on it. That's also something that 345 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 3: I think both journalists, residents, advocates, policymakers, lots of officials 346 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 3: need to really sit down and think about in these 347 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 3: uncertain times. 348 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 2: Completely completely agree. Thank you so much, Alex. 349 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: That is it for this time. You can check out 350 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: the rest of Alex's three part series at the xylom 351 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: dot com. That's th e x y l O M. 352 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: Drilled is an original Critical Frequency production. This episode was 353 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: produced by Peter Duff, reported and hosted by me Amy Westervelt, 354 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: fact checked by shild Legendia, and scored with the song 355 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: A Bird in the Hand by Forenoon. Check out Drill 356 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: dot Media for more and make sure you are subscribed 357 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: to the podcast so you don't miss the first episode 358 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: of our new season coming next week. Thanks for listening 359 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:20,400 Speaker 1: and we'll see you next time.