TCEQ adopts enforcement orders 6–18; Bastrop residents press Darling Ingredients over persistent odor; Channelview community questions Lyondell penalty and SEP

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on July 9 adopted enforcement items 6–18, approving administrative orders that together assessed $183,098 in penalties, with $25,294 deferred, $37,240 applied to supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), and $120,564 to general revenue. After the executive director presented the docket, members of the public spoke on several enforcement items, including extended comments about Darling Ingredients’ Bastrop facility (item 6) and the Lyondell Chemical Channelview facility (item 8).

Melissa Cordell of the Enforcement Division summarized the docket and the total assessed penalties and noted staff’s request for approval. OPEC (Office of Public Interest Counsel) told the commission it reviewed the enforcement items and supported adoption of the orders presented by ED staff.

Darling Ingredients, Bastrop (item 6): Multiple Bastrop-area residents told the commission they have experienced persistent putrid odors they identified as hydrogen sulfide, occurring most often at sunset and overnight. ‘‘When my wife and I moved here five years ago, we might smell this odor every three months for one night. Today it can happen every single day for weeks on end,’’ said Corbett Jones, a five-year Bastrop County resident. Jones told the commission TCEQ mobile monitoring recorded hydrogen sulfide at 0.4491 ppm, ‘‘over five times the legal limit,’’ and that residents have endured headaches, nausea and disruptions to outdoor life.

Steven Cutbirth, a local business owner and father of four, told commissioners his family and neighbors are regularly forced indoors during odor events and urged the commission to enforce compliance, hold the facility accountable and refrain from approving any permit amendments until violations are resolved. Benson Ellis, an Elgin resident, described being forced to rush his young daughter out of a downtown park and called the measured hydrogen sulfide levels ‘‘a public health hazard.’’ Elgin City Council member Joy Kacznovsky said nuisance odors have interrupted community events and worried about long-term impacts on quality of life and economic development.

Rory (Sean) Griffin, representing the respondent, said the facility has been in the area ‘‘since the 1950s’’ and acknowledged odors have been a concern; he described ongoing work to reengineer processes, including adding aeration to wastewater ponds, a clarification system, filter presses, upsized air scrubbers, and efforts to improve an installed regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO). Joel Lunsford, the company’s environmental director, identified consultants and service vendors brought in to help with an odor-control plan, naming WSP Environmental and Clean Cap Technologies and said media replacement and equipment updates have been performed; he said a follow-up visit by a service vendor was scheduled for early August.

Commissioner Katarina Gonzalez asked about the company’s odor-control plan; the agreed order requires submission of an odor control plan to the agency within 30 days, staff said.

Lyondell Chemical, Channelview (item 8): Public commenters urged the commission to increase penalties and reject proposed SEPs that do not benefit the directly impacted Channelview community. Carolyn Stone, founder of the Channelview Health Improvement Coalition, and Cassidy Levin of Public Citizen both said the agreed order’s base penalties (totaling $27,003.75 before reductions) were insufficient given reports the facility released 1,136.64 pounds of VOCs over more than 10 hours across two events. Stone and Levin said the Channelview area already carries high cancer risk and that SEPs proposed to benefit Barbers Hill Independent School District — located more than 11 miles from Channelview — do not serve the impacted community.

Staff and commissioners noted legal constraints on directing where regulated entities may place SEP funds in agreed orders; Amy Sedemeyer of the Enforcement Division said the agency cannot force a company to select a custom SEP under current practice but encouraged regulated entities to consider SEPs that meaningfully benefit impacted communities.

Action and next steps: The commission voted to adopt enforcement items 6–18 as recommended by the executive director. Commissioners asked staff to continue rigorous compliance oversight for facilities with repeated complaints, and several commissioners encouraged regulated entities to prioritize remedial measures that directly benefit impacted neighborhoods. The agreed orders adopted today will be posted in agency records, where they identify the assessed penalties, any deferments, and SEP commitments.