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Community critics call Freeport LNG penalty process slow and weak as TCEQ adopts enforcement docket
Summary
TCEQ adopted a multi‑item enforcement docket with assessed penalties; community speakers said penalties against Freeport LNG are too small and enforcement took too long, citing incidents dating to 2019 and a 2022 vapor cloud explosion. OPIC did not object to the agreed orders.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on July 1 adopted items 4–11 and 13–44 of its enforcement docket, approving proposed agreed orders and assessed administrative penalties. Enforcement Division staff reported aggregate assessed administrative penalties of $1,545,682, with $190,115 deferred and $85,536 directed to general revenue; a transcript line referring to the supplemental environmental projects allocation appears as “$550,31” in the record and is not unambiguous in the transcript.
Megan Hamilton of the Enforcement Division presented the items and the dollar totals and asked the commission to approve the agreed orders. The Office of Public Interest Counsel stated it did not object to approval and thanked the parties for resolving the matters.
Several community members addressed the commission during the enforcement docket. Melanie Odum, director of Better Brazoria County Clean Air and Water, said she lives three miles from the Freeport LNG liquefaction plant and criticized the enforcement timeline and penalty size, saying, “this $103,000 is laughable, inappropriate, will not even get the attention of the management owners of Freeport LNG.” Odum said violations began in 2019, listed alleged record‑keeping and reporting failures, and urged the commission to improve investigative and enforcement timeliness.
Katherine Gatler of Public Citizen’s Texas office, identifying herself as director of the TCEQ watchdog campaign, said staff categorized a release as “minor” and applied discounts in the penalty worksheet that she called inappropriate. Gatler told commissioners the record indicated vent gas releases ranged “between double the permitted level and 7,690 million standard cubic feet per year,” a volume she said is not insignificant and should not have been discounted.
On the record, OPIC said it had reviewed the proposed agreed orders and does not object to their approval. After questions and brief discussion, the commission adopted the listed enforcement items.
Next steps: The agreed orders will proceed per the adopted schedule in the record. Community speakers requested meetings with enforcement staff to discuss process details and documentation; commissioners suggested staff follow up.
