fb tracking

Demand the TCEQ Side with the People of Fort Bend County, Not the Interests of Petra Nova

Petra Nova, a carbon capture facility attached to the WA Parish coal plant in Fort Bend County, is seeking a renewal of its permit from the EPA. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has a say in the renewal. Because carbon capture doesn’t deliver the benefits it promises, we need to demand that the TCEQ insist on strong protections for people and the environment before the permit is renewed. 

Comments must be submitted using this TCEQ form. Below is a sample message that you can copy and paste into the TCEQ form, where you can modify your message. You can also craft your own comments.

I write to ask you to deny permit O3611 for Petra Nova Parish Holdings, LLC and require the applicant to revise the permit to better protect community members like myself. To protect the health and environment of Texans, we must hold polluters accountable – especially when their permit is renewed once every five years. 

I ask you to consider the recommendation to make the permit compliant:

  • Provide evidence supporting the Executive Director’s Permit Shield for New Source Performance Standard, Subpart TTTT.

If the permit is not denied, at the very least, I ask you to consider the following:

  • Establish monitoring, testing, and recordkeeping requirements to ensure compliance.
  • Enforce the installation of a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS).
  • Ensure emissions from the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Plant will not have detrimental or cumulative effects on the county’s Ozone non-attainment status.
  • Provide evidence that the list of pollutants being monitored as part of the permit is comprehensive for all the processes undertaken at Petra Nova.
  • Take the expanding population of the Fort Bend region into account and consider the impact of the plant’s emissions and use of resources to enforce more protective measures.

With these improvements, Petra Nova can start taking actions to better protect Texans, our health, and our communities.

Thank you,