Texas coastal town in “David and Goliath” fight against planned ammonia plant

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This story is published in partnership with DeSmog, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action. Read their version of the story here.

Chris Carlton built his house in Ingleside in 2008, back when it was a sleepy fishing town.

"We were this little pocket of paradise. This area was known for fishing long before it was known for petroleum,” Carlton said.

Since then, more than a dozen oil and chemical facilities have sprung up along the coastline, drawn to the area by access to transatlantic shipping routes, the cheap supply of fossil fuels and lenient local regulators.

Now, a new industry is rolling in — one with its sights firmly set on winning over the local community.

In 2023, Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara teamed up with Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge, announcing plans to build the first ammonia plant in Ingleside. Yara claimed that the chemical — a key ingredient in fertilizers — would “significantly contribute to our strategy of decarbonizing agriculture” and provide a “clean” fuel for shipping and power production.

The new plant would produce up to 8,000 metric tons of “low-carbon” ammonia every day by 2030, making it one of Yara’s largest-ever facilities. The chemical is likely to be exported to Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

The project’s success is contingent on gaining support from the local city council, which has so far backed concerned residents opposing the plant.

Over the past two years, the companies have launched numerous social initiatives touching on nearly every aspect of town life, from opening a food bank to gifting free baseball tickets and children’s shoes — in what some residents describe as a “charm offensive.” The project has dubbed itself “YaREN” in reference to the Norwegian word “ren” meaning “clean.”

But many locals, alongside experts and campaigners, say that the plant could have devastating impacts on the environment and human and marine health.

Proponents of ammonia, a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, highlight the fact that it is clean-burning, releasing no carbon dioxide. However, more than 99% of ammonia is currently made using fossil fuels, accounting for 450 megatons of carbon dioxide a year.

Analysis by DeSmog indicates that Ingleside’s new plant could require more gas than is consumed by Switzerland, Bulgaria or Denmark each year.

Yara and Enbridge say they will decarbonize ammonia production through carbon capture and storage (CCS) — where emissions from industrial processes are captured and stored underground, producing so-called “blue ammonia.”

But many residents and experts are sceptical of these claims. Carbon capture has been widely criticised for failing to meet its promised potential. It does nothing to tackle emissions from gas extraction or ammonia use, which currently accounts for the largest share of emissions from the gas, once it’s spread on fields as fertilizer.

Ammonia can be highly toxic to humans and animal life when leaked. The new plant would be a major emitter of air pollutants that can cause respiratory problems, heart attacks and premature death, analysis by DeSmog shows.

With demand for the chemical booming, the Ingleside plant is just one of 32 new facilities on the horizon in the U.S., with the country’s ammonia production set to quadruple if all planned sites go ahead. The majority are based in Texas or Louisiana.

A spokesperson for Yara, Enbridge and YarEN told DeSmog, “We are committed to safety, working with the community, protecting people and the environment, and providing energy to the people who need it.”

However Melanie Shafer, who has lived in Ingleside since childhood, says her community is being “bought out by cheap tricks,” referring to the companies’ efforts to win local support.

“All around, my community’s going to suffer from the air pollution,” Shafer says. “I’ve lived here my whole life, it’s my home, and watching it turn to a wasteland is so sad.”

“They’ve come here because Texas has lax environmental laws,” Ingleside resident Janet Laylor told council members during a public meeting in January 2024, where YaREN’s local permit was discussed. “They knew they could come in here because this is the place to go to pollute.”

“David and Goliath”

The $5 billion facility would be built on Enbridge’s existing “energy center” next to the town, where the company already runs the largest oil export facility in the country. To begin construction, YaREN requires permission from the local city council as well as three environmental permits from the state regulator, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which will assess the levels of expected air and water pollution, and the amount of water that would be used.

Hundreds of residents responded to the public consultation on the air pollution permit, and dozens have spoken out at council sessions and public meetings with the companies.

Campaigners have characterized the fight between concerned locals and the companies as one of “David and Goliath.” Norway’s Yara is the biggest ammonia trader in the world and Europe’s largest fertilizer producer, while Ingleside is a former military town with a population of less than 10,000.

YaREN has invested heavily in winning over this population, made up of lifelong locals, retired workers from the oil and gas sector, and recreational fishers, who run a volunteer fire department.

Last year, the companies hosted and attended over 200 local events and provided more than $200,000 for projects and community programs. Their initiatives have ranged from running a blood donation drive and buying lunch for the local police force, to visiting local schools and colleges to “build relationships” and give career advice. They say the factory would offer up 4,000 jobs at the height of construction and up to 200 once opened.

YaREN’s community efforts have featured heavily on social media, including a video on its Facebook page, where teachers from a local school thank the companies for donating shoes as they tie up laces on box-fresh trainers. It also includes multiple posts about an event to celebrate Earth Month in April, where it handed out free drought-resistant native plants.

“Swing by, grab some greenery, and be part of a sustainable future,” YaREN posted. “We are strengthening the roots of our connection to the community.”

Some locals have backed Project YaREN, with posts on Facebook stating, “Looking forward to the economic growth for our area,” and “A community cannot grow without industry.” But many are concerned about the charm offensive, particularly the company’s apparent targeting of local schools and teachers.

Melanie Shafer, who has two children, submitted a formal complaint to the local school district board about the company’s actions, which she said, “raise serious ethical and legal red flags, especially when conducted in front of impressionable minors and within publicly-funded educational spaces.” The proposed plant will be two miles from Ingleside Primary School.

“These are not benign gestures, these are strategic efforts by powerful corporations to secure local goodwill in anticipation of controversial projects,” she wrote. In its response to Shafer, seen by DeSmog, the board said it “recognizes the importance of economic development and the potential benefits industry projects can bring to our community. The district remains neutral on all Project YaREN endeavors.”

Steve Diehl, who was a city council member from 2019 until last month, agrees with Shafer: “It’s propaganda building," he says, referring to a local storefront that YaREN has rented since 2024 to meet members of the community, where it holds events with “experts available to answer your questions one-on-one.”

Last year, Diehl filed a motion to deny YaREN permission to produce ammonia at the plant. During a four-and-a-half-hour meeting in January 2024, at which dozens of residents spoke against the plant, the local city council unanimously voted in support of Diehl’s motion, refusing permission to the companies.

The decision was a major win for concerned residents — unusual in a state that’s home to hundreds of chemical plants and where campaigners rarely receive this level of political backing.

YaREN ramped up efforts to win over the community following the meeting — creating its Facebook page in April, hiring a local nonprofit organizer to lead its engagement in June, and launching a series of paid social media ads about the “safety” of and “tax revenue” from the project in August.

A spokesperson for YaREN, Yara and Enbridge acknowledged that “residents have questions about the project,” and stated that they had opened the information center in response to this. Project YaREN is “actively investing in Ingleside and the greater Coastal Bend community through partnerships, education, and workforce initiatives,” they added.

For now, the decision about the project hangs in the balance. YaREN is pushing forward, having submitted its requests for the three TCEQ permits since the meeting, but will have to return to the city council for the go-ahead before construction begins. Diehl thinks the company may have been waiting until he left office; he stepped down before local elections in May.

“I hope that’s not the case,” he says.

Toxic air

The community’s concerns largely center on health risks associated with the plant.

YaREN’s application to TCEQ to emit air pollution shows that the factory would be a significant source of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, which can cause asthma and other respiratory problems, and very fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which can cause everything from diabetes to premature birth.

Companies like Yara and Enbridge have set their sights on the Gulf Coast due to its access to cheap shale gas and proximity to Atlantic Ocean shipping routes. Texas is the country’s largest producer of natural gas, accounting for around a quarter of all production, from its shale basins. Ingleside residents fear that chemical companies are drawn to Texas by its reputation for poor enforcement of pollution controls and other regulations.

In August 2024, the TCEQ provisionally granted the air pollution permit to the companies, stating that the new facility “will not violate any state or federal air quality regulations.”

Yet, local campaign groups say this conclusion was based on inadequate data. The regulator operates a number of stations for monitoring air pollution throughout Texas, but none are located in Ingleside. The closest is across the bay in Corpus Christi, about 20 miles away.

For any new factory, the TCEQ has to determine whether the additional emissions would push the region beyond legal limits. But due to the lack of local data, both TCEQ and YaREN relied on figures from the Corpus Christi stations to show that the new facility would not breach these laws.

For levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution, a form of nitrogen oxide, YaREN used figures from a different station in Beaumont, a four-and-a-half-hour drive and almost 300 miles from Ingleside.

The Coastal Watch Association says that the figures from these monitoring sites significantly underestimate the amount of pollution already in the town. The group, which is leading the campaign against YaREN, runs its own air pollution monitors in Ingleside and the wider San Patricio County. Its data, seen by DeSmog, indicates that annual averages for fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 pollution already far exceed federal limits and more than double the limit recommended by the intergovernmental World Health Organization.

YaREN did not respond to questions about expected air pollution and safeguards against it, or accusations that permit documents did not include adequate data.

Ingleside resident Melanie Shafer told DeSmog that her family is already feeling the effects of pollution. Her son has severe asthma, and her mother suffers from a rare autoimmune disease, symptoms of which are aggravated by poor air quality.

“Some days we can’t go outside because my son’s like, ‘mom, the air’s so thick, I can’t breathe,’” Shafer says.

The family thinks they will leave the town in the next few years. “This was home, this is where we set up roots. I wanted to raise my kids here, it’s a great place to grow up,” Shafer says. “But we’re going to have to move and settle again. My kids are gonna have to make new friends. We’ve been sold out for money.”

This scenario is not unusual in the state, according to Beth Gardiner, a journalist and author of the book “Choked: Life and Death in the Age of Air Pollution.” Texas is “notorious for being very pro- industry, and a very lax environmental enforcer,” she says.

“If you speak to people down there, they will say that TCEQ will give a permit to anybody. They’re not doing an adequate job to protect health and the environment.”

A spokesperson for TCEQ declined to comment on “pending permits or statements from outside groups at this time.”

Targeting Texas

Industrial expansion in Texas and neighboring Louisiana has historically targeted low-income, predominantly Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. While Ingleside is only slightly poorer than the U.S. average, around half of its residents are Hispanic or Latino. Across the U.S., Black and Hispanic people are the most likely to die from PM2.5 pollution.

Alongside the impacts of this pollution, residents also fear an industrial disaster. When inhaled, ammonia can burn or corrode tissues in the body, including the lungs and respiratory tract. Major ammonia leaks are rare, but the Coastal Watch Association says the consequences would be too dire to take the risk. Texas does not run any monitors for ammonia detection.

“We're right along the fence line [of the proposed site] and any sort of disastrous release would put our whole community at risk,” says Payton Campbell, who runs the air monitoring program at the Coastal Watch Association. Ingleside does not have a hospital, with the nearest one in Corpus Christi around 30 miles away, and only has a volunteer fire department. Campbell fears that the town would be ill-equipped to respond to a major emergency.

In March, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would “revisit” stricter PM2.5 limits introduced under President Joe Biden, saying they had “served as a major obstacle to permitting.” In April, the Trump administration invited 500 existing industrial facilities to apply for an exemption from the federal limits on the amount of air pollution they can emit — including nearly 100 in Texas, the largest number of any state.

Campbell believes that whatever decision is made about YaREN now will set a precedent for the future of ammonia in the area. “It all depends on this facility — whether they can prove it can be built. We have to focus on stopping this first one, or there will be more to come,” he says.

“Greenwashing our community”

The ammonia industry argues that plants like YaREN will be essential to decarbonize energy- intensive sectors – offering what they call a “low-carbon” fuel to run ships, provide energy and produce more “climate conscious” fertilizers. Globally, demand for ammonia is expected to triple by 2050, driven by these new “sustainable” markets and expanding fertilizer use.

The majority of ammonia is produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen, which is then reacted with nitrogen that has been separated from the air. While YaREN will rely on gas, the companies say they will “capture 95% [of the] carbon dioxide” from the process using carbon capture and storage to produce so-called “blue ammonia.”

The carbon capture project — which would be operated by Enbridge alongside a number of other companies and eventually serve multiple local plants — would see the captured carbon dioxide transported southwest through 64 miles of pipeline. The destination would be a storage facility on the 825,000-acre King Ranch cattle and cotton farm, where it would be pumped underground for storage.

Yet, existing projects have repeatedly failed to meet their promised capture rates, and to date, no single project has captured 95% of greenhouse gas emissions. The technology would also only capture emissions at the plant, doing nothing to curb the majority of emissions, which arise from the extraction of the natural gas, or from ammonia use.

Experts warn that increasing blue ammonia production could become an escape hatch for fossil fuel use. YaREN could require as much as 3.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year for its ammonia production, according to DeSmog’s calculations.

To better meet gas demand from its Ingleside site, Enbridge is developing a new 18-mile gas pipeline. The project would link the site to Enbridge’s existing Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline, which runs 9,000 miles from the state to New York, and is fed by fracked shale gas. Shale gas extraction releases large volumes of the potent greenhouse gas methane as well as multiple toxic chemicals and pollutants into the air and water.

YaREN and Enbridge did not respond to questions about whether construction of the gas pipeline was contingent on the ammonia facility’s approval.

Campbell, from the Coastal Watch Association, believes that YaREN’s focus on promoting the chemical as low-carbon is part of a wider trend among chemical and oil and gas companies in the region.

“There's a constant greenwashing campaign being waged from industry against our entire community,” he says. “Companies are constantly touting how environmentally friendly they are, but they're just getting permission to pollute.”

Additional research and reporting by Agathe Bounfour and Louis Goddard. Editing by Phoebe Cooke

This article is part of a cross-border investigative series supported by Journalismfund Europe.

Disclosure: Facebook has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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