https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alejandra-martinez/The latest news by Alejandra Martinez.enTue, 16 Apr 2024 15:45:41 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-cement-plant-permits-dan-patrick-letter-tceq/Citing community concerns about a planned cement plant in Grayson County, Patrick’s letter asks TCEQ to reject the permit and halt permit approvals statewide.Alejandra MartinezTue, 16 Apr 2024 15:45:41 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-cement-plant-permits-dan-patrick-letter-tceq/Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sent a letter to the state environmental agency asking it to stop approving new permits for cement plants statewide until the Legislature can weigh in next year. Patrick expressed concern about a planned cement plant in North Texas that residents oppose.Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks during a keynote lunch at the Texas Public Policy Foundation Texas Policy Summit 2024 at the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center in Austin, TX on Mar. 21, 2024. Lt. Gov. Patrick spoke on policies regarding energy, border control, school choice and taxes.Maria Crane/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-public-water-systems-epa-limit/The EPA set its first-ever drinking water limits for five types of PFAS chemicals, and nearly 50 of Texas public water systems have reported exceeding the new limits for at least one.Alejandra MartinezTue, 16 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/16/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-public-water-systems-epa-limit/A cascade aerator at a Texas wastewater plant. Nearly 50 water utilities around Texas have reported levels of PFAS chemicals that exceed a new federal limit.A cascade aerator on the site of the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.Gabriel Cristóver Pérez for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/09/texas-epa-rule-chemical-manufacturing-air-pollution/The new federal limits target six cancer-causing chemicals and aim to reduce the cancer risk of cancer for nearby communities.Alejandra MartinezTue, 09 Apr 2024 12:47:24 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/09/texas-epa-rule-chemical-manufacturing-air-pollution/The Environmental Protection Agency adopted a final rule Tuesday that will require chemical manufacturers, like Flint Hills Resources in Corpus Christi, to reduce air emissions of certain toxic chemicals. The company's East Refinery is on a list of 80 affected facilities in Texas.Flint Hills Resources, a manufacturer of fuels and chemicals, site in Corpus on Nov. 11, 2021.Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/08/texas-solar-eclipse/In some parts of the state, the skies cleared enough for people to see the total solar eclipse.Alejandra Martinez and Pooja SalhotraMon, 08 Apr 2024 16:44:36 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/08/texas-solar-eclipse/The Baressi family looks up at the sun in Grenwelge Park, minutes before the total solar eclipse in Llano on April 8, 2024.The Baressi family looks up at the sun Grenwelge Park, minutes before the total solar eclipse’s totality in Llano on April 8, 2024. The family traveled from across the United States to view the eclipse. The eclipse is expected to bring thousands of visitors to the area.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/03/texas-solar-eclipse-preparation-tourists-weather/Llano residents are told to stock up on groceries. A Sulphur Springs church is renting its parking spots. And everyone’s watching the weather forecast ahead of Monday’s eclipse.Alejandra Martinez, Alejandro Serrano and Emily FoxhallWed, 03 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/03/texas-solar-eclipse-preparation-tourists-weather/Hundreds flocked to Mission San José in South San Antonio on Oct. 14, 2023, to witness last year's solar eclipse as the moon’s shadow swept across Central Texas.Hundreds flock to Mission San José in South San Antonio on Oct. 14, 2023, to witness the annular solar eclipse as the moon’s shadow swept across Central Texas.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/joe-biden-texas-visit-dallas-houston/Biden landed in Dallas late Wednesday afternoon. He had no public events on his schedule.Alejandra MartinezWed, 20 Mar 2024 18:14:31 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/20/joe-biden-texas-visit-dallas-houston/https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/epa-ethylene-oxide-texas-laredo/Laredo residents who live near a sterilization plant say the new federal limits on the pollutant will improve air quality and reduce their city’s high cancer risk.Alejandra MartinezThu, 14 Mar 2024 16:59:41 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/epa-ethylene-oxide-texas-laredo/The Midwest Sterilization Corporation in Laredo on May 13, 2021.The Midwest Sterilization Corporation in Laredo on May 13, 2021.Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-air-monitoring-tceq-cloverleaf-houston-ship-channel/Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.Alejandra Martinez and Wendy Selene PérezThu, 14 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-air-monitoring-tceq-cloverleaf-houston-ship-channel/Cristina Lazo starts the daily routine of washing her daughter Alina’s hands, changing clothes and rubbing an ointment on her irritated eyes after coming home from the outside. Lazo believes the fumes from the nearby industrial sector are contributing to her 7-year-old daughter’s symptoms. Cristina Lazo starts the daily routine of washing her daughter Alina’s hands, changing clothes and rubbing an ointment on her irritated eyes after coming home from the outside. Lazo believes the fumes from the nearby industrial sector are contributing to her 7-year-old daughter’s symptoms. Al llegar a su casa desde el exterior, Cristina Lazo inicia la rutina diaria de lavarle las manos a su hija Alina, cambiarla de ropa y aplicarle una pomada en los ojos irritados. Lazo cree que la fuga de gases del complejo industrial cercano están contribuyendo a los síntomas de su hija de 7 años. On November 10, 2023, Cristina Lazo helps her six-year-old daughter Alina wash her hands at their home in Cloverleaf, Texas.Danielle Villasana for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-monitoreo-aire-tceq-cloverleaf-houston-ship-channel/Los datos públicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.Wendy Selene Pérez and Alejandra MartinezThu, 14 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/14/texas-monitoreo-aire-tceq-cloverleaf-houston-ship-channel/Al llegar a su casa del exterior, Cristina Lazo inicia la rutina diaria de lavarle las manos a su hija Alina, cambiarla de ropa y aplicarle una pomada en los ojos irritados. Lazo cree que la fuga de gases del complejo industrial cercano está contribuyendo a los síntomas de su hija de 7 años. People walk through San Jacinto Park as a tanker ship passes through the Houston Ship Channel in La Porte. Thousands of families live and play near the world’s largest petrochemical complex. Un grupo de personas camina por el Parque San Jacinto mientras un barco cisterna pasa por el Canal de Navegación de Houston en La Porte. Miles de familias viven y juegan cerca del complejo petroquímico más grande del mundo. People walk in San Jacinto Park as a large tanker ship pass through Houston Ship Channel on the background in Saturday October 28, 2023 in La Porte, TX Go Nakamura for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/colin-allred-roland-gutierrez-ted-cruz-primary/Allred bested state Sen. Roland Gutierrez in a crowded pool of Democrats.Matthew Choi and Alejandra MartinezTue, 05 Mar 2024 21:39:13 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/05/colin-allred-roland-gutierrez-ted-cruz-primary/U.S. Rep. Colin Allred shakes hands with Dallas City Council members Adam Bazaldua and Omar Narvaez during a campaign watch party for the Senate seat in Dallas on primary election day, March 5, 2024.U.S. Rep. Colin Allred shakes hands with Dallas City Council members Adam Bazaldua and Omar Narvaez during a campaign watch party for the Senate seat in Dallas, TX on primary election day, March 5, 2024.Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/04/texas-spacex-boca-chica-park-land-swap/Monday’s vote lets Texas Parks and Wildlife staff begin negotiations to swap 43 acres in the park for 477 acres next to a federal wildlife refuge.Alejandra MartinezMon, 04 Mar 2024 16:56:16 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/04/texas-spacex-boca-chica-park-land-swap/The SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica on Nov. 29, 2020.The SpaceX South Texas launch site in Boca Chica on Nov. 29, 2020.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/01/texas-panhandle-wildfires-livestock-agriculture-economy/Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought.Alejandra MartinezFri, 01 Mar 2024 15:00:54 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/01/texas-panhandle-wildfires-livestock-agriculture-economy/Don Gourd watches hay being loaded onto his trailer at a donation site for livestock feed and ranch supplies for people affected by the Smokehouse Fire in Borger on Friday. Gourd plans to drop off the hay to neighbors.Don Gourd watches hay be loaded onto his trailer to take to neighbors affected by the Smokehouse Fire Friday, March. 1, 2024, in Borger, Texas.Justin Rex for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/29/texas-panhandle-wildfires-witnesses/The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake.Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezThu, 29 Feb 2024 20:41:18 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/29/texas-panhandle-wildfires-witnesses/A car sits in front of the burned Rose Trailer Sales business on Texas Highway 136 on Thursday. Residents have been working to recover from the wildfires devastating parts of the Texas Panhandle.A car sits front of the burned the Rose Trailer Sales business on State Highway 136. Residents have been working to recover from the Tuesday grass fires that devastated parts of the panhandle.Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/07/epa-texas-particulate-matter-air-pollution-standard/Some environmental experts are skeptical that Texas can meet the new rules on particulate matter, which can cause serious respiratory problems.Alejandra MartinezWed, 07 Feb 2024 16:54:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/07/epa-texas-particulate-matter-air-pollution-standard/Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City. The EPA has adopted stricter standards nationally for particulate matter, which is generated by industry, diesel engines, power plants, wildfires and other sources.Production units are seen in operation at Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, U.S., May 15, 2023.REUTERS/Erwin Sebahttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/06/texas-clean-energy-technology/The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into developing clean power sources. In this conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune in Houston, panelists discussed how Texas companies are playing a major role in emerging technologies like hydrogen and geothermal.Alejandra MartinezTue, 06 Feb 2024 14:55:38 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/06/texas-clean-energy-technology/https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/02/epa-concrete-batch-plants-study-dallas/EPA scientists went fishing to begin a study of how pollution from a group of concrete batch plants impacts human health.Alejandra MartinezFri, 02 Feb 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/02/epa-concrete-batch-plants-study-dallas/Jamie Morgan, an aquatic biologist at Jacobs Solutions, left, sets up a fish trap with employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Fish Trap Lake Park in Dallas on Jan. 30, 2024. The EPA has begun a study aimed at measuring the cumulative effects of pollution from nearby concrete batch plants.DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 30, 2024: Jamie Morgan, 35, aquatic biologist at Jacobs Solutions, (left) sets up a gillnet with employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at Fish Trap Lake Park in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. The city of Dallas and local community leaders partnered with the EPA on the Cumulative Impacts Assessment Pilots Project, which focuses on the cumulative impacts from concrete batch plants. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas TribuneDesiree Rios for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/26/texas-pollution-emissions-cold-weather-upsets/Called “upset” events, companies are required to tell the state when they emit pollution above what their permits allow.Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune, and Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate NewsFri, 26 Jan 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/26/texas-pollution-emissions-cold-weather-upsets/A house in Corpus Christi's Hillcrest neighborhood on Feb. 7, 2022. Houses in the neighborhood have co-existed with oil refineries like Flint Hills for decades.A house in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Corpus on Feb. 7, 2022. Houses in this neighborhood have co-existed with oil refineries like Flint Hills for decades.Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/texas-heat-deaths-2023-record-climate-change/More than 300 Texans died from heat in 2023, the most since the state began tracking such deaths in 1989.Erin Douglas and Alejandra MartinezFri, 12 Jan 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/12/texas-heat-deaths-2023-record-climate-change/Don Green's stepson, Jerry Barker, spreads Green's and Green's dog's ashes in the yard of Green's former home in Freeport during a celebration of life on Dec. 16.Donald Green's stepson Jerry Barker spreads Green's and Green's dog's ashes, at the backyard of Green's old home in Freeport during a celebration of life, on Dec. 16, 2023.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/11/texas-2023-hottest-year/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows that average temperatures in 2023 were 3.5 degrees above the 20th century average.Emily Foxhall and Alejandra MartinezThu, 11 Jan 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/11/texas-2023-hottest-year/Austin-Travis County EMS helps a 75-year-old man who passed out on July 7 in Del Valle when the high temperature reached 102 degrees.Austin-Travis County EMS first responders cart Robert Shipp, 75, of Bastrop, to an ambulance during a 102 degree summer day outside Austin Wrench A Part in Del Valle on July 7, 2023. According to the EMS crew and Shipp, he was seen passing out while searching for car parts under the hot sun, and hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water all day.Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/05/texas-pollution-companies-permits-tceq-epa/Industrial developers describe large facilities as “minor” polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements, and environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lets it happen.Dylan Baddour and Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News, and Alejandra Martinez, The Texas TribuneFri, 05 Jan 2024 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/05/texas-pollution-companies-permits-tceq-epa/The GAF roofing shingles factory in West Dallas on Dec. 13. The factory reclassified itself as a minor pollution source and avoided public participation requirements in 2022.The GAF roofing shingles factory in West Dallas on Dec. 13. The factory reclassified itself as minor and averted public participation requirements in 2022.Shelby Tauber/Inside Climate News