Texas says it doesn’t monitor pollution spikes, calling it ‘often unnecessary’

Gaps in tracking industrial pollution before, during and after a natural disaster adversely impacts marginalized communities

Last year, during Texas's devastating winter freeze, oil refineries, chemical manufacturers and other industrial plants emitted a whopping 4.7m pounds of excess chemicals into the air that millions of people breathe.

The storm was an example of how industrial emissions can spike during and immediately after natural disasters. But in a surprising move last Friday, Texas state regulators announced that wide-scale deployment of agency staff for air monitoring in these critical moments to be often unnecessary".