5 I .4 I I I '> 7 . t i l e M

The Toxic Tour of Texas journeys through a state that prides itself tin being the biggest, the best. And it is. Texas has the largest concentration of oil refineries and chemical plants in the nation. Texas ranks first in the United States in the amount of known or suspected carcinogens released into the environment. Texas also leads the nation in the number of hazardous traste disposal sites, 70 percent of which leak and threaten ground water. And Texas industry discharges the highest level of toxic air emissions in the country.

The guides on this tour are farmers, priests, mothers, ranchers, engineers, nurses, and teachers who are intent on protecting their land, their children, their homes, and their communities from exposure to hazardous waste. Their activism crosses social, economic, and racial boundaries. This coalition for the nineties aligns the century's labor, civil rights, women's, peace, and ecology movements.

Their united plea is now for the basic life-sustaining elements of clean land, air, and water. They have influenced and reversed government decisions. They have halted harmful industrial practices. They have changed their personal lifestyles, habits, and attitudes as a model of shared responsibility for maintaining this balance of life on Earth,

T O X I C T O U R O F T E X A S

S h a r o n S r c w a r t

Editor's note: In 1988, writer Steven Fenberg asked photographer Sharon Stewart to attend a legislative strategy meeting of statewide grassroots environ-mental organizations. After engaging sev-eral groups to tell their stories, Fenberg and Steivart set out across Texas to inter-view these activists, as well as industry representatives and state agencies, in an effort to understand the complex issue of hazardous waste creation and disposal. In i')yi Stewart published Toxic Tour of Texas, from which she has selected pho-tographs and written updated narratives for this issue of Cite.

The above introduction to the narra-tive photoessay Toxic Towr of Texas was written with statistics compiled from tbe Environmental Protection Agency's 1990 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). When 1 called I lie lex as Natural Re source Conservation Commission, the state's licensing and regulatory agency for government and industry air, water, and ground emissions, for the most recent TRI figures ( I99.S), I was disappointed to find Texas still leads the nation in these designations, though overall volume ol emissions has declined.

We are a society accustomed to the consumption of convenience and the con-venience of consumption. Texas provides a ma|orily of the resources and means consigned to our national defense and enabled us to achieve a standard of living envied .ill over the world. The issue of creating a balance of resource extraction and maintenance is one of the most con-tentious in our free-market economy. The driving question of this issue is prof-itability from present consumptive demand versus sustainability for future supply. Representatives of these opposing forces demon 1/.e one another while the consumer citi/en looks to the democratic

system tor protection when something goes awry.

Economics drive this issue. The influ-ence of money, in the desire for profits or influence, continues to be the greatest deterrent to long-term solutions at the legislative, corporate, and personal levels. Our ability to assess the consequences of our consumptive lifestyles is over-whelmed by a cascade of conflicting data from investigative reports, academic studies, congressniii.il findings, lawsuits, and advertising campaigns.

The Tour focuses on Texas citizens who are directly affected by hazardous waste creation and disposal practices and who made the conscious decision to challenge the status quo . The following excerpts from the 1992 Toxic Tour of Texas can make lor uncomfortable view-ing. A daunting dynamic of perception is revealed in this pressingly complex issue.

I low then to proceed as participants in the dynamic? As removed as most of us are from the manufacture and disposal of the items we consume, we are none-theless affected by their byproducts in the form of reduced air, land, and water quality. It must be remembered that this is of universal concern, contrary to a

common response that this is just a Tout issue. Thus, we can reflect on our indi-vidual contributions to this dilemma, and alter our behavior. We have been diriTttd how to do so for over 25 years now. How we choose to proceed is as varied as those of you who read this: radicalism persuasion, or denial. •

CI i i F i l l i i

kL W

HUDSPETH COUNT Y MANUEI .A D O M I N C U E Z , MARY A L C O R N , IRMA AND C H U Y D O M I N C U E Z A T O P E L D I A B L O PLATEAU OVERLOOKING A PROPOSED TEXAS L O W - L E V E L R A D I O A C T I V E WASTE DISPOSAL S I T E .

Attain iiiiJ in/inn, the eihouui question Why iirrr rami through my tars us / stood atop the DuMo Rim kwhmi

into ll>f beautiful Wet Texas sunset (leitrly. il»y proud Trxun. if they stood there, would ht mooed to say. Tits

rs iiol the proper pine, litis is Unjust ' The splendor of this l,tnd and these people should not he risked merely IKHIHSC

|IK time ID i/ioose a silt rs ruiiiiini/ slwl or the Authority his already spent millions lo qualify this wfr

Judge William Moody, H l h District, presiding

HI I'aso County v. Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Authority

I /'< people who fii/i'l llns luiijrr J>nr•

HUM ALLY ACTIVE REGION. AND THEN INITIAT-INC IHI REQUIRED STUDIES TO DETERMINE ITS SUITABILITY, IHI AUTHORITY CONTINUES TO MEET kISISTANt I I R o M K K A l (.OVERNMENTS

A N D ( ITIZENS OF T H E TEXAS-MEXIC O BORDER.

I N 1997 T H E TEXAS LEGISLATURE DENIED THE

AUTHORITY- $W M I I I I ON IN ( ( I N S T R U C T I O N

FUNDS, BUT DID APPROPRIATE Sfi Mlll.loN FOR IHI NUMEROUS LEGAI c IIAI11 N( J s IT EACES. A CONGRESSIONAL Hill AUTHORIZING AND FUND. INC. T H I ( O M I ' A I i A t .k i iMiNi in iWEEN TEXAS

AND TIB TWO NEW IzNt.lAND STATES, Wllnsl WASTI II M i l l s 1(1 OPERATE I'KOllTAHIY. WAS

DEFEATED IN 1995 T i l l HIII HAS BEEN REINlki i

iHit i i i i \ n i l 1997SESSION

52 Fall I 'i '> • • r body

thai m'dtj tlm ttll ibat cell, this ctlt again,

until il t< dttld, ihanijtil, or groumtif"

Mike trial. m-thair, Panna Maria (JJPK.LPIH.I1 Citizens

"We toiiloiii that irr iWr Ksl ./

C 11 c i 9 F i l l 1997 S I

S O U T H DALLAS COUNTY TlQUESHA ROBF.RSON PLAYING IN HFR Y A R D ABUTTING WASTE

M A N A C E M E N T , I N C . M U N I C I P A L L A N D F I L L I N F E R R I S , T E X A S .

6

ptm tarn m

i. JiiMrm that i)rou> up HI llwr lyjifs fl/iomiMiiiiilir*

Jon I fee I Irfcr lliry baVt tbt Stmt right Id hex ome

kwytn HHJ Joilim and ESS

[111 IV ( I I A l l l M . i l ) n i l EXPANSION 1'lkMII I ( IK THE SOUTH DAI .US COUNTY LANDFILL IN 1991 PROMPTING ITS UOSI IRI . IN IH I SAMI

YEAR CASP ASSISTED EIRRIs k l s l lHMs IN PRE-VENTING WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC . ( W M I ) l-ROM I XPANDING ITS LANDFIU HOWEVER, W M I kl \PPIIED AND IN I'l'lS RUI IVIh \s. EXPANDED MUNICIPAL SOLID WAST1 k l iM'nsvi PERMIT FROM THI T l XAS N A I U R A I Rl SI HJk< I

C.oisMRVAiioN COMMISSION 'I'm 7-A< kl

I At IIIIY WRAl>S AROUND A lilACK NEK.MHoR. HOOD voiiki TKJUISIIA ROIIERSON'S (.RAND-

MOTHI k IIVEU. I.IKE MANY OTHER RESIDENTS OF THE AREA, HI R CRANOMOTHER WAS C.IVEN $120,000 BY W M I TO RELOCATE TWO IAMIIY HOMES. l.ORRIE HAS IOINID FERRIS RISIDINT

Vu ink HURNETT TO CREATE ENVIRONMENTAL Ills 11(1. AN ORGANIZATION TO FIC.HT THE ACKNOWLEDGED PRACTICE OF SITING HAZ-ARDOUS W A S H FACILITIES IN l o f t INCOME, MINORITY Nl IGI-IIIORI lot H>̂

S O U T H DALLAS COUNT Y L A M I I i i i HokD i R I N G THi- T R I N I I Y R I V E R .

"Tliry hud a pfrmil lliry

54 l-jll l'>'»7 • ITi SING Tox tc

ENVIRONMENTAL C O N T A M I N A T I ON (Pk t )TEC)

I'm IMP HI) Ti XAS B OLOt ilSl S i TECO ) TO CAP mi IK CLASS I HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL t i l l s II His Alt I VIATINt. IIIEIR STENCH. PRO-TEC's I'ARnciPATION IN TECO'S PERMITTINC I'ki H I SS Al si i Rl SI II n I) IN THE COMPANY 111 INC. ISSUED A 11 vi RATHER THAN A TEN- VI \R I \ n \ SION. THE COMPANY HAS EXPANDED ITS OPERA-TIONS BY 6(1 AC Rl S AND IS LISTED IN THE

M I A I I I N ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEN T COR-

PORATIONS I 111 FIXTURE AS THE CLOSEST CtASS I HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAI I ACUITY FOR USI in EHI MAQUILADORA INDUSTRIES Lot AID) IN NEIGHBORING MEXICO T i l l LEAKAGE PROM I I I I K HAZARDOUS VASTl DISPOSAI t i l l s

HAS NOW REACHED 11II s i l l s I'IRIMIILk M i i M l n k l M . w i l l s , ACCORDING l o A COM-PREHENSIVE MfJNIToRINC, EVALUATION BY TEXAS WATER COMMISSI! IN INSPl.t 11 )Rs

t: 111 ) •» . I- J ! I I i 7 55

W H A R T O N C O U N T Y T H E S I N K H O L E I N N , A T E X A S H O N K Y T O N K N E A R B O L I N C , T E X A S .

"(JH \ht nijljl is a fAaa IK tfl/l (fjr Sink Hale inn (l Fit i: I.J In 11 ma ,'IIJI- A if mil I taltt in ibt roati ! !•

J6 F i l l I '(•» 7 I . I , i ••

"Stt that lilllr tirttn hox ir'llm' on llml buildinp Thai's Die btnzrnt monitor / JntsltrJ to tlrl Tin first rir ffir Sidle of Tntiis / lour ihti buh hex. An J right fry .1 pbiyi/romd mi biHtklll /ir/il' I knoir iht

NO TR SP-SSIN ..._ —vn, ..if- ruEIITA IMS IS THE PROPEBTV LINE OF STEBUNG CHEMICALS INC

S T E R L I N G C H E M I C A L S . I N C

STERLING SirMICALS rwEMI

T a l l I 'J •> 7 S7

CALVESTON C O U N T Y O N E O I H O H O M E L O T S B O U G H T BY STERL ING CHEMICAL S I OR D E V E L O P M E N T AS A GREENBELT ADJACENT TO ITS PLANT.

"The buyout ions a frttiuai thing, I'll i III f «