Texas Tribune Daily Brief | | Divers Find Hole in San Jacinto Waste Cover | | When the companies responsible for toxic waste near the San Jacinto River installed a $9 million armored cap to contain the sludge in 2011, residents and advocates worried it would not be enough. A dive team earlier this month found a hole in the structure meant to contain the toxic waste at the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed. A lawsuit from the state and Harris County last year asked the companies involved, International Paper Co., McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. and Waste Management Inc., to be fined $25,000 a day dating back to the site's 1965 opening. The suit ended with two of the county's three targets agreeing to pay nearly $30 million in damages before a split jury cleared the remaining defendant of any responsibility for the toxic pollution. Emma Hinchliffe, Houston Chronicle 12/22/2015 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | E-Cigarette Liquid Poisonings on the Rise in Houston | | Pediatric emergency room doctors in Houston are warning of a recent increase in the numbers of children treated after ingesting the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes. The smoking of e-cigarettes, known as vaping, has been growing in popularity in recent years, as has the number of related poisonings throughout the United States. While national poisoning rates have declined for the first time in 2015, according to the Southeast Texas Poison Control Center, the number of poisonings in Harris County in 2015 has reached 35, up from 30 in 2014. "Just a sip of the liquid nicotine solution can kill a child," said Dr. Robert Lapus, emergency medicine physician at UTHealth, Children's Memorial Hermann Memorial City and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. "It can potentially be fatal for an adult." Markian Hawryluk, Houston Chronicle 12/22/2015 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | | |