Issues |
Chemical Breakdown, Part 3 |
Reporters from the Houston Chronicle and researchers from the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M created a first-of-its-kind study showing the potential harm to the public posed by hazardous materials at local businesses. Mark Collette and Matt Dempsey, Houston Chronicle 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
Oil Field Water Spills a Gray Area for Regulation |
Releasing or spilling water onto someone's land falls into a gray area for monitoring in the Texas oil patch, and it's impossible to know how often this happens. The ranchers had landed in a regulatory no man's land.Companies must report oil spills of more than 5 barrels - around 210 gallons of fluid - to the Texas Railroad Commission. But unless a fresh or brackish water release contains at least that much oil in it, it isn't tracked by the state's oil and gas regulator or any other agency. Jennifer Hiller, San Antonio Express-News, Houston Chronicle 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
The Case Against Big Oil |
For years, efforts to hold energy companies and governments liable for the warming of the planet had moved through the court system with little fanfare or success. But with state governments probing Exxon Mobil's public and internal statements on climate change, lawyers warned their clients to get ready.For oil executives the investigations into whether their industry suppressed findings and misled investors, policy-makers, and the public about global warming not only raise the prospects of criminal charges, but add momentum to a legal campaign that many analysts compare to the decades-long battle against Big Tobacco. James Osborne, Houston Chronicle 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
More Americans Are Dying Each Year by Accident |
A new report from the National Safety Council said that in 2014, more than 136,000 Americans died accidentally. That's up 4.2 percent from the year before and a jump of 15.5 percent over a decade. And the accident rate has risen despite a 22 percent plunge in car crash deaths since 2005. Overdose and accidental poisonings are up 78 percent over a decade — pushing aside car crashes as the No. 1 accidental killer in the U.S. They killed 42,032 people, about 6,000 more than vehicle accidents. Opioid overdoses killed 13,486 people in 2014, the non-profit safety council reported. Associated Press, Yahoo News 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: Yahoo News |
Poison Lurking in Schools |
Across the country, tens of thousands of public schools could be contaminated with toxic polychlorinated biphenyls - compounds more commonly known as PCBs, which were used widely in building materials such as window caulk. PCBs have been linked to everything from skin conditions to cancer. Reveal, The Center for Investigative Reporting 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: The Center for Investigative Reporting |
Laws/Cases |
Texas High Court: Illegally Obtained Evidence Doesn't Bar Asset Seizures |
Law enforcement can seize private property that was used in the commission of a crime, even if evidence of wrongdoing was illegally obtained by police, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling resolves a lingering legal question — whether the process known as civil-asset forfeiture is governed by the "exclusionary rule," which can require criminal courts to throw out evidence for lack of a search warrant or other defect. "We hold definitively that it is not. Under our holding, trial courts — and this court — considering civil-forfeiture proceedings in the future will not need" to determine that evidence was seized in a constitutionally protected way, Justice Jeffrey Brown wrote for the court. Chuck Lindell , Austin American Statesman 06/13/2016 |
Read Article: Austin American Statesman |
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