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    <title>In the Wake of Hurricane Harvey, Houston EPA Lab Set to Close</title>

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<p>Deloitte has centered on two key areas where it can leverage its strengths as a business service provider to have a positive impact for the long term on the communities in which it operates: education and workforce development.</p>
<p style="color:#ff4500">Underwritten by Deloitte</p>
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<p>Monsanto presents a series on what it means to be “Climate Smart” in the world of agriculture. The series will cover the role of climate change in impacting food security, agriculture, weather patterns and society at large. </p>
<p style="color:#ff4500">Underwritten by Monsanto</p>
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<p>In this editorial series we’ll explore the role of business in supporting access to education and opportunities, and consider the best way to prepare a generation of leaders who understand the importance of sustainable development.</p>
<p style="color:#ff4500">Sponsored by Pearson</p>
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<p>In this series sponsored by Procter and Gamble, we’ll explore what it means to practice “responsible forestry” and how trailblazing companies can lead the way.</p>
<p style="color:#ff4500">Sponsored by Procter & Gamble</p>
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<p>So, your company wants to reduce its landfill waste. Now what? As sustainability reaches top of mind for investors and customers, more companies are beginning to tackle waste in their supply chains in order to boost their green cred.</p>
<p style="color:#ff4500">Sponsored by Covanta</p>
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            <article class="post-268667 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-climate-environment category-energy category-policy-government tag-chemicals tag-energy-companies tag-epa tag-houston tag-hurricane-harvey tag-leon-kaye tag-oil tag-sierra-club tag-texas">
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            <h1 class="entry-title">In the Wake of Hurricane Harvey, Houston EPA Lab Set to Close</h1>
      			<p class="byline author vcard"><a href="http://www.triplepundit.com/author/leon-kaye/" rel="author" class="fn" data-wpel-link="internal">by Leon Kaye</a> on <time class="updated" datetime="2017-09-19T02:00:19+00:00">Tuesday, Sep 19th, 2017</time>

		      	      		      		<a style="color:#ff4500; padding-left:15px; padding-bottom:0; margin-bottom:-4px; font-size:0.9em;" href="https://www.triplepundit.com/category/climate-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">      		  <i class="fa fa-globe" aria-hidden="true"></i>
      		      		<span style="text-transform:uppercase;">Climate &amp; Environment</span></a>
      	

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    <figure id="attachment_268668" style="max-width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-268668" src="https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel.jpg" alt="Houston, Hurricane Harvey, EPA, Leon Kaye, Sierra Club, energy companies, petrochemicals, oil and gas" width="640" height="416" srcset="https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel.jpg 640w, https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel-150x98.jpg 150w, https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel-300x195.jpg 300w, https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel-262x170.jpg 262w, https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel-165x107.jpg 165w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Houston Ship Channel</figcaption></figure>
<p>Despite the <a href="http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Hurricane-Harvey-Oil-Chemical-Spills-Top-22000-Barrels.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">oil spills</a> and <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/2017/09/harvey-flooding-potentially-compromised-650-chemical-plants/" data-wpel-link="internal">threats of leaked chemicals</a> across the Houston region due to flooding during and after Hurricane Harvey, a local Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) laboratory is targeted for closure.</p>
<p>According to the <em><a href="http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Houston-EPA-lab-set-to-close-12195927.php" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">San Antonio Express-News</a></em>, officials of a union representing some EPA employees in Houston said they were told that the 41,000 square-foot lab could be shuttered by 2020. The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-region-6s-environmental-services-branch-laboratory" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Region 6 Environmental Services Laboratory</a>, which serves Texas and four adjacent states, devotes most of its work to testing water and soil samples from Superfund fund sites across the region.</p>
<p>The lab will not outright close either due to budget cuts or as part of the Trump Administration’s goal to <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/2017/03/trump-cheat-sheet-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">eviscerate the agency</a>. Rather, the facility’s lease is up for renewal in 2020 and the EPA has simply decided it no longer needs the space. Reporter Bill Lambrecht said 12 employees have already been offered buyout packages; to date three of them have accepted.</p>
<p>If the Houston lab closes, then the only options are to arrange for the samples to be tested by independent contractors, or to send them to the next closest lab, which is about 400 miles away in Ada, Oklahoma.</p>
<p>That decision has not gone over well with local EPA employees. In addition, other organizations have also singled out the closure for criticism, noting that the lab would close even though the post-hurricane recovery effort would still not be completed until well after the end of this decade.</p>
<p>“Scott Pruitt and Donald Trump are trying to close down the offices that exist to protect us by testing water and soil samples,” said Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter Director Reggie James in a <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/09/icymi-pruitt-and-trump-seek-close-epa-lab-houston-crucial-for-recovery" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">public statement</a>. “Since Pruitt and Trump can’t defend their climate denial in the face of a climate-fueled disaster, they’re trying to shutter the very offices that serve to protect Texans from future environmental and climate disasters.”</p>
<p>The Sierra Club also noted that 13 Superfund sites had flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The local EPA lab reportedly <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/15/politics/epa-houston-hurricane-harvey/index.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">took oil and water samples</a> from several of those locations after many of them were flooded.</p>
<p>In an email to Lambrecht, David Gray, an acting deputy regional administrator for the EPA, confirmed that that the Houston lab’s lease will not be renewed, but he denied the union&#8217;s claim that the lab was slated for a complete shutdown. Without going into specifics, he explained to Lambrecht in an email, “We are looking at alternatives that will continue to provide the analytical services to support our mission critical work in the Dallas office.”</p>
<p>To be fair, the EPA operates 37 labs across the U.S., and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has <a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-347" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">long suggested</a> that some of the facilities could be consolidated. And during the waning days of the Obama Administration, the EPA <a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/686946.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">agreed</a> a reorganization was needed.</p>
<p>But the wisdom of closing a lab located in the epicenter of America’s energy and petrochemical sectors merits a closer look – especially in the wake of one of the more destructive weather events to hit the U.S. in recent years. News reports have also confirmed high levels of chemicals in the air around Houston – though critics say the EPA <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/refinery-underestimated-chemical-release-f5b9cdc251e7/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">downplayed</a> those pollution levels.</p>
<p><em>Image credit: Louis Vest/<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oneeighteen/4300348207" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Flickr</a></em></p>
<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" class="itempropwp-wrap"><!-- ItemProp WP 3.5.201706131 by Rolands Umbrovskis https://umbrovskis.com/ --><meta itemprop="name" content="In the Wake of Hurricane Harvey, Houston EPA Lab Set to Close" /><meta itemprop="headline" content="In the Wake of Hurricane Harvey, Houston EPA Lab Set to Close" /><meta itemscope itemprop="mainEntityOfPage"  itemType="https://schema.org/WebPage" itemid="https://www.triplepundit.com/2017/09/even-wake-hurricane-harvey-houston-epa-lab-set-close/"/> <meta itemprop="url" content="https://www.triplepundit.com/2017/09/even-wake-hurricane-harvey-houston-epa-lab-set-close/" /><span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-Houston-Ship-Channel.jpg" /><meta itemprop="width" content="640"/><meta itemprop="height" content="416"/></span><meta itemprop="author" content="https://www.triplepundit.com/author/leon-kaye/" /><meta itemprop="description" content="Despite the oil spills and threats of leaked chemicals across the Houston region due to flooding during and after Hurricane Harvey, a local EPA laboratory is now targeted for closure by 2020." /><meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2017-09-19 02:00:19" /><meta itemprop="dateModified" content="2017-09-18 20:38:39" /><!-- ItemProp WP 3.5.201706131 by Rolands Umbrovskis https://umbrovskis.com/ end --></span>  </div>


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        <p>Based in Fresno, California, Leon Kaye has written for TriplePundit since 2010. He has lived across the U.S., as well as in South Korea, Abu Dhabi and Uruguay. Some of Leon's work can also be found in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/leon-kaye" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer"> The Guardian</a>, <a href="http://www.sustainablebrands.com/user/79655" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer"> Sustainable Brands</a> and <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/author/leon/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">CleanTechnica</a>. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/leonkaye" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">(@LeonKaye)</a> and Instagram <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/greengopost/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">(GreenGoPost)</a>. </p>
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