If you haven’t been diligent to read the public notices in the back pages of the newspaper, you may have missed how our future air quality is determined.
Texas LNG and recently Rio Grande LNG/Rio Bravo Pipeline Facility have applied for permits from TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) each with a small public notice displayed in the Brownsville Herald which appears to have been for one day only.
The latest LNG permit application announcement states the facility will emit the following contaminants: organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid, particulate matter including those with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less, and greenhouse gases.
The written public comment period is for one month following the publication (June 22) of the permit notice in the newspaper, so the deadline is coming up soon.
Comments must be made to TCEQ as well as a request for a public meeting. The permit numbers are 140792, PSDTX1498 and GHGPSDTX158 and can be submitted online at www.tceq. texas.gov/about/comments.html.
If you value the air you breathe and your health as well as the environmental quality of our Laguna Madre ecosystem, I urge you to comment to TCEQ.
Diane Teter Laguna Vista
Beware of barbecued bugs
Whatever happened to the good old days when our worst worries on the Fourth of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks?
A well-warranted worry, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Meat & Poultry Hotline, is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and Salmonella bugs hiding in hot dogs and hamburgers at millions of backyard barbecues.
The Hotline’s advice is to grill them longer and hotter.
Of course, they avoid mentioning that the high-temperature grilling that kills the bugs also happens to form cancer-causing compounds.
Fortunately, some forward-thinking U.S. food manufacturers have solved these issues by creating an amazing assortment of healthy and delicious veggie burgers and soy dogs.
No nasty pathogens or cancercausing compounds in these tasty plant-based foods.
They don’t even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, antibiotics, or pesticides. And, they are conveniently waiting for us at almost every supermarket.
This Fourth of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.
Sincerely, Hugh Reeser Harlingen
