After challenging Valero Refining-Texas, L.P.’s (Valero) air quality permit for a petroleum refinery in east Harris County, the Harris County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) and Harris County Pollution Control Services Department (HPCS) secured an agreement from Valero to:

• decrease the refinery’s annual emissions of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) by 80%;
• increase the number of the refinery’s emission tests per year;
• provide $100,000 to community projects in the area surrounding the refinery; and
• improve recordkeeping and accessibility of the refinery’s emission records.

The HCAO challenged Valero’s HCN permit—issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)—in response to residents expressing their concern, and this represents the first time Harris County has been involved with an air permit challenge for the emission of HCN.

Valero’s TCEQ permit allows it to emit HCN at its Fluid Catalytic Cracker Unit at 9701 Manchester St., Houston, TX 77012. Although HCN is a warfare agent whose illegal manufacturing, storage and transfer is banned by an international treaty, federal and state law allows refineries to emit it without meaningful emissions controls. HCAO pursued this permit challenge at the request of people living in the communities surrounding the refinery, and worked closely with HPCS to develop a settlement that best met the community’s needs for monitoring, compliance, and a lower emissions limit within the constraint of EPA’s regulations.

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee stated, “HCN is a dangerous substance and a risk factor for neurological damage to folks exposed to it. Federal and state regulations have not caught up with the science, so our County government will not sit by idly while our communities are put at risk. This settlement exceeds what current federal and state regulations require. We will continue to put Harris County residents first and protect them from toxic substances.”

Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia stated:

“For years, folks in Manchester have paid a significant price for living adjacent to this refinery and their exposure to pollutants produced by the facility. In this case, the site in question was set to increase its emissions beyond what residents usually have encountered, and this settlement helps mitigate the harm they would have experienced. The recent industry-funded grant to purchase air monitors in Precinct 2 was built on the idea of being good neighbors. I hope the folks at Valero will learn from the example we’ve set and bring a more neighborly attitude in how they do business. I am proud of the work done by County Attorney Menefee and his office to achieve this agreement. There is still much more work to do to protect the health and well-being of our community – and I intend to make sure Harris County continues to lead in that effort.”

Settlement Highlights

• Initially, the refinery’s permit allowed the emission of 512 tons per year (tpy) of HCN. Valero has agreed to an annual HCN emission limit of 100 tpy.
• Improved data and records will enable the County to better enforce the HCN emission limit.

o   Valero agreed to conduct two additional stack tests each year after the TCEQ-required stack test. The settlement requires Valero to provide stack test reports instead of only test results.

o   Valero agreed to record the hourly coke burn rate and provide the records to regulators on request. The County had the authority to demand these records but the settlement agreement serves to streamline the process and ensure the records are created.

• Valero will provide $100,000 for community projects in Manchester over the next four years to Caring for Pasadena Communities. The funds are available only for beautification in public areas, $2,000 for homeowners for relocation assistance, and donations to local schools for computers and other educational technology.

February 10, 2021 — The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and UP Art Studio invite Texas Artists to apply to the Mini Murals Program Artist Registry 2021. The program has paid local artists over $300,000 over the past five years, and it has many upcoming opportunities for commissions in 2021.

Mini Mural is an award-winning program curated and managed by UP Art Studio, a Houston-based civic art consulting firm. The program commissions artists to paint small-scale murals on traffic signal control cabinets and other utility cabinets in the right of way in diverse neighborhoods of Texas cities. Over the past five years, UP Art Studio has commissioned artists to paint more than 300 Mini Murals. Major funders have included the City of Houston, the City of Austin, and management districts.

For the first time since the program’s inception in 2015, applications will be accepted year-round and reviewed quarterly, allowing artists to apply any time.

“Together with our clients, we are so happy we can provide income to artists through our Mini Murals Program,” said UP Art Studio principal Elia Quiles. “The pandemic has hit artists hard, and we are grateful to our wonderful clients for funding programs that allowed us to pay artists in 2020”, added Noah Quiles, UP Art Studio principal.

“The Mini-Murals program has livened our urban landscape with art and has created opportunities for emerging artists to hone their craft through an investment in their creative services – their artmaking,” said Debbie McNulty, director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “We’ve seen that this has helped to launch the early creative careers of artists who have since gone on to pursue public projects on a larger scale. Among other things, the success of this program in supporting the artistic development of Houston-area artists encourages our collaborative work with UP Art Studio and Houston Public Works, as we seek more opportunities to host public artwork in communities across the city.”

“I have been in the program since the very beginning. Currently, I do just a handful of Mini Murals a year and enjoy seeing new artists come along with new brilliant designs and executions,” said Mini Murals artist Anat Ronen. “I love this project for two main reasons. First, the initiative employs a large number of artists for a large number of boxes. Second, the initiative brings art to parts of town otherwise not having any.”

How to Apply 
To apply to join the Artist Registry, artists should visit the Artist Info page at MiniMurals.org and read the following materials:

Program Overview for Artists 
Application: Mini Murals Artist Registry 
Program Rules: Mini Murals Artists 

The application form, with supporting documents, must be electronically submitted by March 15, 2021.  All applications must include a, which include a resume and examples of relevant prior work, which will be reviewed by a selection panel. Artist selected for the registry will be informed by March 30, 2021.

Artists accepted for the Registry receive ongoing notifications of Calls for Renderings. These opportunities to submit ideas for specific, funded Mini Murals commission are open only to artists in the Mini Murals Artist Registry. Responding to the Call for Artists is therefore an essential foundational step towards receiving a commission. UP Art Studio and its clients particularly seek diverse artists, with lived experience of project areas – which include many underserved areas that historically have been home to people of color.

Applications received after the March 15 deadline will be held for consideration by the review panel until the next Call occurs.

For more information, contact info@UPartStudio.org.

To arrange for media coverage, please contact Elia Quiles at 713.614.1605 or elia@upartstudio.org.

UP Art Studio is a Houston, Texas-based civic art and creative placemaking firm that provides professional services and partnerships to the public, nonprofit, and private sectors, locally and nationally. Learn more about UP Art Studio at http://www.upartstudio.org/.

For more information about the City’s Cultural Programs, visit www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs or follow the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs on Facebook or Instagram @HoustonMOCA.

 FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MEGA SITES TO BEAT BACK AND FIGHT COVID-19 IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COVID-19 DELIVERY ACT OF 2021

“Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee and Chair of the Coronavirus Task Force further acknowledges the hard work of local elected officials, our Mayor, our County Judge, other members of Congress, and other local officials for the continued fight to vaccinate vulnerable communities. Thank God we are now going to be able to independently reach thousands of people a day with a six thousand dose allotment from FEMA. After this pilot, FEMA will look at smaller mega sites in minority and vulnerable communities in the surrounding areas. This follows the framework of Congresswoman Jackson Lee’s legislation, the COVID-19 Delivery Act of 2021.”

 HOUSTON, TX – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District of Texas, is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, the Budget, and Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Coronavirus Task Force makes the following announcement:

FEMA is establishing mass community vaccination sites in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Houston. These federal pilot sites (AT&T Stadium, Fair Park, and NRG Stadium) are part of a joint effort to support vaccination efforts in underserved areas. The sites will be operated by FEMA in partnership with the state of Texas through the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and local officials.

Preparations and buildout of these three locations is now underway, and the sites are expected to be open to eligible members of the public beginning February 24. Registration for vaccine appointments at these three sites will be available through each of the local jurisdiction’s vaccination scheduling systems in the coming days.

The goal of establishing these joint federal pilot sites is to continue to vaccinate more Texans in an efficient, effective, and equitable manner, with an explicit focus on making sure that communities with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection are not left behind. The state will closely monitor vaccination uptake at each of these sites and will work with local and federal partners to make real-time decisions to ensure the best utilization of the additional vaccines that have been made available.

“It is time to get fully operable in fighting COVID-19 across the nation with an effective distribution protocol for getting vaccinations to millions of people as fast as possible. I am very pleased that Houston and Dallas were on the President’s radar to receive these pilot mega sites. Getting vaccinated will help stop the community spread and save lives!” said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Read the full bill text of the COVID-19 Delivery Act of 2021 here.