Exxon's Baytown and Valero's Corpus Christi refineries top list of U.S. water polluters in 2021
Neighbors of refineries can see the glowing flares and visible plumes of air pollution rising into the sky. But water pollution often happens at gr...
Neighbors of refineries can see the glowing flares and visible plumes of air pollution rising into the sky. But water pollution often happens at ground level or below, out of sight of both local residents and environmental regulators. In a new report, the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project tallied toxic discharges of unregulated pollutants self-reported by refineries and found that seven of the nation's 10 worst polluters of total dissolved solids operated along the Texas coast. Exxon Mobil's refinery in Baytown was the top polluter in 2021, followed by a Valero Energy refinery in Corpus Christi.