DMN INVESTIGATES

Different types of concerns are on residents' minds in two different suburbs:

1. Arlington's mayor and council members have reaped free tickets and food at the city's luxury suite at publicly subsidized Cowboys Stadium, the Star-Telegram reports. The market value of the "perk of the office," as one leader called it, is around $400,000. Some observers fear this creates a conflict of interest.

2. In Frisco, residents living near a battery-recycling plant continue to worry that their health is at risk. The News' Valerie Wigglesworth and Matthew Haag cite study results from 15 years ago that found 45 children had "lead levels that today are linked to myriad health issues, from learning disabilities to behavior problems to brain damage."

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1. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found levels of cancer-causing benzene in the air at North Texas sites impacted by Barnett Shale gas drilling, The News and other outlets reported. A state official said there was no "widespread air-quality issue." But the mayor of one Denton County town faulted the state's testing, saying it didn't get enough samples from populated areas because "I don't think they want to find anything."

2. The board of Dallas County's public hospital, Parkland Memorial, is standing by the bonuses -- I forgot, we're supposed to call these incentives -- paid to executives worth 19 percent to 31 percent of their base pay. That caused consternation last week among rank-and-file employees. The hospital had cut jobs recently and handed them merit raises of mostly 2 percent.

3. The Dallas County district attorney's investigation of misconduct allegations inside constable offices produced its first charges Wednesday. Among other things, Lt. Howard Watson was accused of coercing sex from two women in exchanging for not arresting them. He has been unavailable for comment.

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An environmental group says yes -- and that adds to the list of concerns about gas drilling activity in the lucrative Barnett Shale covering western Dallas-Fort Worth.

The News' Randy Lee Loftis writes that companies can use a certain type of unregulated fluid that has high levels of benzene -- which can cause leukemia and other disorders -- as part of the drilling process. Some residents in Denton and Tarrant counties were already worried about drilling's impact on the air, drinking water and safety. In some cases, research backed up their worries.

A spokeswoman for the Texas Railroad Commission told Randy that state rules have prevented cases of groundwater contamination. So the agency "does not see a need to monitor fracturing fluids," she said.

Do you have thoughts on drilling in the Barnett Shale or have tips on other stories? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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Hope you had a better holiday weekend than the three subjects of today's blog post.

1. Another public servant in trouble: A former Irving police officer pleaded guilty to defrauding a Housing and Urban Development program that sought to revitalize slumping neighborhoods by enticing law enforcers to live there with a 50 percent discount off the list price on a home.

2. Were you customers of these electric providers -- Pre-Buy Electric of Grapevine and National Power Inc. of Houston? If so, you may be due a refund after the Texas Public Utility Commission penalized each nearly $2 million.

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A new report Tuesday reiterates what anyone who drives by the Trinity River in Dallas and inhales already knows: It's icky. Filled-with-junk-from-sewage-treatment-plants icky.

The News' Randy Lee Loftis reminds us in his story that this is merely the latest dinging the Trinity has taken.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality -- an agency frequently accused of having a light touch -- previously deemed the river unsafe for extended human contact because of a high level of pollutants.

Not the kind of assessments Dallas city leaders want to hear as they seek to develop the Trinity into a business and recreation destination.

The air near a North Texas natural gas drilling operation had over five times more benzene than the state considers safe for short-term exposure, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today.

A Texas Commission on Environmental Quality official told the paper that the level "is the equivalent of a person sniffing a can of gasoline." Benzene can cause leukemia and other disorders.

The air sample was taken near a tank that collects drilling byproducts. The tank was described as being seven miles west of the tiny Denton County town of DISH (right) -- near the Denton-Wise county line, in other words, and a few miles north of the Tarrant County border.

DISH commissioned its own tests and posted results on its Web site.

TCEQ says it doesn't know how widespread the problem is and wants to do more tests. Drilling has become quite common in the Barnett Shale gas field, sometimes very near homes.

Drilling companies say they support more testing. Some have questioned whether their wells emit hydrocarbon vapors.

Do you have a tip about drilling? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Here is a look at some of the interesting public-interest stories from over the weekend:

1. Frisco officials worry that expansion of Exide Technologies' battery recycling plant could increase lead pollution, The News' Matthew Haag and Valerie Wigglesworth report. As it now stands, lead emissions from the plant (shown right) make Collin County "one of only 18 counties nationwide not expected to meet new, more stringent air-quality standards." Exide has told the state that production increases won't raise emissions.

2. The investigation into two Dallas County constables gets weirder. Last week, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster ordered records seized from one of the two, Jaime Cortes. But, wait: Those must be returned after a judge sided with Cortes, who argued Foster lacked authority to take the materials.

3. The Catholic Diocese of Dallas is paying out $4.65 million to five more abuse victims, The News' Sam Hodges tells us.

Do you have tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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Public Citizen's lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, filed Tuesday in Travis County District Court, cites arguments identical to those that the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed in a 2007 federal case.

That case was Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. Public Citizen also added some twists to reflect Texas law.

"We just took a page out of Massachusetts v. EPA, said Tom "Smitty" Smith, Public Citizen's Texas director.

In brief, the suit says the law requires Texas regulators to take action to curb any harmful emissions, including carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases -- harmful, the argument goes, because global warming brings a host of problems for human and ecological health.

The TCEQ has declined to do so, and Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints the state agency's commissioners, strongly opposes regulating CO2.

TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw, Ph.D., issued a statement in response to Public Citizen's suit. Here it is, in full:

"The science on global warming is far from settled. Neither Congress nor the EPA have been able to promulgate final rules on greenhouse gas regulation. What is certain is that if done incorrectly, CO2 regulations will impose great costs on Texas, without any guarantee of a measurable environmental benefit. Reducing CO2 in Texas will do nothing to lower CO2 globally, but will have the effect of sending U.S. jobs to China and India."

With little but a disco-era law standing between vulnerable people like children and about 80,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States, it's probably time for a regulatory makeover. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson promised one Tuesday when she outlined the Obama administration's principles for rewriting the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

As my story in today's paper notes, Texas is the heart of the U.S. chemical industry, especially along the Gulf Coast from Beaumont-Port Arthur (right) to Corpus Christi.

The toxic substances law regulates chemicals as they come into contact with people through products or industrial uses. Risks from chemical emissions into the air fall under the Clean Air Act.

The EPA said Wednesday it will conduct an administrative review of the controversial standard for ozone that the agency, under the previous president, adopted in 2008.

Translation: The Obama administration thinks its predecessor dropped the ball on the air pollutant that aflicts the most Americans -- residents of Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas' other big metro areas included.

The 2008 standard allows no more than 75 parts per billion of ozone, which cooks up when the sun heats industrial and vehicle emissions, in the air you breathe. That was lower than the previous standard from 1997, which allowed no more than 80 ppb (actually, 85, with rounding of the numbers.)

That might look like a significant step forward for clean air, and that's how the Bush administration portrayed it. The problem, however, was that the EPA's external science advisors, recruited mostly from universities and private research groups, unanimously said anything more than 60-70 ppb would endanger public health.

When new Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson came to Dallas this spring on a getting-to-know-you trip, she signaled that she had problems with the way Texas was handling air pollution permits. Today the EPA showed that it's serious about demanding some Texas reforms.

The agency said it was nixing three Texas permitting programs. The ones in the crosshairs deal with permits for industrial facilities. Basically, the EPA says the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality hasn't been doing enough to make sure companies don't dress up major changes to their plants, which trigger much more intense regulatory scrutiny, as minor ones that get less attention. Aspects of Texas' programs don't meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act, the EPA said.

In a statement, TCEQ Executive Director Mark Vickery said the programs the EPA targeted "have proven to be extremely successful in the reduction of air emissions in Texas." Vickery said he'll work to resolve the differences, but he also poked the federal agency by saying that "our environment is too important to be a casualty of the bureaucratic process."

Today's Hot Links focus on some lurking dangers:

1. A new study raises questions about the promotional campaign for a cervical cancer vaccine that Gov. Rick Perry unsuccessfully tried to mandate for Texas girls. Gardasil manufacturer Merck funded messages by medical groups that "did not address the full complexity of the issues surrounding the vaccine and did not provide balanced recommendations on risks and benefits," the study says. It was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2. Lake-wrecking zebra mussels are emerging in North Texas, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reports. What is to be done about these little pests, which can clog public water-supply pipes?

Do you have a tip about public health? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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I saw the documentary, "Food Inc.," last week. It was a great piece of reporting, exploring the rarely seen underbelly of our food-production system and how Corporate America's influence is creating consequences felt by you and me. The film resonated when I saw these stories over the weekend:

1. Food and Drug Administration data found that "deviations" from good food-manufacturing processes were found in nearly a third of 16,500 safety inspections during the last fiscal year, the Chicago Tribune reported.

2. So you want to eat organic food and are willing to pay the higher price. Can you be sure you're getting what you're buying? The agency responsible for ensuring such authenticity is overworked and understaffed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Do you have a tip these or other subjects? Send me an e-mail or leave me a comment.

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I reported last month that after getting a congressional skewering, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a clumsily named arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was planning another look at possible health effects of Midlothian's industrial air pollution.

The ATSDR says it began that effort on Monday. Researchers from the University of North Texas will be calling a random sample of Midlothian residents. From those, the agency is looking for 100 people to agree to longer interviews next week.

The goal is to get the public's suggestions in advance on how the federal agency and the Texas state health department should conduct the new air pollution review. That in itself is a shift from past practice. Another change: ATSDR officials at first said the health of local animals wasn't relevant to looking at local pollution. This time, animals will play a role.

A number of grassroots groups are out to scuttle the application of John Hall, a former top Texas environmental official, to be regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. That's because Hall has been working as a lobbyist for more than a decade, representing big petrochemical companies, Waste Management, and other firms that frequently clash with anti-pollution activists.

The opponents contend that Hall -- who has made as much as $9 million as a lobbyist since 1998 -- is hopelessly conflicted out of running the EPA in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. They also weren't thrilled with his tenure as chairman of the old Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, predecessor of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, from 1991-95.

They plan a press conference Tuesday morning outside the EPA's regional office in downtown Dallas.

Hall defends his performance in state office and his work as a lobbyist. He says he has scrupulously avoided conflicts of interest.

Like sand through the hourglass, these are the Hot Links of our day:

1. If you missed this yesterday, don't miss it now: My enterprising colleagues Lee Hancock and Katie Fairbank showed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has known for decades about sand issues related to Dallas' levees. But now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the agency is finally digging for more info. That could mean many millions in extra expenses for the Trinity River Corridor Project.

2. Friday's Hot Link #2 wondered about the safety of DART's automated systems that are supposed to keep trains from getting too close to one another. Here are some answers from transit agency spokesman Morgan Lyons, courtesy of Dallas Morning News transportation writer Michael Lindenberger. These questions are on our minds, of course, because of last week's Metrorail disaster in DC that killed nine people.

Do you have a tip about the Trinity project? Commuter trains? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

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With a new crew in the White House and running the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal folks are talking tough about how Texas regulates emissions from big industrial plants.

They've suggested that they might take away Texas' authority to manage federal air pollution permits -- unlikely, based on history, but still a pretty effective attention-getter.

Environmental groups are generally delighted; Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Commission on Environmental Regulation, not so much.

You can read more in my story from today's printed edition.

Let's catch up on a few public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Information = immunity for airline workers who report safety violations. But government regulators have tolerated "inconsistent use" and "potential abuse" of the reporting program, The Dallas Morning News' Dave Michaels writes. His story is based on a federal safety audit that began after a Texas mechanic checking on an oil leak was sucked into a jet engine.

2. Abuse of mentally disabled people at the Corpus Christi State School was far worse than state officials claimed, records obtained by Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Emily Ramshaw show.

3. I see Dallas smokers toss their butts on the ground every day, and it drives me nuts. But is San Francisco's new plan -- a 33 cents-per-pack trash tax -- the way to go?

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

With ozone season kicking off Friday, it's time for a review of how North Texas is doing on knocking smog out of the skies. ("Smog," by the way, is a non-technical but apt word for the gunk in the air. In most places, including Dallas-Fort Worth, ozone is the main component of smog, so many people swap the terms in casual usage.)

The main problem is that there's no one right way to measure progress against smog. The official version says Dallas-Fort Worth is making pretty good progress. The American Lung Association, in its 10th annual State of the Air report being released Wednesday, finds things getting worse.

As is so often the case, both versions of reality arise from the same raw data. It's just shaken and stirred with different goals in mind.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. I'm always interested when a lawmaker speaks candidly about dealings with lobbyists. Doesn't happen often. State Rep. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie explained to The News' Robert Garrett today why he sponsored a bill that would have saved one of his ex-colleagues' clients big bucks. "I was just trying to help [him] out."

2. A state rep says he will call for an impeachment vote on Texas' highest criminal court judge, Sharon Keller, before the legislative session ends. The last several months haven't been pleasant for the controversial judge.

3. So what are the state senators up to? The Star-Telegram reports that a group of them has asked Gov. Rick Perry to review Texas' environmental agency, which they say is too close to the businesses it regulates. Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth cites the agency's recent decision to renew the permit for TXI's Midlothian cement plant. An agency spokesman says it has "aggressive enforcement" that is "leading to a cleaner environment."

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Can Dr. Alfred Gilman make Texas' cancer-research dreams come true? Dallas Morning News science expert Sue Goetinck Ambrose says he's quitting as dean of UT Southwestern's medical school in hopes that he can. But funding is a huge question mark, as Sue recently showed.

2. Big corporations that questioned whether fossil-fuel emissions contributed to global warming ignored their own scientific advisers, The New York Times reports.

3. URGENT! Can we get an investigative reporter to check this out? Seriously, this Austin American-Statesman headline is the funniest thing I've seen in a newspaper for a while:

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a couple of public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Bad timing for the feds: A top lawyer in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Fort Worth office has been charged with assaulting a police officer. J. Kevin Edmundson is one of the attorneys who's supposed to be focusing on the fraud case against Texas billionaire Allen Stanford. Yes, Stanford's Web site is still up today, but a note on it warns: "As of April 24, 2009, the Stanford Financial website will be redirected to www.stanfordfinancialreceivership.com."

2. Change in our winds? The EPA wants deep cuts in cement kilns' emissions of mercury and other pollutants, Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Randy Lee Loftis reports. What will that mean for the kilns in Midlothian, whose emissions often blow right toward nearby Dallas? Stay tuned.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. One item stands out in the Associated Press' report on manufacturers releasing pharmaceuticals into U.S. rivers and lakes that often supply our drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't require the companies to report when they do this. Last year, AP first reported trace amounts of drugs were found in drinking water, including here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

2. Credit-card companies are attracting a lot of attention from Washington. And not the good kind. The Obama administration is planning a crackdown on companies that it says deceive some Americans into paying "extraordinarily high" interest rates. This comes as Congress mulls a credit card "bill of rights" that would require greater disclosure of terms, Reuters reports.

3. The nation's patchwork food safety system makes it difficult to quickly pinpoint causes of outbreaks like the kinds that have struck peanuts and pistachios this year, experts tell The New York Times. A major cause: Each state investigates and inspects differently. "It's a huge challenge," said an associate commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. OK, the good news first: No one has been hurt since stadium lighting poles (like the one pictured here) started falling at Texas high schools. But the rest of this investigative report from Cox Newspapers is terrifying. Denton, Tarrant and Ellis counties are among those where tragedy nearly has struck. The steel poles have a common -- and unregulated -- manufacturing lineage.

2. Bedford resident Jan Tidwell, a reader of this blog, sent us a frantic post yesterday. The local power company wanted to chop down her old oak trees. Dallas Morning News reporter Sherry Jacobson and videographer Nathan Hunsinger hustled to craft these balanced looks at the situation. Is Oncor overzealous in cutting trees near power lines? Or are homeowners like Jan putting shade ahead of safety?

3. We've been trying to avoid the White House puppy story, reasoning that there were too many other reporters covering this trivia. But Dallas Morning News reporter Jeffrey Weiss changed our mind today with a look at the risks associated with the Obamas' North Texas-bred pooch.

Here are some of today's interesting stories from The Dallas Morning News and around the Web to help your water cooler conversation:

1. News environmental writer Randy Lee Loftis has a complete report on an item we blogged yesterday: a state panel's permit renewal for TXI's cement plant in Midlothian. Meanwhile, the Texas Senate tentatively approved a clean-air bill.

2. Texas' own, Lance Armstrong, is again fending off accusations by France's anti-doping agency. Doctors said the legendary cyclist violated testing rules but did not find he used performance-enhancing drugs. He said he did nothing wrong.

3. The News' Editorial Board opposes legislation to remove state workers' date-of-birth information from Texas' open-records law. We've blogged about how this will limit government accountability and fail to address ID theft concerns, lawmakers' stated purpose for the bill.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Two members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality refused a colleague's call for a public hearing today and outvoted him to renew the permit of TXI's cement plant in Midlothian.

News environment writer Randy Lee Loftis is reporting that panel Chairman Buddy Garcia and Commissioner Bryan Shaw said TXI's plant -- the region's largest industrial source of air pollution -- had a good compliance record. Both added that TXI had been responsive to public complaints over smog and other concerns.

Those concerns led the third commissioner, Larry Soward, to push for a hearing during a commission meeting in Austin. Soward wanted to review whether TXI's permit was consistent with federal smog rules and new pollution control methods, Randy reports.

TXI attorney Al Axe, who was allowed to address the commissioners over Soward's objection, said the public has had chances to express opinions.

What do you think of the commission's decision not to allow a public hearing? Do you support TXI's permit renewal?

Investigative reporters are always looking for new data sources online. My favorite discovery today: The Environmental Protection Agency's recently launched list of criminal fugitives.

The one Texas case on the list involves Raul Chavez-Beltran. He's accused of helping bring mercury-contaminated soil and other hazardous waste into El Paso from Mexico.

Why not just dump it in Mexico? The EPA site doesn't detail the case. We've asked a spokesman for more info. Stay tuned.

Texas ranks 49th nationally in per-capita spending on parks, a distinction won after years of the Legislature diverting their funding elsewhere. It reminds me again of our "State of Neglect" series, which showed how Texas government frequently falls short.

A state advisory committee recommended in 2006 that lawmakers start using sales-tax dollars intended for parks on parks, which would increase spending by up to $85 million. The money would help fix equipment that had fell into disrepair through wear and tear, hire more employees and buy park land for the first time since 1967.

State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville succeeded a year later in winning money for parks and historical sites. He's back this year with House Bill 7, which The Dallas Morning News' editorial board supported today.

Legislative neglect aside, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has not done itself favors. The State Auditor's Office found in 2007 that the agency lost out on $16 million in revenue by giving undocumented discounts to visitors and not collecting after-hours entrance fees. Auditors for the state and department had dinged the department on the issues going back to the 1990s.

"The delay in addressing these weaknesses is not attributed to particular individuals but, rather, is a reflection of the State Parks Division's limited expertise in business and fiscal management."

Do you support the increase in parks funding? Do you think the department can manage its own financial house? Can't decide: then read the legislation itself after the jump.