Environment

Yesterday, Lubbock Compact announced an update to its Lubbock Environmental Action Plan project, with a new interactive air quality map on its website. Meanwhile, KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports North Texas businesses that contribute to poor air quality could be subject to fines. And Texas' Health and Human Services Commission has asked the state for funding to improve systems and expand staff.

The oil company Occidental Petroleum is planning to open its Stratos carbon capture facility west of Odessa next year, but some worry about the potential environmental consequences of injecting carbon dioxide underground in a region filled with old, forgotten oil wells.

Paxton’s office has accused 3M and DuPont of misrepresenting or concealing the health risks of PFAS, which have been sold for decades for use in consumer products.

The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.

With inventories, monitoring and planned upgrades in the future, those using tap water in the city of Lubbock don't have much to worry about in terms of potability. But our reporter Olivia O’Rand spoke to local experts who say those outside of the city, on well water, are at risk of ingesting high levels of arsenic.

The proposal comes after the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency said it needs more money to plug wells that are in some instances erupting.

KERA's Katherine Hobbs reports that conservationists at the Fort Worth Zoo released a record-breaking number of Texas horned lizards in the month of October. Texas Parks and Wildlife says now is the time to plant wildflowers to help our pollinators. You can find more information on what to plant in your region from the Native Plant Society of Texas at npsot.org.

The dust and wind in West Texas conspire to keep front steps and porches coated in a layer of grit. But in Socorro and other rural communities near El Paso, another nuisance has plagued residents for months: red flour beetles.

Texas lawmakers are weighing whether the law was properly applied in convicting death row inmate Robert Roberson, whose execution was blocked last week. Texas Parks and Wildlife’s annual Pollinator BioBlitz continues through October 27, celebrating the fall migration of monarch butterflies and bringing awareness to all that pollinators do for Texas.

While residents smelled rotten eggs, the state’s environmental agency said it has not detected any air pollution.