Hazardous excessive emissions spiked during Texas freeze

Texas’ environmental regulator saw a massive uptick in air emissions reports as the state froze last month, with some local plants experiencing equipment failures and power outages.

Refineries, gas plants and other such facilities are required to notify the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality when a shutdown, unscheduled maintenance or other event causes them to exceed authorized emissions limits. There were 173 such events reported to the TCEQ from Feb. 15 to 19, the days during which much…