Harris County may turn to federal courts to crack down on Valero’s air pollution violations

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  Perla Trevizo June 24, 2019

The Harris County Attorney’s office, concerned about what it says is a history of environmental violations by Valero Energy Corp., will seek permission Tuesday to sue the refinery operator in federal court.

The county already has a lawsuit pending in state district court, but Rock Owens, Harris County's chief environmental prosecutor, said that is limited to a single emissions event. The federal case would cover a five-year history of violations of federal law.

The Harris County attorney is asking the commissioners court on Tuesday for permission to file what is called a citizen environmental lawsuit that seeks injunctive relief and/or penalties and attorney’s fees against the company “in order to compel compliance with environmental law.”

“The goal is to obtain federal court orders that will help reduce the refinery’s negative impact on the Manchester community,” Owens said, referring to the community in southeastern Houston.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-County-may-turn-to-federal-courts-to-crack-14039759.php

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Having worked lots of lawsuits, I found most of the goals in a lawsuit like this is the discovery phase, as a forced order for Valero for years of its files is a rich treasure trove for lawyers to find big instances of inconsistency.

It is a feeding frenzy as there will always be something found that can then be used to identify additional issues with Valero operations.