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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: environmental issues along the border
TCEQ Environmental Trade FairBorder Track, May 4 2016
Stephen M. Niemeyer, P.E.Border Affairs
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Outline
• Background
• Border 101—why care about the border environment with Mexico?
• Colonias
• Air
• Regional Haze
• El Paso Air Quality
• Water
• Rio Grande
• Quantity, Quality
• Waste
• Scrap Tires
• Other
• Fracking
• Emergency Response
• Border Fence April 21 2016 ICE Presentation
Border Background
April 21 2016 ICE Presentation
Map source: “Climate Change and U.S.-Mexico Communities,” in Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States:
A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment. 2013. http://swcarr.arizona.edu/chapter/16
Colonias
Source: Texas A&M Health Science Center, https://vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu/colonias-bound-an-expedition-into-health-care-preventative-care/, 2014.
Air
April 21 2016 ICE Meeting
Big Bend National Park—view of Sierra del Carmen in Mexico
Big Bend National Park— Sierra del Carmen View—Visual Range 68 miles
Austin – low visibility from southern winds
Water
April 21 2016 ICE Meeting
Texas border region with neighboring states & Rio Grande Basin
April 21 2016 ICE MeetingSource: Rubinstein, Carlos. “The Price Texas Pays for Mexico’s
Water Debt.” Texas Water Journal. Vol. 6, No. 1 (2015). 1-10
Source: Texas Tribune Photo by: Jessica Lutz
Big Bend National Park
Carrizo Cane (Arundo Donax)
Source: Texas Tribune Photo by: Jessica Lutz
Carrizo Cane – A National Security & Environmental Issue
Waste
April 21 2016 ICE Meeting
Tire Fire in Nuevo Laredo – May 28, 2014Nuevo Laredo Tire Fire—2011
Other
2015 Environmental Trade FairBorder Track
Eagle Ford Shale
Emergency Response
Border Fence
¡Fín!
Stephen M. Niemeyer, P.E.
Border Affairs Manager and Colonias Coordinator
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-3610
