"Eight-month investigation reveals that the Texas State Legislature is more intent on protecting the industry than protecting residents' health."
"KARNES CITY, Texas—When Lynn Buehring leaves her doctor's office in San Antonio she makes sure her inhaler is on the seat beside her, then steers her red GMC pickup truck southeast on U.S. 181, toward her home on the South Texas prairie.
About 40 miles down the road, between Poth and Falls City, drilling rigs, crude oil storage tanks and flares trailing black smoke appear amid the mesquite, live oak and pecan trees. Depending on the speed and direction of the wind, a yellow-brown haze might stretch across the horizon, filling the car with pungent odors. Sometimes Buehring's eyes burn, her chest tightens and pain stabs at her temples. On those days, she touches her inhaler for reassurance.
In another five miles Buehring, 58, passes into Karnes County, where she was born and once figured on living out her retirement, surrounded by a calm broken only by an occasional thunderstorm."
Lisa Song, Jim Morris, and David Hasemyer report for InsideClimate News, the Center for Public Integrity, and the Weather Channel February 18, 2014.
SEE ALSO:
"Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale: Big Oil and Bad Air on the Texas Prairie" (Weather Channel)
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