TCEQ member reappointed amid opposition
May 6, 2009
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and several other Senate Demo crats failed Tuesday to block the reappointment of a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Written by Andrew Kreighbaum, The El Paso Times
Shaw
AUSTIN -- Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and several other Senate Demo crats failed Tuesday to block the reappointment of a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Bryan Shaw took part in the agency's decision in 2008 to grant Asarco a permit to reopen its smelting plant in El Paso, inactive since 1999. The decision later was reversed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Shaw, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University, was appointed to TCEQ's three-member commission by Gov. Rick Perry in November 2007.
Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said the Senate should start cleaning up the agency by rejecting Shaw's reappointment. The Senate, though, voted 22-7 in favor of Shaw's nomination. His term will expire in 2013.
Shapleigh said the Asarco decision was tainted by illegal communications between commissioners and the company. Moreover, Shapleigh said, the agency in general had been lax in protecting air quality.
"On a whole array of permits, the TCEQ has applied the wrong standards, and the EPA has consistently come back to say what you're doing in the state of Texas is illegal," Shapleigh said.
Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, rose to Shaw's defense. He said that Shaw was the best-qualified candidate the Senate had ever received for the TCEQ commission, and that Shapleigh's criticisms were unfair.
"People wonder why good people aren't willing to serve their government," Ogden said. "This is an example of why we have trouble trying to attract top talent."
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said Shaw's questioning of the scientific consensus on man's role in global warming was a serious concern.
"Something is going to happen in our country on the federal level, and it's going to be fairly dramatic," Ellis said. "It's important for the TCEQ to take a leadership role on this issue."
Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, said that Shaw could not be blamed for every problem at TCEQ, and that the agency merely interprets the Legislature's environmental policies.
Ellis and Shapleigh last month signed a letter with Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, asking Republican Gov. Perry to create an agencywide review of TCEQ to make sure federal and state laws are being observed.
After the Senate vote, Shapleigh said he may go above the TCEQ in the future to make sure his concerns with the agency are addressed.
"Right now, we are working with the EPA on corrective measures to the Texas TCEQ," he said.
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