See you in court.

​Harris County attorney Vince Ryan announced he's suing a collection of companies for 45 years' worth of pollution in the San Jacinto River, and he's asking for up to $25,000 a day in penalties.

Ryan is suing International Paper Company, Waste Management, Inc., Waste Management of Texas, Inc. and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corporation over the disposal pits near the I-10 crossing of the river.

"When I took office, I asked community residents and leaders to name one thing I could
do to improve the environment in Harris County," Ryan said. "Cleaning up the San Jacinto River Waste Pits was, without a doubt, the thing almost everyone agreed upon."

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​Area school districts and cities had to be breathing a big sigh of relief today as news came out that the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said "no" to handing out large tax breaks to Valero that would have made things even worse for cash-strapped government bodies.

Mark Vickery, in letters first obtained by the Associated Press, said that the oil company had not made its case that its special hydrotreating equipment was enough of a boon to the environment that Valero should receive a tax exemption for installing it.

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Photos and video by Monica Fuentes

Don't get this duck angry.

​If ExxonMobil collapses by the end of the day into bankruptcy, with company executives begging for forgiveness for their polluting ways, all the credit should go to a giant inflatable duck.

The duck is being displayed across the street from ExxonMobil's downtown headquarters, and if it doesn't bring results, we don't know what will.

The animal is symbolic of the "favorite bath toy often made with polyvinyl chloride, which contains toxic chemicals," says the announcement by the umbrella group doing the inflating.

"ExxonMobil should stop its toxic toying around with our children's health," said Mike Schade from the Center for Health, Environment, & Justice (CHEJ). "Rather than lobbying government officials to protect their corporate profits at the expense of children's health, ExxonMobil should invest in safer chemicals that are healthier for children, workers and communities."

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Keystone XL: Coming to Texas

​Houston-based Cardno Entrix is the latest target of scrutiny in the newest allegations of cronyism surrounding TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline project. A group of U.S. senators has called for an investigation into the State Department's handling of the Keystone XL permitting process, dragging the local environmental consultant company into the national spotlight last week.

At issue is the State Department's selection of the firm to produce the Keystone XL Environmental Impact Study (E.I.S.) and National Interest Determination (N.I.D.) reports -- research used to evaluate TransCanada's permit application. In August, Cardno Entrix submitted their final E.I.S. report concluding that the proposed plan to construct the 1,700-mile pipeline through six states from Canada to Texas would have "limited adverse environmental impacts." The "environmentally acceptable" recommendation gives the State Department the green light to recommend the permit be granted. It's the final approval TransCanada needs to start tearing up trees and laying pipe.

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The Texas City blast

​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has announced that BP has agreed to pay a $50 million fine "for unlawfully emitting pollutants during and after the March 2005 explosion" at its Texas City plant.

The civil penalties come two years after BP paid $50 million to resolve federal criminal charges.

"The proposed agreement resolves the State's enforcement actions against BP Products for unlawful pollutant emissions at its Texas City refinery," Abbott said. "The Texas Attorney General's Office is committed to protecting our State's precious natural resources by enforcing environmental pollution laws. The proposed agreement reflects the State's commitment to protecting air quality and holding polluters accountable for illegal emissions."

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​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them.

So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even.

This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit, clarity and whatever else we feel like at the moment.

We told you about Shell Chemical paying the county $500,000 for not informing it of five pollution incidents at their Deer park plant.

One reader seemed to know why the misunderstanding occurred.

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Shell pays up.

​Shell Chemical has settled a threatened lawsuit over not notifying Harris County of five pollution incidents at its Deer Park plant, County Attorney Vince Ryan has announced.

"The failure of a company as large and prestigious as Shell to notify the county of serious air-pollution releases was unacceptable," Ryan said. "We are pleased that the company has accepted its responsibility and has agreed to work with us in the future."

Shell did notify state authorities of the incidents, which occurred between April 2008 and March 2010. But Ryan says it was also required to notify the Harris County Pollution Control Services Department.

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Fighting with the feds over who gets that sweet, sweet oil.

​The energy world is marveling today at news that ExxonMobil's recent discovery in the Gulf of Mexico could contain up to a billion barrels of oil.

"The only thing that surprised the energy industry more than Exxon Mobil Corp.'s mammoth oil find in the Gulf of Mexico is that it kept its size quiet for so long," the Wall Street Journal said.

The company had announced a major find called the Julia field in 2008, but the massive size of it did not become known until ExxonMobil sued the U.S. government over its decision to cancel the company's leases.

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Time for revenge.

​The owner of a Palacios fish farm was found guilty of killing 90 protected brown pelicans and a slew of other birds, the U.S. Attorney's Office says.

Khanh Vu, the owner of Seaside Aquaculture Inc., faces a fine of up to $15,000 and six months in prison for his conviction.

Investigators found shotgun shells and the carcasses of birds on his property after a tip, but there was a good explanation: "At trial, the defense unsuccessfully attempted to convince the jury that the birds had died as a result of running into power lines," the USAO says.

Brown pelicans were not the only targets who were apparently threatening Vu's fish.

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Charge it up.

​We can't say we've exactly seen the electric-car charging stations at various Walgreens around the town, but we'll take the company's word that they exist.

And now the rest of the nation will be following in Houston's footsteps, as the drug giant expands the concept to more than 800 locations nationwide by the end of the year.

The EV stations, where customers pay to charge up their cars in about the amount of time it would take to go and spend some money in a Walgreens, will be coming to Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

"Consumer interest and enthusiasm has been incredible and we're excited to provide locations to charge up in neighborhoods across the country," said Walgreens' Mark Wagner. "Walgreens will make up as much as 40 percent of all public EV charging stations across the country, making it easy for EV drivers to look to our stores for a quick charge near major highways, metropolitan areas or right in their neighborhood."

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