Reply #1: FYI-- I found this in the Environment Forum

[cosmik debris]

I don't mean to hi-jack your thread, but I thought this was relevant and educational.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-pollution_10pro.ART0.North.Edition1.2c2e878.html

Group says pollution studies are tainted

Inquiry sought on firm analyzing coal plans for state, working for TXU


08:52 AM CDT on Thursday, August 10, 2006

By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News

A watchdog group wants Dallas-Fort Worth legislators to investigate how an environmental company got to work on state-funded pollution studies while it also consulted for TXU on a planned new coal-burning power plant.

Environ Corp. is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's chief consultant on air quality studies across East Texas, including studies on the possible impact of new coal plants for which several companies are seeking permits.

The company also provided expert testimony for TXU in a recent permit hearing for the power company's planned Oak Grove plant in Robertson County. TXU would own 11 of the 16 new coal-burning power units proposed statewide.

On Thursday, the environmental and consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, seeking an investigation by local legislators, called Environ's dual consulting role a "breathtaking conflict of interest with significant consequences" for air quality.

"We shouldn't trust TXU's paid contractor to tell the state whether the pollution from ... proposed coal plants will make the air unsafe over the Dallas-Fort Worth area," said Public Citizen's Texas director, Tom "Smitty" Smith.