State regulators have ordered Houston’s housing authority to pay a $175,000 penalty and continue soil cleanup efforts after toxic ash was found next to a newly-constructed affordable housing complex.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s vote last week completed an agreement that was over a year in the making. Housing officials ran afoul of the environmental agency in 2024 when it determined they had uncovered ash with dangerous lead levels during construction, failed to properly test for contamination and did not notify the state.
Since then, the city’s housing officials have conducted new soil sampling around the complex and begun remediation…