Snapshot: Divisible Governance in Calhoun County, TX

Consider the tangle of different government and public-facing agencies involved in Calhoun County: 

1. The US Environmental Protection Agency continues to manage the Alcoa Superfund site. 

2. The Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency with responsibilities for civil works focused on navigation, flood and storm damage protection, and aquatic ecosystem restoration, is responsible for port-related projects. The Corps of Engineering is infamous for cost-benefit led approaches that privilege commerce over ecology. 

3. The Calhoun Port Authority, responsible for operating the port, has a banner on their webpage that describes their approach: With “Deep expertise in petrochemicals, Our world-class port helps petrochemical companies save time and money” (Calhoun Port Authority 2023).  

4. The US EPA has threatened to revoke Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)’ right to permit because its record has favored industry. 

5. Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) game wardens are especially reviled by local fishermen for stewarding the bays in ways that make it impossible to earn a living.

6. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) comes to the county when plants blow up and kill workers, with rare visits otherwise.

Researchers writing about the development of the shale gas industry in Northern Australia argue that this tangle of agencies and authorities responsive for environmental governance in Calhoun County–each with its own mandate, jurisdiction, culture and expertise–fragments and capitalizes on the problem, undercutting environmental stewardship of the region. They call this “divisible governance”, a tactic used to undercut the public’s ability to conceive and reign in the environmental risks produced by fossil fuel industries. This makes defragmentation an important political strategy and goal.

 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What are the different government agencies responsible for environmental governance in Calhoun County? What have they done or not done?

• What is divisible governance? Why is it important for environmental justice?

• What can be done to address divisible governance?