Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here.

By the time emergency medical providers reached McBride Operating in Waskom, Texas, a small town near the Louisiana border, it was too late. Pedro Julian Garcia, a father of two, died after being struck by a pump valve at the oilfield waste company on the night of Feb. 6, 2024. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors later found McBride had not adequately trained Garcia. They uncovered a host of other problems, from hazardous extension cords to missing safety paperwork. McBride, headquartered in Longview, paid over $32,000 in fines to OSHA for a dozen workplace safety violations and separately settled a civil lawsuit filed by Garcia’s family. 

McBride’s operations had already generated controversy in the tiny town—Garcia’s death is one in a series of worker safety and environmental incidents in the five years McBride has operated in Waskom. Pedro Leyva, an attorney with Glasheen, Valles and Inderman Injury Lawyers who represented Garcia’s family, called McBride a “bad operator” with aging equipment held together by “Band-aid” fixes in an interview. Prior to the fatality, McBride settled another lawsuit in 2024 with another employee who sustained two on-the-job injuries. Neither party admitted wrongdoing. 

(Photos/OSHA, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office )

Charlie Rose, a spokesman for McBride Operating, described Garcia’s death as “a heartbreaking loss.” Rose said McBride “is deeply committed to safety, compliance, and operational excellence across all of our facilities.” He declined further comment on the accident.

The Railroad Commission of Texas, a state agency that oversees oil and gas facilities in Texas, has separately documented dozens of violations of its rules at the McBride facility in Waskom, including improper disposal of waste and spills of hazardous materials. There were so many problems that earlier this year, the agency denied McBride’s application to renew its Waskom operating permit. But in late July, the Railroad Commission and McBride reached a settlement, which gave the company 90 days to provide agency staff with an engineering plan to implement the agreed upon remedies. 

Yet even as those problems unfolded, the Railroad Commission greenlit expansion by issuing permits for McBride to operate more oilfield waste landfills in the nearby East Texas towns of Paxton and Elysian Fields.

The oil and gas industry is a major employer in East Texas, which is part of the Haynesville shale basin. Workers at oilfield waste disposal sites use heavy machinery and can be exposed to dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas. 

Hundreds of trucks transport drilling waste between gas wells and the Waskom facility every day. The trucks can be loaded with water or oil-based drilling muds and produced water that comes up during the drilling process. The waste can contain benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene and other harmful constituents. Despite its toxicity, oil and gas waste is deemed non-hazardous under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Once separated, liquid waste is injected underground and solid waste is transported offsite to landfills. 

The night of the fatal accident was not the first warning that McBride had a workplace safety problem. 

On April 1, 2021, McBride employee Jaire Jackson climbed into a large fracking waste container known as a frac tank while he was cleaning it. Hazardous fumes knocked him unconscious and another worker climbed inside to pull him out. Workers are generally prohibited to enter frac tanks, because they can be exposed to amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas that exceed OSHA limits and can cause serious injury or death.

A few months later on August 13, 2021, Jackson was handling a hose connected to a truck delivering waste to McBride. The hose blew off the truck, spraying scalding water and severely burning his right foot. Jackson filed a lawsuit against McBride for negligence contributing to his injuries. He eventually reached a confidential settlement with McBride. 

“We categorically denied the allegations and stood firmly by the integrity of our safety practices throughout the process,” said Rose, the McBride spokesperson. “We firmly disputed Mr. Jackson’s claims during the legal proceedings and the parties disagreed over responsibility, but we were pleased that the matter was ultimately able to be resolved amicably with him and without admission of wrongdoing by either party.”

Josh Maness, a Waskom attorney representing Jackson, deposed McBride’s operations manager Carrie Dowden in November 2022. Dowden said that McBride employees only receive “on the job” training and that the facility has no designated safety consultant or coordinator. Dowden herself lacked any oilfield experience when she began managing the facility; she had previously worked as a bartender. 

Maness also asked whether McBride had an operations manual.“Could be,” Dowden replied. “There’s a lot of manuals in my office.”

When asked about a safety pamphlet she had mentioned, Dowden said the pamphlet could “possibly” be at her office but warned that “it’s a mess up there.” She was equally vague when Maness asked about attendance lists from any safety presentations. Dowden appeared unfamiliar with the OSHA rules that require reporting serious workplace injuries.

Dowden said that McBride does not provide any personal protective equipment (PPE) to its employees.

Rose disputed several claims from the deposition. He said that McBride maintains operation manuals at all facilities that are regularly reviewed and updated. He said that every employee completes a comprehensive safety orientation, including OSHA standards, hazard recognition, and operational protocols, before starting the job. Rose also said that McBride provides all required PPE, with the exception of work boots, and that statements to the contrary are incorrect. He attributed the discrepancies to “stress” from the deposition and “natural pressures” of the workplace.

Less than two years later, Dowden was being interviewed once again. This time it was by OSHA investigators after a workplace fatality. 

Pedro Julian Garcia, originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, lived in Marshall, 20 miles west of Waskom on Interstate Highway 20. He began working at McBride in April 2022, according to OSHA documents. 

A supervisor asked Garcia to repair a leaking pump on the night of Feb. 6, 2024, according to a statement he later gave investigators. The supervisor claimed he told Garcia to wait so they could fix the pump together but that Garcia went ahead on his own. 

Garcia did not shut off the pressure to the pump, causing the valve to fly off and strike him in the chest, according to the supervisor’s statement to OSHA. He was declared dead when EMS arrived. (Funeral services were held in Marshall and he was buried in Mexico, according to an online obituary.)

OSHA inspectors arrived the next day to investigate. They found that McBride did not have a “lockout/tagout” procedure to disable the pump during maintenance. There was no operations manual for the pump, which had been purchased second-hand.

Fire extinguishers had not been serviced. Electrical cords and hoses presented a tripping hazard. And McBride did not keep OSHA logs, as required, between 2022 and 2024. Inspectors noted there was not an effective health and safety management system.

Rose, the company spokesman, said that McBride Operating “fully cooperated with OSHA throughout its investigation and conducted a comprehensive internal review to evaluate and strengthen our safety systems.” He said that cited issues were addressed and corrective actions taken.

McBride also settled a lawsuit with Garcia’s parents and the mothers of his two young daughters. “It’s an older facility that was in need of everything being replaced,” said Leyva, the attorney who represented Garcia’s family in the wrongful death case.

Since the fatality, Rose said that McBride has implemented “targeted enhancements” to safety protocols, expanded employee training, and increased operational oversight.

The McBride facility in Waskom remains open as the company works on changes required to renew its Railroad Commission permit.

The post Embattled Texas Oilfield Waste Company Fined After Worker’s Death appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Trump Administration reportedly had talks with Eric Adams about offering the sitting mayor a position at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in exchange for dropping out of the mayor’s race (Adams denied the story).

Mayor Adams at an event last week. (Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office)

It’s been a tough few weeks for Mayor Eric Adams. He’s trailing in every poll for the upcoming general election, a former aide was indicted on bribery charges, and another former aide handed a reporter a wad of cash in a bag of potato chips.

When Adams was facing his own indictment earlier this year, the Trump administration pushed the Department of Justice to drop the case, saying it needed the mayor’s cooperation on immigration enforcement. Now, it looks like the administration could fish Adams out of hot water again.

According to Politico, Adams was in talks with the Trump administration about securing a position with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in exchange for dropping out of the mayor’s race, clearing the lane for a head-to-head challenge between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The New York Times first reported that the two parties were meeting about an administration position, adding that discussions also included finding a position for Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to entice him out of the race as well. Then on Friday, the Times reported that the talks were focused on a possible ambassadorship for Adams in the Middle East. 

The alleged conversations—and potential appointment to the federal agency overseeing housing—comes after Adams was indicted last year on charges that he interfered with real estate and construction deals, intervening to help the Turkish government obtain fire safety permits over the objection of the New York City Fire Department.

The news also follows recent allegations that his former top advisor Ingrid Lewis Martin took bribes to help developers jump up the city’s housing development pipeline, get permits, and secure lucrative shelter contracts. Both Adams and Lewis Martin pleaded not guilty.

Adams has maintained that he is staying in the race and denied the reports. “Although Mayor Adams has been the most pro-housing mayor in New York City’s history, at no time did he ask for—nor was he offered—a job at HUD,” said Adams campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro in a statement. 

Sliwa denied any contact with the White House and asserted his commitment to staying in the race in a statement.

Here’s what else happened in housing this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

The Adams administration is still fighting implementation of several City Council bills that would expand eligibility for the CityFHEPS housing voucher program.

Advocates are calling for City Hall to invest in green upgrades for New York City’s 1,800 public schools, which account for a third of local pollution from buildings.

Take a photo tour of the 54 blocks of Long Island City that officials want to rezone. The plan, if passed, would spur “the most amount of housing generated by a neighborhood specific rezoning in at least 25 years,” City Planning Director Daniel Garodnick said.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

A city program launched more than two years ago to help landlords repair and re-rent vacant apartments has yet to get any takers, Gothamist reports.

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection made upgrades at NYCHA’s South Jamaica Houses to fortify the campus against heavy rain and floods, according to The City.

The City Council is asking the Board of Elections to block a series of ballot measures, proposed by Mayor Eric Adams’ most recent Charter Revision Commission, which would overhaul to city’s land use approval process to make it easier to build new housing—but would also reduce the Council’s role in development decisions, the New York Times reports.

The development team behind the massive Innovation QNS proposal, which was expected to build thousands of new apartments and other amenities in Astoria, has dropped the project, according to The Real Deal.

The post The Eric Adams HUD Rumors, and What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and JUAN ARRAEZ, Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — María Alejandra Rubio hasn’t seen her son in five months. They were separated in the United States when she was detained to be deported to her native Venezuela and he was sent to live with a family friend.

Rubio says U.S. immigration authorities led her to believe she would board a plane to Venezuela with her 8-year-old son, Anyerson. But she made the hourslong journey last month without him.

Heartbroken, Rubio is now part of a group of Venezuelan mothers and grandmothers appealing to U.S. first lady Melania Trump to help them see their children and grandchildren again. Members of the group, backed by Venezuela’s government, say they sent Trump a letter seeking her assistance last month.

“He tells me, ‘Mom, I want to be with you. I want to return to my country with you,’” Rubio said of her calls with Anyerson, who is in Georgia. “So, I would really like the first lady to put her hand on her heart and answer our letter.”

Trump’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press seeking comment on the letter. Venezuela’s government on Thursday told the AP the letter, dated Aug. 18, was sent to the White House via a private mail delivery service.

“We ask you as mothers to raise our voices, to help our children return to their homes, to be a bridge to the justice and humanity that you yourself call for,” members of the group wrote in Spanish, according to a copy of the letter shared with the AP. “We ask you to listen to the cries of families, to stop this separation policy from continuing, to simply deport mothers along with their children.”

Venezuelans are being steadily deported to their home country this year after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, under pressure from the White House, did away with his long-standing policy of not accepting deportees from the U.S. Immigrants now arrive regularly at the airport outside the capital, Caracas, on flights operated by a U.S. government contractor or Venezuela’s state-owned airline.

Maduro’s government has said more than 10,000 migrants, including children, had returned to the South American country as of mid-August. But not all parents have traveled with their children.

Among the minors separated from their parents was 2-year-old Maikelys Espinoza. She remained in the U.S. after her mother was deported to Venezuela and her father was sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador under President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th-century wartime law to swiftly deport hundreds of immigrants.

The U.S. government said Maikelys’ separation was justified because U.S. authorities had linked her parents to the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang, which the Republican president designated a terrorist organization. The girl reunited with her mother in mid-May in Venezuela and with her father in July, when he was released from the Salvadoran prison.

Maduro publicly thanked President Trump after Maikelys arrived in Venezuela. The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president, but it has negotiated various actions with his government this year, including the release of several Americans detained in the South American country. The U.S. government, however, has said the return of minors to Venezuela could take time.

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“Unlike the illegitimate Maduro regime, the United States does not use children as bargaining chips, and we will not be rushed to move unaccompanied minors before thoroughly assessing what is in their best interest,” the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted on X on Aug. 8.

Like Venezuelan government officials, mothers and grandmothers who signed the letter seeking the return of children to their home country are characterizing their stay in the U.S. as kidnappings.

“You not having contact with your child, you not knowing where your child is, is a kidnapping. We don’t know where she is,” Syntia Cáceres said Thursday, referring to her granddaughter Aurore, who’s 4.

Cáceres said her grandchild was placed in foster care in Georgia after her son was detained in July. She said the family caring for Aurore allowed her to speak with the girl once last month but later told her that child protective services instructed the family to end any contact with the grandmother.

Cáceres now wants to make sure her son and granddaughter are deported together when the time comes.

“If they’re going to deport people, it doesn’t matter, but they should deport them with their children,” she said. “If (President Trump) doesn’t want us there in his country, it doesn’t matter, fine. Deport us, send us back, but all together.”

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report from Washington.

By JILL LAWLESS and PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer shook up his Cabinet Friday after his top deputy stepped down over a tax error on a recent house purchase, leaving a big hole in the center-left Labour government.

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Foreign Secretary David Lammy was moved to replace Angela Rayner as deputy prime minister, and also took the justice portfolio. Yvette Cooper moved from the Home Office to become foreign secretary while the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, became home secretary.

Treasury chief Rachel Reeves was kept in post, meaning that the three major offices of state below the prime minister will be occupied by women for the first time in history.

The changes came after Rayner handed in her resignation to Starmer because an independent inquiry concluded that she hadn’t met the ethical standards required of government ministers over her recent purchase of an apartment in Hove, on England’s south coast. The report concluded that she should have sought more specific advice, even though she acted in good faith.

“I take full responsibility for this error,” Rayner said in her resignation letter to Starmer. “I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”

FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner attend a concert to mark the 80th Anniversary of V-E Day at Horse Guards Parade, London, Thursday May 8, 2025. (Chris Jackson/Pool via AP, File)

In response, Starmer voiced his sadness, but said that Rayner had made the right decision to stand down.

“I have nothing but admiration for you and huge respect for your achievements in politics,” Starmer wrote. The handwritten letter signed off “with very best wishes and with real sadness.”

Rayner is a hugely popular member of the Labour Party and was widely tipped to be a potential successor to Starmer. In addition to resigning as deputy prime minister, Rayner quit as deputy leader of the party, meaning that members will have to select someone new.

Starmer will be hoping that his government changes will allow him to seize back the political agenda following days of speculation surrounding Rayner’s future.

His government has seen its support fall sharply since its landslide victory in last year’s election, following a string of missteps over welfare reform and mounting public concern about immigration.

Rayner will remain a U.K. lawmaker on the back benches. She referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, on Wednesday, who delivered his report to Starmer on Friday.

Though Magnus concluded that Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service,“ he said that “with deep regret” she had breached the ministers’ code of conduct.

In the U.K., levies are charged on property purchases, with higher charges due on more expensive homes and secondary residences. Reports have suggested that Rayner saved 40,000 pounds (nearly $54,000) by not paying the appropriate levy, known as a stamp duty, on her 800,000-pound ($1 million) purchase.

Rayner, 45, had sought to explain that her “complex living arrangements” related to her divorce in 2023 and the fact that her son has “lifelong disabilities” underlay her failure to pay the appropriate tax.

In her resignation letter, Rayner said she also had to “consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family.”

Rayner’s journey from teenage single mother to trade union official to lawmaker and deputy prime minister is a rarity in British politics.

Her no-nonsense attitude and plain-speaking manner have been a distinct — and politically useful — contrast to the more pragmatic, lawyerly Starmer and she will be hard to replace. She had the ability to connect with sections of the public that Starmer had struggled with since he became prime minister.

Rayner, who also held the housing brief, had often railed against those who deliberately underpay tax, particularly those in the preceding Conservative administration, which Labour replaced in July 2024.

Her previous comments had opened her up to charges of hypocrisy, particularly from current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who said that Rayner’s position had been “untenable for days.”

“The truth is simple, she dodged tax,” Badenoch said in a video posted on social media. “She lied about it.”