Baytown

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A tanker collided with a cargo vessel in the Houston Ship Channel early on Tuesday, officially shutting it for several hours, and fog kept ships halted even after the Coast Guard reopened the key oil waterway.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Houston Ship Channel, the busiest U.S. petrochemical port, was shut indefinitely on Tuesday after two vessels collided in heavy fog, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday said two environmental groups' could sue for enforcement of federal pollution standards at Exxon Mobil Corp's Baytown, Texas, refinery, the nation's largest.

Texas, EPA fight over regulations grows fierce despite agreement that environment at risk. A longstanding tit-for-tat between Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over how to regulate pollution has grown fierce in recent months, leaving industry frustrated and allowing some plants and refineries to spew more toxic waste into the air, streams and lakes than what is federally acceptable.

Stephen F. Austin QB Moses, Colgate RB Eachus highlight AP's FCS All-America team. Stephen F. Austin quarterback Jeremy Moses helped transform a program that went 0-11 in his freshman year into a conference champion and capped his record-breaking career with an All-American season.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Sierra Club and Environment Texas filed a federal lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp for five years of excess pollution at the nation's largest refinery, the Sierra Club said on Tuesday.

Environmentalists sue ExxonMobil's largest US refinery, accuse it of violating Clean Air Act. The largest oil refinery in the United States released more than 8 million pounds of illegal pollution in the past five years, violating the federal Clean Air Act thousands of times, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by environmental groups in Texas.

Environmentalists sue ExxonMobil's largest US refinery, accuse it of violating Clean Air Act. The largest oil refinery in the United States released more than 8 million pounds of illegal pollution in the past five years, violating the federal Clean Air Act thousands of times, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by environmental groups in Texas.

A list of public housing authorities nationwide flagged as troubled by the federal government.

A list of public housing authorities nationwide flagged as troubled by the federal government.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The northern part of the Houston Ship Channel reopened to inbound and outbound ships Wednesday for the first time in three days after workers cleared dangling power lines and an electrical tower leaning over the waterway, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

APNewsBreak: Environmental groups accuse Exxon Mobil of thousands of Clean Air Act violations. The largest U.S. oil refinery violated federal air pollution laws thousands of times during the last five years, releasing 10 million pounds of illegal pollution, including cancer-causing toxins, without facing proper fines or being forced to fix equipment, environmental groups claim.

EPA rejects 16-year-old Texas air permit program, leaves nation's largest refineries in limbo. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday officially overturned a 16-year-old Texas air permitting program it says violates the Clean Air Act, leaving some of the country's largest refineries in a state of limbo.

APNewsBreak: EPA may take over regulating air quality in Texas if state does not improve. The Environmental Protection Agency may take over the entire job of regulating air quality in Texas if the state keeps violating the Clean Air Act, an EPA official told The Associated Press on Wednesday ? intensifying a dispute over regulating pollution from the largest U.S. refineries and petrochemical plants.

EPA measuring methods underestimate emissions, but more accurate technologies not used. The nation's oil and chemical plants are spewing a lot more pollution than they report to the Environmental Protection Agency ? and the EPA knows it.

LA PORTE, Texas (Reuters) - Warehouses holding everything from beer kegs to frozen chickens crowd the roadside along Highway 146 south of Houston, and a ferocious building boom is adding acres more, thanks to an even bigger project 1,800 miles away in Panama.

Authorities: Sex offender pulls gun on Texas guards during prison transfer; search ongoing. A convicted sex offender sentenced to life in prison pulled a gun on two guards during a prison transfer Monday and held them hostage temporarily before fleeing on foot in one of the guard's uniforms, authorities said.

Sheriff: At least 100 explosives found in Texas mobile home where deputy was shot, killed. At least 100 explosive devices were found in a southeast Texas mobile home where a deputy was shot and killed, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Thousands expected at former NFL quarterback Steve McNair's funeral in southern Miss.. A capacity crowd of 8,000 was expected Saturday at the funeral for former NFL quarterback Steve McNair on the University of Southern Mississippi campus.

Under grueling Afghan sun, US Marines march through July 4 - dreaming of cool beer and lakes. Taliban militants were nowhere in sight as the columns of U.S. Marines walked a third straight day across southern Afghanistan. But the desert heat proved an enemy in its own right, with several troops falling victim Saturday to temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit.