According to recent reports, the Mayor Bill White of Houston, Texas, has enlisted Harris County’s chief lawyer to crack down on pollution coming in from outside the city by surrounding plants. White hopes that in conjunction with the help of other city officials, a clean region can be achieved for the people of Houston and their surrounding environment.

Under a recent agreement which was finalized, Houston’s Air Quality Control Bureau will be supplying personnel and equipment to investigate the air quality of Harris County. White hopes that through research he will better be able to pursue civil suits against polluters throughout Houston.

Reports claim that these cases hoped to be pursued would involve the polluters on the outskirts of Houston. There are reportedly only three major industrial sources of pollution inside the city of Houston, while there are dozens that surround the county.Among the toxins believed to be admitted into the air daily is the cancerous chemical known as benzene.

White his nearing the end of his third term as the city’s mayor and during his time in office he has earned high marks from environmental groups by taking action to better the environment. He has also been known to challenge both federal and state regulators, along with the petrochemical industry, over the emissions of hazardous chemicals like benzene.

Mayor Takes Action

At one time during while serving as mayor of Houston, White reportedly pushed to fine plants outside Houston up to $2,000 a day for emitting benzene into the city’s air. According to reports, these threat brought about opposition from other city officials, as well as state lawmakers who claimed he had overstepped his boundaries.

“We listened to those concerns, and we agreed that every jurisdiction should be involved,” White said. “Now we have a great partner.”