AUSTIN, Texas, March 15 -- Environment Texas issued the following news release:

132 industrial facilities dumped excessive pollution into Texas waterways 938 times over 21 months, more than any other state in the nation, according to a new report by Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. The facilities rarely faced penalties for this pollution. Environment Texas' Troubled Waters report comes as the Trump administration tries to weaken clean water protections and slash enforcement funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states.

"All Texas waterways should be clean for swimming, drinking water, and wildlife," said Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas. "But industrial polluters are still dumping chemicals that threaten our health and environment, and no one is holding them accountable."

In reviewing Clean Water Act compliance data from January 2016 through September 2017, Environment Texas Research and Policy Center and Frontier Group found that major industrial facilities are regularly dumping pollution beyond legal limits set to protect human health and the environment, in Texas and across the country.

For example, the report shows that Intercontinental Terminals Company in Harris County discharged cyanide in to the impaired Tucker Creek eight times above permitted levels - once as high as 1138% above the permit. Facilities owned by Arkema, Dow, Exxon, Vopak, Shell, Chevron, and others all exceeded their clean water permit limits.

The report also shows that polluters rarely face penalties, and recommends several measures to ensure stronger enforcement of, and protection for, clean water. Unfortunately, decision makers in Washington could soon make the pattern of pollution worse.

"Enforcement of environmental law is crucial to ensuring that the public health is protected," said Victor Flatt, Chair of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center at the University of Houston Law Center. "This report shows that Clean Water Act enforcement continues to suffer, and in fact is likely getting worse. Proposed budget cuts to the EPA will make future enforcement even more difficult. Law without enforcement is no law at all. We must demand that our states and federal government require sources of pollution to control that pollution to protect our public health and the environment."

More than 1400 miles of Texas streams and rivers are so polluted they are classified as unsafe for basic uses such as swimming or fishing.

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has commented that the Short Term Issuer Credit Ratings of AMB-1+ (Strongest) of Pacific Life Insurance Company’s recently amended commercial paper program remain unchanged following the announcement of an increase in its size to $2.25 billion from the previous $1 billion level, which took effect Sept. 30, 2026.

AM Best recognizes that the amended program will provide benefit to the company’s liquidity profile by matching the size of its commercial paper program to its enterprise revolving credit facility backstop and also increase the financial flexibility through diversification of funding sources, while leverage and coverage calculations remain within levels supportive of the Credit Ratings.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2026 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261002087903/en/

Stephen Vincent
Associate Director
+1 908 882 1705
stephen.vincent@ambest.com

Erik Miller
Senior Director
+1 908 882 2120
erik.miller@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations
+1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist
+1 908 882 2318
al.slavin@ambest.com

Source: A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc.