I just emailed Congressman Vicente Gonzalez and Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz about our air

The American Lung Association released its State of the Air 2026 report on April 23. Five days ago. The findings for the Rio Grande Valley are not subtle.

Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville moved from 16th worst to 2nd worst in the nation for year-round particle pollution. Brownsville posted a new worst-ever value, the only metropolitan area in the worst 26 to set a record high. McAllen-Edinburg moved from 39th to 17th worst in the same period, a 22 spot decline in a single year. You can read the year-round particle pollution rankings and the Texas-specific press release on the ALA site, and the full PDF report is here.

Our four county RGV is now ranked among the most polluted regions in the country. That is not opinion. That is documented EPA monitoring data, analyzed by a 27-year national report.

So today I sent a letter to both of our congressional representatives. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) and Monica De La Cruz (TX-15). Together they cover the entire four county Valley. Both of them represent constituents who are now breathing some of the worst air in America.

I want you to know what I sent them. And I want them to know that you know.

What is in the letter

It is detailed. It is cited. It is not a feelings letter. It is a federal action letter.

I walked them through what is driving the deterioration:

The 152 manufacturing companies operating across 11 industrial parks in Reynosa, directly upwind of McAllen, with prevailing southerly and southeasterly winds carrying VOCs, NOx, and particulate matter across the river into Hidalgo County.

Agricultural and industrial burning in Mexico that TCEQ's own daily forecasts now routinely cite as a primary driver of our PM2.5 spikes, accumulating over the Valley for days at a time when our humid stagnant air parks it here.

The Brownsville Ship Channel industrial corridor, where Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, the new America First Refining greenfield refinery scheduled for Q2 2026 groundbreaking, the $3.2 billion Saronic Technologies shipyard, and the Brazos Island Harbor Channel deepening are all stacking into one corridor with no cumulative impact analysis. The RGV Business Journal has more on the refinery contracts here.

Local sources we already know about. The Donna Reservoir Superfund site with PCB contamination at roughly 1,000 times the EPA remediation goal. The McAllen 23rd Street Groundwater Plume. Pharr International Bridge truck diesel.

A peer-reviewed UTRGV study from 2025 by Pinakana, Shah, Jaffe, Gonzalez, Temby, Ibarra-Mejia, and Raysoni documented a Brownsville residential PM2.5 reading 2.79 times higher than the nearest TCEQ monitor. Our regulatory monitors are missing real exposure in real neighborhoods. We are flying blind on hyperlocal air quality, and a federal report just confirmed it.

Dr. Raysoni's BTEX characterization study, also published in 2025, documented benzene concentrations elevated near oil refineries in Texas. With a new refinery coming to the Port of Brownsville, this research has direct urgent application here.

I walked them through what it is doing to our people:

Hidalgo County pediatric asthma is at 9.4 percent. Among our adolescents 14 to 18, it is 16.7 percent. Peer-reviewed, published in Environmental Research, tied directly to ambient air pollution exposure.

The EPA states unambiguously that PM2.5 exposure triggers heart attacks and increases stroke mortality. A large NIH-AARP cohort study found a 16 percent increase in ischemic heart disease mortality and a 14 percent increase in stroke mortality for every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5. The risk is elevated even at concentrations below the legal limit.

Benzene is a Group 1 carcinogen, conclusively known to cause cancer in humans. It is causally linked to acute myeloid leukemia and associated with multiple other blood cancers. We are about to add a 164,300 barrel per day refinery to a region whose existing benzene exposure has not been characterized at the residential scale.

What I asked them to do

Six specific federal actions. Not "raise awareness." Real asks.

Expand EPA and TCEQ Region 15 monitoring infrastructure across all four counties. Conduct a cumulative air emissions and health impact assessment for the entire Brownsville Ship Channel corridor, not single facility permit reviews. Engage EPA Region 6, the State Department, and SEMARNAT on enforceable transboundary agreements. Restore EAQMC and EJG2G grant funding with RGV carve outs. Direct the CDC to study pediatric asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer incidence rates across the Valley controlled for our documented air quality burden. Require enhanced bilingual public comment periods on all heavy industrial permits at the Port of Brownsville and across the RGV.

I am also building an independent community air monitoring network covering all four counties from Starr to Cameron, designed to fill the gaps in TCEQ Region 15 coverage. Fifty sensors. Real time public dashboard. Methodology fully published. I asked both offices for the chance to brief them on it.

I am awaiting a reply

The letters went to Washington. Meeting request emails went to both district offices. Right now, I am waiting.

Here is where I need you. Both of these offices need to know that this is not just one constituent who happens to read EPA reports. They need to know that the Valley is paying attention. That the data is public. That their constituents have seen the rankings and are not going to look away.

If you live in the RGV, share this post. Send it to your group chats. Post it. Tag both offices. The point is not noise. The point is that they should walk into their next staff meeting knowing that the people they represent are aware our metro areas just got nationally ranked among the worst in America for the air our kids breathe.

We need them to know that we know.

I will post updates here as I hear back.

Sources

The American Lung Association State of the Air 2026 Report:

• Main report page

• Full PDF report

• Year-round particle pollution rankings and key findings

• Texas press release

• McAllen-Edinburg metro page

UTRGV peer-reviewed air quality research, Dr. Amit Raysoni and team:

• Brownsville low-cost sensor study, Atmospheric Environment X 2025

• BTEX characterization study, Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 2025

• Dr. Raysoni's full publication list

Pediatric asthma in Hidalgo County:

• Asthma prevalence and school-related hazardous air pollutants in the US-Mexico border area, Environmental Research 2018

• Healthy South Texas Asthma Program evaluation, BMC Public Health 2021

Cardiovascular and mortality research on PM2.5:

• EPA, Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease Basics

• NIH-AARP cohort, PM2.5 and cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, International Journal of Epidemiology

• California Air Resources Board, Inhalable Particulate Matter and Health

Benzene carcinogen classification:

• IARC monograph on benzene, Group 1 classification

• NIH PMC, mechanism of benzene-induced leukemia

Brownsville Ship Channel industrial buildout:

• Port of Brownsville America First Refining announcement, March 2026

• RGV Business Journal, refinery contracts coverage

• Fluor engineering contract announcement

Reynosa industrial buildout:

• MEXICONOW industry data on Reynosa manufacturing

• Rio Grande Guardian on maquiladora employment

TCEQ air monitoring resources:

• TCEQ daily Texas air quality forecast

• Lower Rio Grande Valley region monitor summary

• Air monitoring stations in the Texas-Mexico border region

EPA air sensor and community monitoring resources:

• EPA Air Sensor Toolbox

• EPA guide to siting and installing air sensors

Congressional offices:

• Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) official site

• Rep. Monica De La Cruz (TX-15) official site

Here is the letter I wrote them.

RGV_Air_Quality_Letter.docx

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