TCEQ announces Texas Environmental Excellence Award winners

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is pleased to announce the 2022 Governor’s Texas Environmental Excellence Award winners.

This year’s winners include a Dallas-area youth who boosted the solitary bee population in the native Blackland Prairies by creating sustainable pollinator zones and developing wildflower seed balls to foster pollinator gardens in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex region.

A Texas school system was also recognized for its innovative approach to achieving energy and water savings through conservation and increased efficiency. The program features opportunities for local educators that allows students to take energy readings before and after lighting upgrades, quantifying the efficiency of the new technology.

TCEQ applauds the creativity and resourcefulness of this year’s complete list of TEEA winners and finalists:

Agriculture:

WINNER

Bird and Bee Farm LLC, Rockdale — Bird and Bee Farm

Civic/Community:

WINNER

City of San Marcos, San Marcos — San Marcos River Litter Abatement

FINALISTS

City of Denton – Sustainability Division, Denton — Sustainable Denton

Exploration Green Conservancy, Houston — Exploration Green

Education:

WINNER

USFWS – Houston Community Partnerships and Engagement Program, Houston — Virtually Wild! Texas

FINALIST

McAllen Public Utility, McAllen — Water Education Programming

Environmental Educator of the Year:

WINNERS

Katie Doyle, Flour Bluff ISD, Corpus Christi — Oceans Teacher

FINALISTS

Kent Page, Northside Independent School District, San Antonio — Elementary Environmental Education Teacher

Tevin Gray, Corpus Christi Montessori School, Corpus Christi — Outdoor Educator

Innovative Operations/Management:

WINNER

SAISD Energy & Sustainability Program, San Antonio — SAISD Energy & Sustainability Program

FINALISTS

Altman Specialty Plants, LLC, Giddings — Altman Plants Floating Solar Array

ConocoPhillips Company, Houston — Continuous Fugitive Monitoring and Emission Event Curtailment

San Antonio River Authority, San Antonio — Water Quality Modeling Tool Development

Technical/Technology:

WINNER

Samsung Austin Semiconductor — Copper Ion Exchange

FINALIST

Travis County Sustainability — Travis County Waste and Recycling Drop-off Locator

Pollution Prevention:

WINNER

Kelly-Moore Paint Company, Inc., Hurst — Wash Water Reduction to Landfill

FINALIST

Goodman Manufacturing Company L.P., Waller — Zero Waste

Water Conservation:

WINNER

City of Midland, Midland — City of Midland Water Pollution Control Plant Secondary Treatment Upgrades

FINALIST

CEMEX Construction Materials South LLC, New Braunfels — CEMEX Balcones Quarry Blue Gold Conservation Project

Youth:

WINNER

Spencer Jackson Burke, Dallas — Preserve the Pollinators

FINALIST

Keep Coppell Beautiful, Coppell — Keep Coppell Beautiful Teens

The Texas Environmental Excellence Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes achievements in environmental preservation and protection. Since 1993, the program has honored more than 250 successful environmental projects and activities. Through the TEEA, TCEQ hopes to encourage others to initiate like-minded projects and reinforce a spirit of environmental stewardship.