Two young children played on swings at the Carver Terrace Apartments park as Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell addressed the media and a small scattering of people during a campaign stop in Port Arthur on Tuesday.

Bell’s discussion focused on the “declining environmental quality” and his “Healthy Texas Environmental plan.”

The cost of pollution, he said, is $25 billion per year and includes medical costs, lost days from work and lost jobs.

Bell is critical of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and his “reign of error where polluters are actually awarded for violating environmental laws,” he said. Bell’s plan calls for an end to Perry’s policy of profit from pollution and aggressively punishing polluters as required by law. The plan also calls for an end to the fast tracking of permits for coal-fired power plants to reduce the risk of toxic emission.

“The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality penalizes less than one percent of the reported environmental upsets and allows polluters to keep, rather than collect, 81 percent of the possible penalty,” Bell said.

The Democratic nominee, ever critical of Perry, said the way to stop the environmental problems is by getting Perry out of office and bringing in new leadership.

In response to Bell’s comments, Gov. Perry’s spokesman Robert Black, said the Governor has done much to help the environment.

“He has made old grandfathered plants comply with the law or shut down and has led the effort to set up a grant program to help companies replace old engines with a cleaner burning substitute,” Black said. “The new TXU plants will be 80 percent cleaner than the national average and TXU will voluntarily reduce its total emissions by 20 percent.”

“Chris Bell can complain all he wants, but Texas is the national leader in reducing emissions and finding ways for renewable energy,” Black said.

Clad in yellow T-shirts, members of the Community In-power and Development Association Inc., founded by Hilton Kelley, were on hand for snacks and drinks for residents at the park. With a backdrop of dark storm clouds and plumes of smoke from a nearby refinery, Bell called the sight — including the park where children play — eye opening.

“This paints a stark picture,” he said. “I had been told of the challenges the community faces but to see it first hand, just over that small hill is a refinery.”

CIDA, a nonprofit organization, is not endorsing Bell, Kelley said.

Kelley wants the governor and other candidates and politicians to take the “toxic tour of Port Arthur” and see what they can do for the community.

The longtime activist hopes to one day with as a coordinator between the city and Motiva to move people away from the area near the refinery.

Information on nominee Chris Bell can be found on the Internet at www.chrisbell.com.