The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded the plan meets its safety standards. Neighbors will have one more opportunity to persuade commissioners.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded the plan meets its safety standards. Neighbors will have one more opportunity to persuade commissioners.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded the plan meets its safety standards. Neighbors will have one more opportunity to persuade commissioners.
RENDON, Texas — The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has given initial approval to plans for a concrete batch plant near Rendon in unincorporated Tarrant County.
In a letter to neighbors, the TCEQ said J7 Ready Mix’s permit application “meets the requirements of applicable law.”
However, construction cannot yet begin. Neighbors who oppose the plant’s construction have one more opportunity to sway state regulators in their favor.
“This isn’t just about jobs and income, this is about long-term health for kids and the elderly,” said Brandon McElroy, who lives across the street from the proposed site. “This is about the future of our state.”
The plant would produce ready-mix concrete by combining water, sand, aggregate, fly-ash, and cement, a state filing says. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) must permit the operation of such a plant.
Concrete batch plants emit some toxins and particulate matter, including dust, which may cause respiratory problems.
In its application for a TCEQ permit, J7 Ready Mix promised to water stockpiles to keep down dust, implement three filtration systems, and immediately correct any potential emissions problems.
In March, the TCEQ determined that J7 Ready Mix’s proposal meets qualifications for a standard permit, adding that “the emissions authorized by the standard permit are protective of both human health and welfare and the environment.”
Neighbors are now taking steps to contest that decision. Ultimately, a panel of three commissioners will decide the project’s fate during a public meeting.
If the commissioners rule in J7 Ready Mix’s favor, McElroy and his neighbors are prepared to sue.
“This is going to be a long fight,” McElroy said.
McElroy formed a non-profit, Green Air Solutions, to help his cause. He raised about $40,000, mostly to help cover attorney’s fees for a looming legal fight over the plant’s location.
Hundreds of people from Mansfield, Rendon, and Burleson contributed money or bought yard signs and t-shirts and donated hot sauce to fund the effort.
Mansfield ISD has also voiced opposition to the plant, which would go up 600 feet from a property where the district intends to build an intermediate school and 2600 feet from a property where the district intends to build a high school.
Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, organized a public meeting on the project in 2023. Scores of people, including Cook, spoke in opposition to the plan.
Before that meeting, J7 Ready Mix project manager Richard Mayhew told WFAA the company wants to collaborate with the community to mitigate their concerns.
“There’s nothing in our mix that is harmful,” Mayhew said then. “The little dust would come from the ground, and we’re trying to prevent that.”
But neighbors say their faith in J7 Ready Mix is bruised, partly because the company began construction on the plant before securing the appropriate permits. The Tarrant County fire marshal halted its construction.
The unfinished project, a stone’s throw from a residential street, has collected dust and rainwater for more than a year. The plant’s owners brought in dirt to change the site’s elevation, though neighbors say that work has created drainage problems.
“It’s not getting better,” McElroy said. “It’s getting worse.”
Plant owners listed in TCEQ filings did not immediately respond to WFAA’s request for comment Sunday.
As it grows, Texas will need more concrete batch plants to accommodate new homes and businesses. Communities all over the state are watching the J7 Ready Mix case to see how much say they have in permitting decisions.
More than 100,000 people have petitioned against the project, McElroy said.
“This should be an eye-opener that people are starting to get more involved with their health and within their community,” he added.
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