Residents push back against concrete

'I'm not here to vilify industry. I'm here to ask why the burden of environmental policing falls on the people who live next door to it. We're told that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality exists to protect our air, water and communities. But what happens when that protection is delayed, diluted or delegated?'

Those were the words of Timothy Ruggiero at the TCEQ public hearing on air quality standards for the proposed 100X Concrete Batch Plant at 10400 Osburn Road.

That site, which sits near Highpoint Performance Horses and Texas Tulips, also abuts the Running Springs neighborhood where Timothy and his wife Christine Ruggiero live.

Christine brought her concerns forward during the question period, including about how long TCEQ can take to respond to a complaint.

TCEQ staff explained that the response period varies based on the severity of the complaint, with the window being anywhere from less than 24 hours to as long as 30 days.

'So, the violation could be over by the time you get there,' Christine said.

The regional TCEQ representative Archer Tate encouraged the neighbors to provide 'citizen collected evidence.'

'If you see it, take a photo, take a video,' she said. 'We can take that, evaluate it and cite violations based on that information. … There are more of you in this room than we have investigators in the regional office to deal with 17 counties, so we do desperately rely on y'all to help us with those investigations.'

The Ruggieros were two of around 85 people clad in red shirts who turned out to oppose the application for a permanent batch plant that would be good for a decade of use at the public hearing held Monday at the City of Aubrey Community Center.

Jon Lobichusky of 100X represented the on-record owner, Carter Smith, as did Elliot Townsend of Raba Kistner, 100X's environmental consulting firm.

'Dust collectors are implemented to control the rate of 99% of emissions throughout many parts of the process,' Townsend said. 'Onproperty roads will be paved and watered with a water truck. The batching area will regularly be cleaned of free material to ensure that windblow material is not emitted from the facility. The stockpiles of the gravel and the sand, which will be outside, those are watered continuously to prevent emission from those stockpiles.'

Residents questioned where that water will come from as water restrictions are common throughout the Ranch Cities area.

Alexander Hilla of the TCEQ staff said that based on the application, the plant would meet the standards required by statute.

'After reviewing all permit application documents, which includes both area maps, plot plans, process flow diagram and making sure that they meet requirements of the standard permit they've applied for, we've determined that currently, the application does meet requirements for the standard permit and would be both protective of human health and the environment,' he said.

Although TCEQ monitors the site itself, it does not monitor the truck traffic and the generation and distribution of dust that can occur from the transportation of the concrete ingredients nor of the diesel exhaust from the trucks.

TCEQ is also not allowed to factor in wear and tear on the roadway nor appropriateness of the road's weightbearing limit for this application, the agency's staff said.

Beth Valen questioned why another batch plant is being proposed when there have been 22 new plants approved in 'our immediate area, the range where we would drive to lunch or dinner,' in the last five years.

'We don't have a problem getting concrete,' she said. 'We have a problem with air quality.'

She, with the help of Dominique Gauthier, showed how much discharge is released daily within the standards TCEQ quoted.

'To their credit, they've asked for enhanced controls, which would capture 99.5% of the pollutants being discharged when they're working,' Valen said. 'The other 5% equates to 5.7 pounds a day of particulate matter that will be discharged. This is what that looks like. … Multiply that times six for every week.'

Pilot Point resident Gary Garcon also asked whether TCEQ factored in the air quality conditions the agency itself has reported exist in the area.

The speakers from the community also countered that while the state agency may have factored in average human health standards for its calculations, as state statute requires, it did not factor in the adjacent neighborhood's actual demographics, nor did it factor in the animal neighbors who could be more sensitive to small particulate matter traveling in the wind and flowing into nearby livestock tanks.

Several spoke Monday of their concern for the potential life-threatening damage to horses, cattle and other animals in the area, including veterinarian Dr. David Stephens of Weems & Stephens Equine Hospital.

'I can tell you, in and around the batch plants that have actually been put in this community, I have seen a dramatic increase in chronic respiratory disease and the diminishment of the health and welfare and the [increase of] suffering of these horses,' Stephens said. 'It's just not right.'

He turned to Lobichusky. 'You guys do a real good job making your ranch water and your health supplements,' he said. 'Why the heck do you guys want to actually have a batch plant? It's just a bad business play.'

Angela Fox spoke for herself about her own horses and then for Jason Martin of Highpoint Performance Horses and Highpoint Haven.

'This is our livelihood, breeding, training and running the nation's top barrel horses,' Fox read for Martin. 'Inflammation is one of the biggest factors in lung bleeding in barrel horses. Can you tell me if there has been a direct study on cement residue in equine performance animals and what the results have been?'

Martin also questioned what could happen with the 'USDA-approved facility with our exotic animals.'

'We are one of only a handful of successful breeding facilities of [endangered Galapagos] tortoises that have ever been successful in the United States,' Fox read. '… Do you know if there has ever been any studies on the impact that dust could do to these endangered animals?'

The Aubrey City Council voted on Aug. 21 to unanimously approve a resolution opposing the batch plant, like the one Pilot Point approved on Aug. 14.

Pilot Point Mayor Chad Major stood in the sea of red, conveying his council's opposition to the plant based on it conflicting with the comprehensive plan the city has adopted that encourages such businesses to go into an industrial area instead of into a proud pocket of Horse Country.

'The dust and truck traffi c from this plant could harm horse health, interfere with training operations and diminish the visitor experience,' Major said. 'This is not just a nuisance. It is a direct threat to one of the most important parts of our economic base.'

Rep. Jared Patterson, RFrisco, also filed a letter opposing the development that he shared on social media on Tuesday.

During his public comment, Timothy summed up most of the concerns expressed in the meeting.

'Whether a spill is intentional or not, the impact is the same,' Timothy said in his public comment. 'The air doesn't care if emissions were deliberate. The soil doesn't care if chemicals were spilled by mistake. And the families living nearby certainly don't care whether the harm was premeditated. They care that it happened.'