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County resolution asks agency to address air emissions, cumulative impacts and public input
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The Bastrop County Commissioners Court approved a resolution Oct. 13 to request a public meeting on the natural gas-fired power plant proposed to support a 2,842-acre Cedar Creek data center campus.
The request calls on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to hear residents’ concerns about the Pacifico Energy project.
The details
According to the resolution, commissioners want the public meeting to address:
Air quality: Air emissions and cumulative pollution impacts and whether the facility’s operating limits meet state permitting thresholds
Public input: Adequate notice and an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to submit comments and technical questions
What they’re saying
During the meeting, residents urged commissioners to take stronger action on data center development, citing concerns about air, noise and light pollution.
“Two hundred and four people have already asked TCEQ for a public meeting and not one has gotten an answer,” John Bush, a Bastrop resident and community organizer working with Lost Pines Watch, told Community Impact. “The Commissioners Court represents the people who live out there. If the county asks on their behalf, it goes in the file, and the agency has to reckon with it.
What’s next
The resolution directs the Bastrop County Clerk to send the resolution to TCEQ’s executive director and chief clerk.
Community Impact reached out to TCEQ for comment but did not hear back by press time.
TCEQ guidance states the agency "will hold a public meeting if there is significant interest in an application, if a legislator from the area of the proposed project requests one, or a meeting is otherwise required by law."
