"This is an area that's very sacred to Montgomery County, and I would hate to see it destroyed by the air pollution," Magnolia City Council Member Anne Sundquist said during the meeting. "I'm looking at the entire quality of life. I want you all to consider that this is not going to be anything positive for anyone except the batch [plant] owner. It's going to actually hurt that road."
Don Nelon, a permit reviewer with the TCEQ Office of Air, said an Air Quality Standard Permit would allow the concrete batch plant to produce up to 300 cubic yards per hour of concrete—but no more than 6,000 cubic yards each day—and operate up to 24 hours every day of the week.
"If everything [at the plant] works, [emissions] will be [protected] at the property line," Nelon said. "The standard permit meets the state and federal requirements [for emissions]."
TCEQ officials respond to questions from Magnolia community members during a public meeting Thursday, April 27, in the Magnolia Community Building. AARC Environmental Inc representatives spoke on behalf of Paul Vasquez, an applicant for a permit to construct a concrete batch plant on Old Hockley Road.[/caption]Representatives with consulting firm AARC Environmental Inc. spoke on Vasquez's behalf during Thursday's meeting. Jaime Armendariz of AARC said the ready-mixed concrete plant will serve private and commercial clients. However, Armendariz said he did not know if Vasquez had yet purchased the property on Old Hockley Road for the plant.
"The intention of my applicant is to put up a facility," Armendariz. "He's not coming in trying to be a bad neighbor to everybody."
Community concerns
While local officials and Magnolia residents expressed safety, economic and health concerns, Nelon said the commission only has jurisdiction over air quality concerns within the proposed site's property lines.
"The Texas Legislature sets all of our jurisdiction limits, which means we have no jurisdiction over the location of the plant choice, over roads, over noise pollution, light pollution or traffic safety," he said.
Residents on Old Hockley Road said the road has a faded center stripe, steep ditches on both sides, 90-degree curves, a large number of livestock and signs cautioning thru-trucks. An existing concrete plant—Campbell Concrete & Materials—is also located near the proposed site.
"It's a small road, but that road was never intended for the traffic that's there today," Montgomery County Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said during the meeting.
The proposed site for the plant is just south of FM 1488 on Old Hockley Road.[/caption]The proposed site for the plant is about a half-mile from Magnolia city limits and within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Planning Technician Tana Ross said the city's comprehensive plan zones Old Hockley Road as a residential area. Additionally, the proposed site is 0.4 miles from Unity Park and four Magnolia ISD campuses, Ross said, citing a letter from Magnolia Mayor Todd Kana.
"This type of operation would definitely affect both the growth of our economy and our community," Ross said during the meeting. "We have a rather high population—if you look at our demographics—of elderly and young [residents]. Breathing problems are known to be very common, and this type of emission would affect that."
Next steps
The April 27 meeting concluded the public comment period—which first opened Dec. 21, according to the TCEQ. Members of the commission will review all written and spoken comments regarding the air quality permit before moving forward with approving the permit, changing or denying the permit. To build the concrete batch plant, Vasquez must also receive a water quality permit from the TCEQ, which does not require public notice, officials said.
To further dispute the concrete batch plant permit application, affected residents living within 440 yards of the proposed facility—the distance from the plant's footprint to a permanent residence—can request a contested case hearing conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, according to the TCEQ.
"I'm certainly not against industry," Riley said. "I'm certainly not against business, but I'm against the wrong business being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that's what this is. It's the wrong place at the wrong time."
To learn more about the permitting process, community members can contact the TCEQ's Public Education Program at 800-687-4040. Should residents have environmental or operational concerns about the concrete batch plant once constructed, regional TCEQ representatives can be reached at 713-767-3500, officials said.
