Environment
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
A legal back-and-forth over whether a rock quarry can move forward excavating materials near the Meyer Ranch and Vintage Oaks subdivisions in New Braunfels is heading to the Texas Supreme Court. Since 2017, Vulcan Materials has been in a legal dispute with community activist groups such as Preserve Our Hill Country Environment, which brought a legal case against the quarry due to air quality concerns. The lawsuit counters the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s determination that the proposed plant’s crystalline silica emissions would not negatively impact human health. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble agreed with the plaintiffs in March 2021. Last September, a retired judge presiding Quarry draws local resistance
What’s next?
The specifics If the quarry ultimately proceeds forward, according to Vulcan Materials, it would total 1,500 acres located within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, including:
On July 31, the community groups in opposition filed a petition to the Texas Supreme Court to review and reverse the 3rd Court of Appeals decision that overturned the trial court’s judgment. According to the Texas Supreme Court’s schedule on their website, the case was forwarded to the court Aug. 29. “The panel showed no regard for relevant legal issues raised by Texans living and working in the area and essentially concluded Vulcan’s claims seem fine,” PHCE Communications Director David Drewa said in a statement. TCEQ Media Relations Specialist Ricky Richter said in a statement that due to the fact the permit is being litigated, th TCEQ does not have a comment at this time. Vulcan Materials also did not return calls for comment.
600 acres or more of buffering and nonmining areas No more than 50 acres mined in the first decade of operation 80-year estimate on the life of the mine before it’s depleted
SOURCE: VULCAN MATERIALS, PROTECT OUR HILL COUNTRY ENVIRONMENT/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
on behalf of the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals— Judge J. Woodfin Jones—reversed the March 2021 ruling, writing “substantial evidence supports the commissioners’ determination that the proposed plant’s crystalline silica emissions will not negatively affect human health or welfare,” according to the ruling.
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