ENVIRONMENT
WILLIAMSON COUNTY 34
Booming BUSINESS Williamson County has the most aggregate production operations among Texas counties, with 34. Here is where other Central Texas counties stand.
Locals push for reform in rock mining industry
Aggregate production operation
BELL COUNTY 12
BY ALI LINAN
BURNET COUNTY 17
Williamson County is home to the most rock mining operations in Texas, which has led community members to seek stronger regula- tions as the negative impacts of the industry move closer to home. The county has 34 such opera- tions, according to Texas Commis- sion on Environmental Quality data, and these operations are continuing to grow at a rapid rate across the state. From 2015-20, the estimated number of registered quarries and other aggre- gate production facilities operating in Texas jumped from about 50 to more than 1,000, many of which are located in Central Texas, according to Texas for Responsible Aggregate Mining data. “This has all just exploded in the last couple of years. It’s unbelievable how fast this [industry] is running,” TRAM spokesperson Fermin Ortiz said. “But we’ve got to gure out a way to make it better and more responsible because we’re not going to stop it.” As Williamson County continues to be one of the highest-growth counties in Texas and home to a few of the most rapidly growing cities in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the aggregate production operations, or APOs, supply needed construction materials as well as jobs, Ortiz said. He added that APOs being located near major growth sectors also makes the most business sense, as suppliers need to be near buyers in order to reduce costs. But the issue does not lie with their existence, Ortiz said. Instead, it is the damage the industry could cause if it remains deregulated. The APOs, often referred to as a quarry, use high amounts of water at about 50 gallons of water per ton of aggregate mined, according to TRAM data. A small mine can produce a couple thousand tons a day, Ortiz said, adding that he would like a commit- ment by quarries to use recycled water for this reason. Heavy truck loads also tear up roadways, which are repaired at the taxpayers’ expense, and the constant
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MILAM COUNTY 4
281
79
TRAVIS COUNTY 9
LEE COUNTY 0
130 TOLL
290
noise and odor as well as destruction of natural habitats can be a detriment to quality of life, Ortiz said. “There are good ways to do good business; you don’t have to take the shortcuts and take the quick pro ts,” Ortiz said. “If you want to stay in business long term, you want to be a good neighbor, [and] you want to do it right.” Ortiz, through TRAM, is working to reduce the negative impacts of quar- ries through regulations and legislative measures. He said he feels it is Texans’ responsibility to hold large mining businesses accountable, particularly those who are interested in making as much money as possible regardless of the negative health and tra c impacts it may cause. “This is a nonpartisan issue. This is about what we leave to our great-grandchildren and children going through generations,” he said. “The regulations that we do or don’t have today are going to negatively impact the future, and it’s our responsibility to all join together to push back and have some sensible regulations to slow down the greedy [operators].” Booming business Rock mining operations in Texas were deregulated in 2005 to allow for an increase in needed infrastructure and to create jobs, state Rep. Terry Wilson, R Georgetown, said. Since then, it has grown into a $2.4 billion industry, according to TRAM data.
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BASTROP COUNTY 6
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By deregu- lating, required permits through the TCEQ, the Army
SOURCE: TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Corps of Engineers and Texas Parks and Wildlife,
among others, were easier to obtain. From 2009-19, 1,220 air-quality permit applications in Texas were submitted to the TCEQ, of which 1,143 were approved, ve were denied and 72 were withdrawn, according to TRAM data. Texas is one of only seven states without a comprehensive mining regulation. This is what Wilson, who represents parts of Williamson, Burnet and Milam counties, would like to x. “It’s our responsibility to realize the signi cant change in the number of these quarries since 2005, and we need to adjust accordingly,” Wilson said. Wilson said he intends to bring up several legislative measures on quarry regulations in the 87th Texas legisla- tive session, which begins in January. One of the key initiatives he is in favor of is only awarding state contracts to companies in good standing. “It’s just not about who can give
us the cheapest bid; it’s about who can provide us a fair bid with a past performance of high quality,” Wilson said. “And the past performance is the key there.” Wilson, Ortiz and others recognize that it is not all APOs that operate as bad actors; in fact many do abide by self-imposed health and safety regulations, and that is something Jill Shackelford is working toward. Shackelford, a former Central Texas quarry owner and operator who now consults nationally, said she believes it is the responsibility of the quarry owners to not only communicate but over-communicate with the commu- nity around them by notifying them of blasting or changes and acting as a good neighbor would. “It’s an important responsibility for quarry operators to respect their community and their neighbor,” Shack- elford said.
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