Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Rock wars


Why did I put this in my blog?

Because of the fact that the article states that counties have no authority over land use. Shouldn't there be some control by counties? I mean reasonable control or can someone just plop a factory in the middle of nowhere in a county?

Should there be some local control or do we leave it up to the faceless, unaccountable bureaucracy in Austin?

What do you think?
TCEQ to discuss quarry permit tonight



The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will meet tonight in New Braunfels to discuss awarding an air quality permit for a new rock quarry in Comal County.

Aggregate Industries, a division of Holcim, has applied for a permit to build a rock-crushing plant at 5900 Farm-to-Market 482, west of Krueger Canyon Road.

The public will be invited to give their thoughts on the potential new quarry at 7 p.m. at the New Braunfels Civic Convention Center.

More than 100 people met at the Comal County Senior Center in April to oppose the potential new quarry, voicing concerns about air quality and potential contamination of the Edwards Aquifer.

Holcim’s quarry would be built on unincorporated land southwest of New Braunfels. Counties in Texas have no authority over land use.

Holcim allowed the county to build a flood control structure on its land to protect New Braunfels against flooding along the Dry Comal Creek. Construction on the dam is scheduled to begin within 90 days.

The quarry has been planned for some time, as Aggregate Industries originally filed for TCEQ permitting in December 2007.