Quarry Opponents Optimistic About Latest Attempt to Derail Air Permit

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
December 9, 2020
(Subscription required)

A hearing on Tuesday revisited giving Vulcan Materials an air-quality permit to build a quarry over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone — and groups fighting the quarry believe the judge will rule in their favor. A decision has not been made, but Friends of Dry Comal Creek and Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry are optimistic Vulcan will not be granted an air-quality permit. “We were happy with the way things went today and we were encouraged by the questions that the judge asked,” Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry director of communications David Drewa said….

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Hearing for Proposed Vulcan Quarry in Comal County Set for December 8

Community Impact Newspaper
December 7, 2020

A lawsuit filed by local citizens’ groups opposing a proposed quarry owned by Vulcan Construction Materials LLC will be heard by a judge Dec. 8 at 9 a.m. in the 459th District Court in Travis County. The lawsuit, filed February 14 by Friends of Dry Comal Creek and Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, aims to reverse the TCEQ’s approval of air quality permits submitted by Vulcan for their proposed rock crushing facility….

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Court to Hear Arguments Over Air Quality Permit for Vulcan Quarry

myCanyonLake.com
December 7, 2020

A citizens group fighting to keep Vulcan Materials from turning the old Eric White Ranch into a 1,500-acre limestone rock quarry and crushing plant in Central Comal County gets its day in court on Tuesday. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble with the 459th District Court will preside over a 9 a.m. Zoom hearing on Friends of Dry Comal Creek v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The hearing can be viewed live on the court’s YouTube channel….

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Vulcan Quarry Opponent Endorses Nies for Precinct 3 Commissioner

myCanyonLake.com
October 24, 2020

Ms. Nies brings a positive, “can-do” attitude to this race and has specific, actionable ideas on the table. Two examples of smart, creative solutions include her concept of a conservation commission of scientific professionals to advise Commissioners’ Court, and a 391 regional planning commission to empower the county in matters currently dominated by state agencies….

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Supporting Nies in Precinct 3

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
October 23, 2020
(Subscription required, full text available here)

In the contest for Comal County Commissioner, Precinct 3, Colette Nies is challenging incumbent Kevin Webb. Over the past few months, Colette Nies has listened and learned more about the proposed 1,500-acre Vulcan quarry, opposition efforts to date and the decided lack of county involvement in the matter. Relevant issues such as land justice and preservation of natural resources have been her focus for many years and she recognizes the importance of protecting Comal County’s environment — especially the Edwards Aquifer, Comal Springs, and our area water quality and supply — from the over 25 local quarries, concrete plants, and other aggregate facilities…

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Time for a Change in Precinct 1

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
October 16, 2020
(Subscription required, full text available here)

Precinct 1 Commissioner Donna Eccleston has a history of unresponsiveness when it comes to representing her constituents and Comal County citizens. During her years on Commissioners’ Court, countless emails and calls to her have gone unanswered. While she wrote a letter to TCEQ in 2017 requesting a public meeting and attended one meeting, talk is cheap (and so are letters). When it comes to meaningful actions related to the proposed Vulcan quarry, and other environmental health issues important to Comal County, Ms. Eccleston has done nothing….

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We Must Protect Our Aquifers and Springs

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
October 2, 2020
(Subscription required, full editorial and photos available here)

This past weekend, my 9-year-old son and I enjoyed hiking Landa Park’s Panther Canyon Nature Trail, checking out Comal Springs, and floating the Comal River — being careful to keep our distance from others on the trail and river. While pausing to reflect at the springs (the largest in Texas and the southwestern United States), my son asked where the water was coming from….

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Public Voices Concerns on Final Day of Rock Crusher Town Halls

DailyTrib.com
October 1, 2020

Blasting, clouds of fine particulates, and over-taxed roads were all issues raised by the public Thursday, Oct. 1, during the final of three virtual town hall meetings hosted by state Rep. Terry Wilson on the subject of Aggregate Production Operations (APOs), a category that includes rock crushers, surface miners, concrete plants, and more. Wilson, the chair of the House Interim Study Committee on APOs, had in previous days invited industry professionals and community action groups to speak. Today, the public shared their stories and concerns….

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How Texas Lawmakers and Industry Have Weakened Citizens’ Rights to Fight Pollution

The Texas Observer
July 2, 2020

…Environmental advocates point to a conflict between residents and a mining company in Comal County, northeast of San Antonio, as an example of how the changes have weakened public participation in industrial projects. In 2017, Alabama-based Vulcan Materials proposed building a 1,500-acre rock quarry between Bulverde and New Braunfels to extract and crush limestone. Residents quickly expressed concern over anticipated dust and heavy truck traffic and the possibility of groundwater contamination in the region, where rainfall refills the Edwards Aquifer….

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TCEQ Launches Investigation into Breach in New Braunfels Quarry’s Tailing Pond

myCanyonLake.com
June 3, 2020

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) San Antonio Region is investigating an apparent breach in a tailing pond dam at the Anderson Columbia Tejas Quarry (ACCI) in New Braunfels….

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They’re Blowing up the Texas Hill Country

BioLogos
March 2, 2020

Recently I flew from snowy Michigan to sunny Texas for a quick trip with my mom and sister. Our destination was my mom’s hometown of New Braunfels, a once-small town 35 miles northeast of San Antonio. I have a hundred childhood memories of trips to see my grandparents at their farm just outside of town. It was a beautiful piece of land, dotted with cows, twisty live oaks, and the occasional prickly pear cactus….

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Hill Country Residents Challenge the State to Stop Quarry

San Antonio Business Journal
February 19, 2020

Comal County residents are suing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop the construction of a quarry they say will pollute the air with a lung-damaging contaminate. Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry and Friends of Dry Comal Creek filed a lawsuit in Travis County court on Monday to overturn TCEQ’s permit for a Vulcan Materials Co. rock-crushing facility. The facility will be a piece of a proposed limestone quarry, which Vulcan plans to place on a 1,500 acre site in the Hill Country between New Braunfels and Bulverde….

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Quarry Opponents Sue TCEQ Over Air Permit

myCanyonLake.com
February 19, 2020

Quarry opponents are suing Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for its November 2019 decision to grant Vulcan Materials the air-quality permit it needs to develop a 1,500-acre limestone rock quarry and rock-crushing operation in central Comal County. Image courtesy of Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry….

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Quarry Opponents Take Aim at TCEQ

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
February 18, 2020
(Subscription required, full print version available here)

Two local groups are suing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over its approval of a quarry’s permit following last year’s contentious hearing. Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry and Friends of Dry Comal Creek are fighting Vulcan Materials’ air-quality permit and filed an appeal in the Travis County District Court on Friday. The groups say the TCEQ allowed the June 2019 hearing with legal errors, exclusion of data and other missteps. The Commission refers to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for any contested evidentiary hearing concerning the plant’s potential effects on health, property and environment….

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Neighborhood Groups Sue State of Texas Over Proposed San Antonio-Area Quarry

San Antonio Current
February 18, 2020

Citizen groups have sued to halt a proposed 1,500-acre limestone quarry in Comal County, saying the state of Texas should never have issued an air quality permit to the project. The plaintiffs — Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry and Friends of Dry Comal Creek — brought their suit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Friday in Travis County. They’re asking the state to re-evaluate the permit, saying the agency ignored important environmental data and made legal errors when it approved the quarry in November….

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Lawsuit Filed Against TCEQ for Vulcan Quarry Permit

Community Impact Newspaper
February 18, 2020

Groups opposing a proposed quarry owned by Vulcan Materials filed a lawsuit Feb. 14 against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to David Drewa, Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry’s communication director. The TCEQ did not have a comment about the pending lawsuit, and Vulcan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Errors in the legal process and unaccounted emission sources are among several grievances listed in the lawsuit….

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Anti-Quarry Groups Sue over Air Permit

San Antonio Express-News
February 17, 2020

Two citizen groups opposed to a proposed 1,500-acre limestone quarry in Comal County have sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over the issuance of an air discharge permit. Vulcan Materials seeks to mine stone at the site of an old ranch at the corner of Texas 46 and FM 3009, northwest of New Braunfels. Local groups say the project, expected to last 80 years or more, will bring a host of problems, including contamination of the air and water, heavy truck traffic and ruined land values….

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Vulcan’s Comal Quarry Is One Permit away from Operation

Community Impact Newspaper
February 6, 2020

A coalition opposing Vulcan Materials’ Comal Quarry at the intersection of Hwy. 46 and FM 3009 intends to challenge an air-quality permit approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in November….

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March Auction for Campaign Against Vulcan Quarry

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
February 1, 2020
(Subscription required, full print version available here)

A local nonprofit fighting a quarry’s construction over the Edwards Aquifer will have its second auction event on March 21. The volunteer-run Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry organization began two years ago, and this year it has a growing list of auction items whose proceeds will go toward attorney fees and scientific research to fight Vulcan Materials Company’s quarry permit. The Bluebonnet Extravaganza Dinner and Auction will be in the Grande Ballroom in Milltown Historic District and is set for 6 p.m. to 10 p.m….

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