Southwest Houston residents nearly filled the Westbury High School auditorium July 29 to voice near-unanimous concern, if not downright opposition, to a temporary concrete batch plant proposed near the Willow Waterhole Greenspace.
Southern Crushed Concrete, LCC, plans to operate the plant at its property at 5001 Gasmer Dr. (between two large portions of the greenspace) for 180 days to mix concrete for three nearby bridge projects on the Union Pacific railroad, according to company manager Jim Miller.
Area officials, including state Rep. Borris Miles (D-146), and community leaders are concerned about potential harmful impacts to human health in the surrounding community and to the greenspace itself. Miles called for the public hearing held by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which is considering SCC’s air permit for the facility.
Representatives of SCC and TCEQ sat before the large audience to first describe the proposal and the permitting process (including opportunities for public comment), and then field questions and listen to wide-ranging concerns from the audience.
Miller, the SCC manager, succinctly summed up the company’s justification for the batch plant at the outset of his presentation.
“We own the property, number one. Number two, we have a contract” to provide concrete for the UP railroad projects, he said.
Monique Wells, with the consulting firm CIC Environmental, told the audience that SCC plans to use the facility at a considerably lower pace than what would be permitted. While an air permit from the TCEQ would allow eight to 10 trucks of concrete per day, the company would average about four trucks per day, she said. Operations would average about four hours per day, not eight-10, she added.
Don Nelon, of the TCEQ’s air permits division, outlined the permit process. SCC’s application meets all current state and federal requirements, he said.
TCEQ will accept public comments on the permit application through through Aug. 25, said Sierra Redding, an attorney representing the TCEQ’s executive director.
One option that concerned residents can ask for is a “contested case hearing” before a state administrative judge.
After the initial presentations, residents voiced concerns and asked questions about the company’s operation.
Becky Edmondson of the Westbury Super Neighborhood asked Miller about expected noise levels at the proposed plant. He had no information about decibel levels.
Kate Brusegaard, a longtime resident of the area, asked who would pay to repair any damages to nearby roads caused by trucks going to and from the facility.
“That’s a good question,” Miller replied. He said the roadways leading in and out of the facility belong to the city of Houston, which would be required to make any repairs as part of its capital improvement program.
Annette Clutt, superintendent of the Varnett Public School, a nearby charter elementary school, voiced concern that the facility would create particulate matter that could harm the 850 students at her school, 300 of whom are between 3 and 5 years old.
“There is going to be some dust in the air, and my school is in the direct line,” Clutt said. Her remarks drew strong applause from the audience.
Wells, the consultant for SCC, said an earlier air modeling study done for the TCEQ showed that the facility would meet air quality requirements. All of the concrete mixing would be done in a contained facility and there should be no offsite impact, she said.
“What if there are?” Clutt countered.
Prodded by Clutt and others, the TCEQ representatives said the agency doesn’t have the staff to conduct continuous monitoring of the SCC facility or others like it. It is up to the general public to make complaints to the agency if they believe they are at risk, the officials said.
Ralph Rieger, president of the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy, peppered the SCC representatives over their past operations at the site, which SCC bought from another company in 1991. Rieger particularly noted that in one portion of the permit application, the area is identified as primarily “industrial” in nature.
That might have been true in the early 1990s, Rieger said, but the area has since transformed to a largely residential area with some industrial facilities. The Willow Waterhole Greenspace didn’t exist in 1991, he noted.
Willow Waterhole is being developed as a flood control facility along Brays Bayou. It also serves as a 280-acre public green space. Areas around the detention ponds are designed for wildlife conservation and passive recreation and include walking trails and gazebos. It is well-known for bird-watching and as a musical entertainment venue. It is also the site of a future Levitt Pavilion concert venue.
Rieger pointed to SCC’s past air permit violations, including meeting record-keeping requirements. Miller said the company had had no such violations in seven or eight years.
Rieger and several others also raised questions about potential runoffs from the proposed plant into the waters of the Willow Waterhole. Miller denied there would be any such runoffs, and the TCEQ officials noted that the air permit application does not involve water impacts.
After a break, Rep. Miles noted that there are nearly 300 industrial facilities requiring air permits in his district, 13 of which are concrete batching plants.
He pointed to a litany of past complaints about the Gasmer Drive site, including a 2010 TCEQ investigation.
Miles noted the location’s proximity to Westbury High School and the convent of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province, which includes a new dormitory that houses several elderly nuns. Sisters from the order filled nearly two full rows of seats near the front of the auditorium.
Miles said the proposed facility would harm economic development in the area. He said he was opposed to the facility and called for a contested case hearing.
Miles was joined in that call by Houston City Councilman Larry Green, whose District H encompasses the Westbury area. A representative of U.S. Rep. Al Green’s office was on hand to lend support.
“We live here and this is our home,” resident Jeremy Hart said. “(The Willow Waterhole) is a green space that we all enjoy, that our kids play in.”
Several residents said they didn’t begrudge SCC’s right to own and operate a business. But given the rapidly changing nature of the area, they said, perhaps it was time for the company to take its business elsewhere.
“I don’t believe it belongs in a residential neighborhood,” said Dory Ridings,
“We wish you would go somewhere else,” echoed Elaine Gaskamp, a former president of Houston’s Super Neighborhood Alliance.
Howard Sacks, chairman of the Friends of Levitt Pavilion Houston, also spoke. The group is raising funds for the $10 million pavilion project, which would annually stage 50 concerts free to the public.
The SCC facility is located just a few dozen feet from where the pavilion is planned, he said. The pavilion would in fact directly face the belt type concrete batching plant. Its continued operation there would be a detriment to the pavilion and the greenspace, he said.
At the end of the meeting, Sister Maria Goretti, provincial supervisor of the Dominican sisters order, made a calm but impassioned plea that TCEQ officials deny the air permit and that the community work “so all people can be healthy.”
