After living through years of construction on State Highway 170, Jean McTaggart thought the headaches were over for her far north Fort Worth neighborhood. That was until she heard about a proposed concrete batch plant just over a half mile from her home, near land slated to become a Northwest ISD high school campus.
McTaggart worries about the pollutants that emanate from concrete plants and their potential impact on students.
“I just want people who pass any of these things to imagine that that’s where they live,” she said.
McTaggart was among dozens of concerned residents who filled the Timber Creek High School cafeteria April 15 to register their opposition to TOR Texas LLC’s state permit application. TOR Texas, also known as The Organic Recycler, wants to add concrete production to its existing landscaping material business at 13001 Old Denton Road in Fort Worth.
The company’s air quality permit has preliminary approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality because it meets all applicable rules set by the state, according to a March meeting notice.
State commission staff held the public meeting at the request of state Rep. Nate Schatzline, who joined Fort Worth City Council member Alan Blaylock and Mayor Mattie Parker in asking environmental regulators to block the permit.
“I urge TCEQ not to approve this, but to look for another location where our children are safer and where we can reestablish a good relationship with this business, with this industry to make sure that the next generation is not at risk, that our livelihood is not at risk,” Schatzline said.
Public comment open until midnight April 17
If you would like to file a comment on TOR Texas’ application before the midnight deadline, click here. Enter 174858 into the “permit number” box. Fill out the form and click “submit” at the bottom of the page.
Tim Sansone, managing partner at TOR Texas, said the site is zoned for heavy industrial use and housed a concrete batch plant in the early 2000s. When his team analyzed their options for plant sites, they found it “very challenging” to find a location already zoned for concrete production and an adequate distance from homes. The Old Denton Road site was the best option, he said.
The site already features equipment to prevent pollution, including bunker walls, paved roads and watering devices to keep dust down, Sansone said. TOR Texas will follow all state regulations to protect residents and Sansone’s employees from health concerns, he said.
“This site is a premier site for a concrete batch plant to limit impact to the environment,” he said. “There’s a need in the community. Customers have reached out to us and said, ‘Hey you can get concrete at two yards? Great, let’s do it.’”
TOR Texas is seeking to produce up to 100 cubic yards of concrete per hour, or half of the maximum amount allowed by state environmental regulators. While the permit would allow Sansone’s team to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, he said the plant will not operate every day and will likely do most of its business in the early morning hours because the Texas heat causes concrete to dry quickly.
“Our goal in this is to allow flexibility. If we have a unique customer who needs a pour at midnight because of temperatures, we want to be able to do that,” Sansone said. “Do we think that the plant’s going to run seven days a week? Absolutely not, no question.”
Blaylock said he tried to meet with Sansone to identify alternative locations for the plant but Sansone canceled a planned meeting without rescheduling. The offer to help find a better site still stands, Blaylock said.
An increase in particulate matter pollution would affect resident health and worsen air quality in North Texas, which is already failing to meet federal air quality standards, Blaylock said.
“We can do better than what is currently proposed,” Blaylock said. “I have also given a directive to our legal department, and we are working to remove the ability to do concrete plants by right in the city of Fort Worth and will require conditional use permits moving forward.”
Residents also raised concerns about how the plant would impact property values. Commission staff said they do not have legal authority to take property valuations, zoning or future land use — including the anticipated Northwest ISD school site — into account when making a decision on the air quality permit.
Steve Sprowls, president of the Northwest ISD board of trustees, presented an April 8 board resolution opposing the plant. Beyond air quality concerns for about 8,000 students who already attend schools in the area, Sprowls said leaders are concerned about putting concrete trucks on the same roads as 16-year-old new drivers on their way to school.
The public comment period ends at midnight April 17. From there, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality staff will respond to all comments and send the application to the executive director.
Before the application receives final approval, people living within 440 yards of a proposed concrete batch plant can file for a contested case hearing, which is similar to a civil trial in state district court.
Wendy Scaggs, a pharmacist, implored Sansone to take the plant somewhere else.
“Please don’t make more (people) struggle to breathe,” Scaggs said. “Don’t make one more asthmatic rush to the pharmacy for an albuterol inhaler that is in short supply because hundreds of extra patients need it this week.”
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.