The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality approved the air quality permit requested by Far South Mining to establish a rock quarry at Needmore Ranch. Almost as soon as the permit was approved, a notice was filed by the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Agency with an intent to sue the mining company in an attempt to stop the development of a quarry.
The permit approved was the first of multiple permits that would be required to establish the quarry. The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality grouped hundreds of questions from the public into 16 groups. Most of the answers clarified what the TCEQ could, or more often could not, take into account.
“The TCEQ cannot deny a permit if the Applicant demonstrates that all applicable statutes, rules, and regulations will be met,” a response from the TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker said. “If the plant is operated as specified in the Standard Permit for Rock and Concrete Crushers, the emissions from the plant authorized by this permit should not adversely impact public health or the environment.”
