Vulcan Materials has filed an application for a 2.4-square mile limestone quarry in a non-industrial area of Comal County—populated with over 12,000 residents. The 1500-acre site is located between Bulverde and New Braunfels, near SH 46 and FM 3009 (map below).
Before: White Ranch
After: A Vulcan Quarry
1500
acres
2.9
miles across
1467
football fields
How Large Is 2.4 Square Miles?
24 ✕ 7 ✕ 365
The Vulcan Comal quarry permit application specifies that the plant will perform blasting, mining, and crushing operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. Around-the-clock operation means that dust, noise, and running machinery will be continuous. At night, large lights are required, which will create a nuisance for surrounding residents and spoil the dark night skies characteristic of the Hill Country.
Seismic activity from quarry blasting will damage nearby wells, home foundations, swimming pools, and local infrastructure as well as the unique underground karst formations characteristic of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
Trucks & Hauling
The plant will be permitted with a crushing rate of 1.5 million tons of rock per year. Since the average gravel truck carries 20 tons per load, we can expect the following:
- 75,000 truck loads annually
- 6250 loads a month
- 205 loads a day
- 9 loads an hour
- 410 truck trips per 24 hour
However, loading of trucks is only performed during daylight hours. Therefore, assuming twelve hours of truck traffic, a new truck trip will occur every 100 seconds in order to move the amount of material produced.
410
trips/day
75,000
loads/year
1.5mil.
tons/year
Not a Good Neighbor
Vulcan has a poor track record when it comes to protecting natural resources and following regulations. During the past several years, over 80 formal complaints were filed against Vulcan—in Texas alone. And over 35 permit violations occurred at a single Vulcan plant (Loop 1604 in San Antonio). Vulcan can’t be trusted to respect the environment or follow the law.
Additional Operations
In addition to mining and rock crushing, quarry locations frequently add cement plants, concrete-forming operations, asphalt plants, and other industrial capabilities to their sites. Those operations add even more truck traffic, noise, and disruption to the surrounding area.
Vulcan Materials also tends to support railroad links to their facilities. Based on Vulcan’s history, threat of eminent domain and private property condemnation is not unrealistic. In 2017, a Vulcan subsidiary used eminent domain to condemn property that Medina County landholders refused to sell. Now they are building a nine-mile railway connecting the Vulcan quarry to the Union Pacific line near Highway 90.
Location
Vulcan Materials, an out-of-state corporation, plans to “helicopter” this quarry into an area of numerous residential developments, schools, parks, and natural attractions. Additionally, Comal County schools and neighborhoods even further from the quarry site (see map below) will be affected by the increase in truck traffic.
Neighborhoods
- Heritage Oaks
- Vintage Oaks
- Skyridge
- Beck Ranch
- Shearer Road and the Forks
- Copper Ridge
- Rim Rock Ranch
- Ramble Ridge
- More Neighborhoods
Schools
- Smithson Valley High
- Smithson Valley Middle
- Garden Ridge Elementary
- Johnson Ranch Elementary
- Bill Brown Elementary
- Bracken Christian
- Startzville Elementary
- Oak Run Middle
- Veramendi Elementary
Parks & Attractions
- Bracken Bat Cave
- Natural Bridge Caverns
- Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
- St Jude’s Ranch for Children
- Kleck Park
