Media Coverage

Vulcan Materials’ Hill Country quarry gets key permit despite locals’ concerns

MySA.com
July 23, 2024

A Texas Hill Country quarry recently hit a major milestone years in the making. Despite hundreds of residents trying to halt the controversial project, it now appears to be moving forward outside New Braunfels in Comal County. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved Vulcan Materials Company’s water pollution and abatement plan (WPAP) on July 8, according to a news release. The Alabama-based company needed the approval since the proposed quarry will sit in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the source of water for over 2 million Texans….

TCEQ greenlights water permit for rock quarry near New Braunfels

Community Impact New Braunfels
July 23, 2024

One more piece of a permitting puzzle was approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in July, moving forward plans for the Vulcan Materials Company-Comal Quarry to begin operations. A Water Pollution Abatement Plan was submitted for the quarry on March 7 and posted on the TCEQ’s website March 22. It was approved July 8 after review of comments from a 30-day public comment period that ended April 22, TCEQ Media Relations Specialist Victoria Cann said. The legal battle over whether a rock quarry can move forward excavating materials near the Meyer Ranch and Vintage Oaks subdivisions in New Braunfels has continued for several years leading up to this latest permit approval….

Vulcan Quarry opponents look to overturn newly-approved plan

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
July 22, 2024

A Hill Country organization is filing a motion to overturn the approval of a water pollution abatement plan that represents the final permit Vulcan Materials needs to begin mining. The Vulcan Comal Quarry is planned on a 1,500-acre site between Bulverde and New Braunfels. It would be situated entirely over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone in Comal County, drawing concerns from residents about potential effects on water quality and quantity. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved the Vulcan Materials Company’s Water Pollution Abatement Plan on July 8. Attorneys with Preserve Our Hill Country Environment are filing the motion to overturn. Members have been advocating against the quarry alongside other organizations and residents for years….

State OKs water quality permit for controversial quarry in Comal County

San Antonio Express-News
July 15, 2024

The Vulcan Materials Quarry in Comal County is a step closer to becoming a reality, after state regulators signed off on its water quality protection plan over the objections of environmental groups, state legislators and a local water company. Opponents are running out of options to stop the project, which they’ve been fighting since 2017, citing concerns about its potential impact on air quality and water in an environmentally sensitive area. Vulcan Materials Company plans to operate a 1,500-acre quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde. It would sit on the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the area where water enters the groundwater system that provides water for more than 2 million people….

TCEQ greenlights Comal Vulcan quarry project, opponents to appeal

myCanyonLake.com
July 15, 2023

Central Comal County residents are about to meet the “new neighbor” grassroots activists have warned them about for years. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on July 8 greenlit Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company’s plans to turn the former Eric White ranch into a 1,500-acre open-pit limestone quarry between Bulverde and New Braunfels near State Highway 46 and FM 3009….

Do you want a massive rock quarry in New Braunfels?

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
July 13, 2024

The plan is to have a rock quarry on the corner of Highway 46 and FM 3009. That’s right across the highway from the million dollar homes at the Waldsanger development, about a quarter mile or so from the Meyer Ranch development, and about two miles from Vintage Oaks. It seems to me like you have a quarry going in located very, very near thousands and thousands of homes valued at $600,000 and up. I did a little research and discovered the following: there will be constant noise pollution 24 hours a day from trucks and massive excavation. Blasts from the excavation will be heard upwards of 2-5 miles away. There will be an increase in air pollution. Dust and particulate matter are common byproducts of quarrying activities. These particles can be carried by wind to nearby residential areas, leading to respiratory issues and reduced air quality. There will be an increase in water pollution and water shortages. Quarrying can disturb the natural water flow patterns and potentially contaminate local water sources through runoff from exposed rock faces or improper waste disposal practices. This contamination can harm our drinking water quality in the surrounding area as well as New Braunfels. Aren’t we already in a water shortage? Private wells could go dry. Also, the quarry would be on top of the Edwards Aquifer recharging zone, affecting a very sensitive area….

Vulcan Quarry may not get public meeting

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
June 8, 2024

A large limestone aggregate quarry within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone near Natural Bridge Caverns and the Bracken Bat Cave might soon be approved without a public meeting. While driving in central Comal County, you have probably noticed the road signs indicating that the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone is an environmentally sensitive area. This is where the Edwards Limestone is exposed at the surface, allowing large volumes of water to flow into the aquifer….

TCEQ needs to answer many quarry questions

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
April 13, 2024

I am respectfully requesting TCEQ conduct a public meeting to address the myriad of questions and concerns posed by citizens regarding the hazards of allowing Vulcan Material Company to operate an open-pit quarry on top of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone at FM 3009 and Hwy 46 in Comal County. I strongly object to TCEQ permitting and allowing Vulcan Material Company to operate a quarry directly on top of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone at FM 3009 and Hwy 46 in Comal County. This decision is highly reckless and endangers the source of drinking and potable water for millions of Texas residents….

Vulcan’s pollution plan threatens our water

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
April 11, 2024

A decision that will impact water quality in Comal County looms. Vulcan Materials has filed a water pollution abatement plan (WPAP) with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for their planned Vulcan Comal Quarry. You have until April 21 to file comments with TCEQ about the plan and perhaps impact the outcome by requesting a hearing. As planned, the quarry will be a hazard to the aquifer. Quarries are known to contribute nitrate to groundwater because of their use of ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) as an explosive. ANFO is readily dissolved in water, is used in large quantities, and up to 30% is not consumed in explosions. The WPAP indicates aggregate washing (which will dissolve explosive residuals) will remove fine material. Following time in settling ponds, the fine material will be stored in previously-mined areas where it will compact and dewater. That, and reuse of the water from the ponds, will deliver dissolved nitrate to natural and explosive-induced fractures….

Opponents gear up for new fight against proposed Comal County quarry, this time over water

San Antonio Express-News
December 26, 2023

Opponents of a proposed quarry in Comal County are forming a new plan to fight the project after losing their latest effort to block the facility’s air quality permit. Since 2017, the Preserve Our Hill Country Environment Foundation and other advocates have been battling Vulcan Materials Company’s plan to operate a new quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde. After the Texas Supreme Court turned down their attempt to overturn the quarry’s air quality permit this fall, they’re now turning their attention to what they say will be its detrimental effects on water, including the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, Dry Comal Creek and the Comal River….

“We are now in a fight for water”: new front opens in legal battle to keep Vulcan quarry out of Comal County

myCanyonLake.com
November 25, 2023

I am Milann Guckian, president of Preserve Our Hill Country Environment (PHCE) Foundation. It was in January 2022 that I last wrote about our ongoing battle with Vulcan Construction Materials and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) regarding the proposed aggregate quarry in south-central Comal County. A lot has come to pass since then. I left off with news that TCEQ and Vulcan had appealed our unprecedented win in Judge Maya Guerra Gamble’s Travis County District Court to the Third Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, a three-judge panel of the appeals court reversed the district court ruling to strip the air permit from Vulcan Materials….

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Water fight: local group concerned about quarry’s potential impact

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
November 23, 2023

It was January 2022 that I last wrote about our ongoing battle with Vulcan Construction Materials and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) regarding the proposed aggregate quarry in south central Comal County. A lot has come to pass since then. I left off with news that TCEQ and Vulcan had appealed our unprecedented win in Judge Maya Guerra Gamble’s Travis County District Court to the Third Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court reversed the district court ruling to strip the air permit from Vulcan Materials….

Vulcan Quarry opponents may ask Texas Supreme Court for rehearing

myCanyonLake.com
October 18, 2023

Opponents of the proposed Vulcan Quarry have until Nov. 13 to file a motion for a rehearing after the Texas Supreme Court declined to hear their petition asking it to vacate a lower court ruling that greenlights the controversial project. The Supreme Court’s Sept. 29 decision dealt a major blow to Preserve Our Hill Country Environment (PHCE), a group of volunteer citizens who have spent the last seven years fighting to keep the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from granting Vulcan Materials the air quality permit it needs to turn a former ranch in central Comal County into a 1,500-acre open pit limestone quarry….

Texas court smacks down latest attempt to stop Comal quarry project

San Antonio Express-News
October 12, 2023

The Texas Supreme Court has denied a petition from opponents of a proposed quarry project in Comal County, the latest blow to environmentalists who have been fighting the rock-crushing operation for six years. The decision moves the planned 1,500-acre Vulcan Quarry project one step closer to becoming a reality….

Texas Supreme Court declines to review petition of proposed Vulcan quarry in Comal County

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
October 9, 2023

The proposed Vulcan Quarry west of New Braunfels appears to be one step closer to becoming a reality, as the Texas Supreme Court has declined to review a petition from environmental groups regarding the facility’s air quality permit. The court denied the groups’ petition for review on Sept. 29. The court’s decision is the latest in a yearslong legal back-and-forth over air quality permits….

Fate of New Braunfels-area limestone quarry heading to Texas Supreme Court

Community Impact New Braunfels
September 26, 2023

A legal back-and-forth over whether a rock quarry can move forward excavating materials near the Meyer Ranch and Vintage Oaks subdivisions in New Braunfels is heading to the Texas Supreme Court. Since 2017, Vulcan Materials Company Comal Quarry has been in a legal dispute with community activist groups Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry, Friends of Dry Comal Creek, Preserve Our Hill Country Environment, or PHCE, and other community members that brought a legal case against the establishment of rock crushing at the site, located near the intersection of Hwy. 46 and FM 3009 just west of New Braunfels….

Preserve Our Hill Country Environment takes quarry fight to Texas Supreme Court

myCanyonLake.com
August 7, 2023

Residents fighting to keep Vulcan Materials from turning a former ranch in central Comal County into a 1,500-acre open-pit limestone quarry are asking the Texas Supreme Court to vacate a May lower-court ruling that greenlights a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air quality permit for a rock crusher. “This is not the end of the road for the air-quality permit,” said Milann Guckian, who shares a property line with the proposed quarry and spearheads Preserve Our Hill Country Environment (PHCE), a group of volunteer citizens that has fought Vulcan’s request for an air permit since August 2017….

Ruling by Third Court of Appeals permanently reinstates air quality permit for Vulcan quarry

myCanyonLake.com
July 13, 2023

Vulcan Quarry opponents lost an important legal battle this week. Texas Third District Court of Appeals denied a request for an “en banc” review of their case before a full court, allowing a 2022 decision by a three-panel judge to stand and reinstate an air-quality permit for the proposed limestone quarry at FM 3009 and SH-46. Friends of Dry Comal Creek, Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry, the Reeh Group and Comal ISD last year appealed the panel’s ruling, arguing it was authored by J. Woodfin Jones, an unelected, retired judge who was “sitting by assignment” when he ruled in favor of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Vulcan Materials….

A Comal County ranch owner ponders selling his land, setting off another clash between property rights and environmental concerns

The Texas Tribune
July 13, 2023

Facing a two-lane highway about 13 miles west of New Braunfels, a 546-acre ranch hugging the west fork of Dry Comal Creek has caused a stir in the community. Behind a small gate, hills dotted with live oaks and a few freely roaming horses can be seen. But neighbors and environmentalists worry it won’t remain this way. Doug Harrison, a retired entrepreneur, and his wife have lived and raised their family on the ranch for the past two decades. But late last year, Harrison filed an application with the state to build a wastewater treatment plant on the property large enough to serve a 1,400-lot subdivision. The permit would allow 600,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day to be discharged into the west fork of Dry Comal Creek, which connects to the Comal and Guadalupe rivers — the most popular tubing destinations in the state….

Up Comal Creek without a paddle: County residents lock horns with businessman over sewage plant

San Antonio Business Journal
June 27, 2023

Douglas Harrison, a New Braunfels businessman who is the former owner of the Scooter Store, filed paperwork for a wastewater treatment facility with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as he entitles a piece of property. Since Harrison isn’t developing the land himself, he told the Business Journal that having all water, power and sewer entitlements “will command a substantially higher price when we go to sell….”

Comal County residents challenge proposed wastewater plant, 1,400-home development

San Antonio Express-News
June 9, 2023

Residents and environmental groups are urging state regulators to put a stop to plans for a Comal County facility that could eventually pump 600,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into a creek that feeds the Comal River. Turning out to a three-hour public hearing hosted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Thursday night…

TCEQ holds public hearing for proposed wastewater permit in Comal County

Community Impact New Braunfels
June 9, 2023

Comal County residents came together to speak out against a proposed permit application to discharge a maximum of 600,000 gallons of treated wastewater daily into the Dry Comal Creek, part of the Comal River and Guadalupe River watershed. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality held a public hearing June 8 at Smithson Valley High School regarding the proposed permit filed by a local landowner and JA Wastewater LLC. The wastewater treatment facility would serve the Harrison Tract subdivision, a new 1,403-lot subdivision in Comal County….

Bulverde residents protest TCEQ permit to dump wastewater into Dry Comal Creek

KSAT 12 TV San Antonio
June 8, 2023

📹 On Thursday night, the state is getting feedback on a plan to dump hundreds of thousands of treated sewage water into a Comal County creek in east Bulverde. There’s concern that if the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality green lights it, sewage water could enter the Edwards Aquifer and the water we drink. Erin Bell Altman runs an equestrian center along Dry Comal Creek on the east side of Highway 281. “I was terrified that we would have an impact on the horses,” Bell Altman said. When she heard a local landowner had filed an application to the TCEQ to dump 600,000 gallons of treated wastewater daily through the creek, alarm bells went off for her business and her horses….

TCEQ schedules public meeting Thursday for Harrison Tract wastewater treatment facility

myCanyonLake.com
June 6, 2023

A Comal County landowner who opposes a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air-quality permit granting Vulcan Materials the right to turn a neighboring property into a 1,500-acre limestone quarry squares off against his former allies at a 7 p.m. Thursday public meeting about his proposed Harrison Tract Waste Water Treatment Facility. The TCEQ meeting over Doug Harrison’s controversial bid for a TCEQ wastewater permit for his property is at Smithson Valley High School cafeteria, 14001 Texas Highway 46, Spring Branch. Harrison said there is a 50-50 chance he will attend the meeting….

Critics set to push back against Comal County project that calls for 1,400 homes, wastewater plant

San Antonio Express-News
June 6, 2023

Environmental groups are asking Texas regulators to say no to a proposed Comal County development that calls for 1,400 homes and a plant that could release 600,000 gallons of treated wastewater a day into a creek that feeds the Comal River. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday night regarding the permit application from Comal County landowner Douglas T. Harrison. The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Smithson Valley High School in Spring Branch….

Isaac files bills to place restrictions on aggregate companies, but Vulcan quarry opponent says they leave too much ‘wiggle room’ for big polluters

myCanyonLake.com
March 8, 2023

“Texas continues to experience growth by leaps and bounds, and that requires homes, roads, offices, schools and businesses to build and expand,” Isaac said in a statement. “We know it requires aggregate and concrete, and we expect that. I believe these businesses can co-exist with their neighbors and we can all be good stewards of the Hill Country while advancing the needs due to continued growth.” But David Drewa, spokesperson for a coalition of citizens’ groups fighting the proposed Vulcan Quarry, dismissed Isaac’s bills as only “very tiny steps in the right direction.” He said Isaac’s predecessor, former Rep. Kyle Biedermann and Rep. Terry Wilson, who represents District 20, in 2019 spearheaded much more comprehensive legislation for quarries and other aggregate production operations (APOs)….

Isaac proposes bills that seek to reduce environmental impact of aggregate mining

New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
March 8, 2023

House Bill 3658 would require fenceline air quality monitoring at concrete plants and aggregate production sites. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issues permits for rock and concrete crushing facilities. House Bill 3624 would prompt the TCEQ to prioritize permit applicants who received similar permits in the past and reclaimed the land less than six months after the site closed. David Drewa, a volunteer with Preserve our Hill Country Environment, said the proposals are a “tiny step in the right direction. These particular bills are rather vague and appear to leave lots of wiggle room to big industry polluters, so we’re hoping to see something more comprehensive,” Drewa said. The group is fighting against the proposed Vulcan Quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde….

Permit asks to dump 600,000 gallons of sewage a day into creek feeding Comal River, Edwards Aquifer

San Antonio Express-News
March 2, 2023

Local environmental groups have raised concerns after a landowner filed a permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to dump 600,000 gallons of treated sewage a day into a creek that feeds into the Comal River. The application – which was filed in September – is asking to build a wastewater treatment facility near New Braunfels off State Highway 46. According to the permit, the facility would discharge treated sewage into the West Fork Dry Comal Creek, which moves through to the Dry Comal Creek and eventually lands in the Comal River, which is connected to the Edwards Aquifer….

Isaac asks TCEQ for public meeting on proposed wastewater treatment plant in Comal County

myCanyonLake.com
February 28, 2023

Texas House District 73 Rep. Carrie Isaac on Monday asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a public meeting on a proposed wastewater treatment plant that would release up to 600,000 gallons of treated sewage per day into the West Fork of Dry Comal Creek, which flows for 30 miles until it enters the Comal River in New Braunfels. Her request followed an outcry by STOP 3009 Vulcan Quarry, Preserve Our Hill Country Environment Foundation, and the Greater Edwards Aquifier Alliance, which represents 54 member groups….