Comal County Residents, Environmentalists Want New Quarry Hearing
San Antonio Express-News
November 15, 2022
Comal County community members are contesting an air quality permit for a proposed 1,500-acre limestone quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde, arguing that the quarry is harmful for human health and welfare. Environmental organizations in Hill Country requested a rehearing with the full Third Court of Appeals earlier this month after Vulcan Materials — an Alabama-based construction company — secured its air quality permit for its new quarry from the state. A district court decision stripped the permit from Vulcan in 2021, but a three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals reversed that result Sept. 29, allowing Vulcan its permit….
Vulcan Quarry Opponents File for Rehearing on TCEQ Air-Quality Permit
myCanyonLake.com
November 9, 2022
An ongoing legal battle to prevent the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates from turning a former Comal County ranch at FM 3009 and State Highway 46 into a 1,500-acre limestone quarry returns to Texas Third Court of Appeals. A coalition of quarry opponents is asking for a rehearing “en banc” or by the full court after a three-judge panel on Sept. 29 reversed a lower-court ruling stripping Vulcan Materials of the air-quality permit it needs to proceed with the controversial project….
Vulcan Quarry Opponents in Comal County Request Rehearing on Air Permit Issue
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
November 9, 2022
Opponents of a proposed 1,500-acre quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde on Monday filed motions requesting a rehearing by the full Texas Third Court of Appeals. The filing follows a September decision by a smaller, three-judge panel of the court, reversing a district court’s ruling to strip the air permit from Alabama-based Vulcan Materials for its proposed quarry, which restored the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality-issued permit to Alabama-based Vulcan Materials….
Court Allows Rock Quarry over Edwards Aquifer to Proceed, Giving Opponents Whiplash
San Antonio Report
October 10, 2022
In what Comal County environmentalists called a “slap in the face,” a three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals has once again cleared the way for a proposed 1500-acre rock quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde. Early last week, the panel reversed a district court ruling to strip the approved Texas Commission on Environmental Quality air permit from Vulcan Materials for its proposed quarry in Comal County, just north of San Antonio, effectively restoring the TCEQ permit and allowing the Alabama-based construction materials company to resume development plans….
Court Ruling Restores Air Permit for Vulcan’s Proposed Quarry in Central Comal County
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
October 10, 2022
In a decision last week, a three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling that stripped the air permit from Vulcan Materials for its proposed 1,500-acre quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde, according to opponents fighting against the quarry. The decision reverses a March 2021 ruling by State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble and restores the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality air quality permit to the Alabama-based company for the portable rock crusher in its planned quarry near State Highway 46 and Farm-to-Market Road 3009 in central Comal County….
Contentious Comal County Quarry Gets Its Air Quality Permit Back
San Antonio Express-News
October 4, 2022
A proposed 1,500-acre limestone quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde has secured its air quality permit from the state, leading to outrage and frustration from environmentalists and nearby residents. A three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals reversed a 2021 district court decision that stripped Vulcan Materials — an Alabama-based construction company — of its air quality permit. Among other reasons for the earlier decision, the judges found too little evidence to back the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s assertion that the quarry wouldn’t harm human health and welfare….
Court Ruling Revives Plans for Proposed Quarry Between Bulverde and New Braunfels
Texas Public Radio
October 4, 2022
A court ruling on Monday effectively restores a state air quality permit to the proposed Vulcan Materials quarry off FM 3009, according to opponents who have been fighting against the quarry since 2017. The Third Court of Appeals reversed a March 2021 ruling by State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble that vacated the approval of an air quality permit for a rock crusher at the planned site by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Gamble sided with members of Friends of Dry Comal Creek and Stop Vulcan 3009 Quarry, who raised environmental concerns over the proposed 1,500 acre quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde, which would sit near residential areas with 15,000 people….
Court of Appeals Rules in Vulcan’s Favor, Restores Air-Quality Permit for Quarry at FM 3009 and Highway 46
myCanyonLake.com
October 4, 2022
In what some Comal County residents are calling a “slap in the face,” Texas’ Third District Court of Appeals in Austin on Thursday reversed a lower court’s decision to strip Alabama-based Vulcan Materials of the permit it needs to turn the former Eric White Ranch at FM 3009 and State Highway 46 into a 1,500-acre open-pit limestone quarry. In November 2019, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) granted Vulcan an air-quality permit for a rock crusher. Its decision followed several years of legal wrangling with an alliance of Comal County citizens, community groups, and Comal ISD. Under Texas law, TCEQ can only permit a facility if it finds no indication it will harm the public’s health and physical property….
House District 73 Race an Opportunity for Voters
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
February 19, 2022
Photos and full text available here
In the newly redrawn House District 73, the hotly contested primary on the Republican side offers voters three choices. The winner will face Democrat Justin Calhoun in the November general election to determine a replacement for Representative Kyle Biedermann. We are grateful to all four candidates for taking the time to meet with our organization and discuss issues of environmental importance in Comal and Hays counties: clean air, water quality and quantity, reforming TCEQ, and common sense supervision of quarries and other aggregate production operations (APOs)….
Let’s Look at the Texas Senate Candidates
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
February 19, 2022
Photos and full text available here
Three candidates are running to represent Senate District 25. Incumbent Donna Campbell is being challenged by Channon Cain in the Republican primary. Democrat Robert Walsh is unopposed. Unfortunately, Senator Campbell’s apparent interest in protecting Hill Country residents and our natural resources from freewheeling quarries and the aggregate industry seems to be a flash in the pan. While she introduced a few decent quarry-related bills in 2019 (none passed), her track record of supporting legislation unfriendly to Texas citizens is disappointing….
TCEQ Stands with an Out-of-State Aggregate Behemoth Instead of Protecting Comal County’s Citizens
myCanyonLake.com
February 5, 2022
In 1996, we found our little slice of paradise here in Comal County. We purchased five acres of land surrounded by all that I had come to associate with the Hill Country. We would be nestled amongst oak, cedar, and elm trees with an abundance of wildlife, birds, bats, and insects. Our neighbors to the southeast were our best friends, to the north-northeast sat a 600-acre family homestead, and to the west-northwest sat the beautiful White Ranch….
Texas Hill Country: Rolling Hills or Empty Moonscape?
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
January 22, 2022 (full version available here)
I am Milann Guckian, president of Preserve our Hill Country Environment. This is not the job I asked for or wanted in retirement but one I felt I must undertake. I’ve always known I wanted to come back to Central Texas to live out my days. Born in Lockhart, my family’s roots are embedded here. We had a vacation home on Canyon Lake where I spent many a day relishing the beauty of the hills, the rivers and lakes, the wildlife, and the peacefulness that came with these natural wonders….
Related News
Candidate Questionnaire Sent in Key Primary Races
January 22, 2022
To better inform citizens on issues related to quarries, aggregate production, and TCEQ, we developed and sent a candidate questionnaire to seven candidates running in the upcoming March 2022 primary elections.
Media Coverage
January 1, 2022
TV, radio, and newspaper media coverage of the proposed Vulcan quarry in Comal County, Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry, and Friends of Dry Comal Creek.
Media Coverage in 2021
December 31, 2021
TV, radio, and newspaper media coverage during 2021 of the proposed Vulcan quarry in Comal County, Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry, and Friends of Dry Comal Creek.