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Houston Community Defeats Proposed Concrete Batch Plant

Nomadic Aggregates was planned in an Environmental Justice community

Public Citizen Comments on Nomadic Aggregates Permit Application

A plan to put a concrete batch plant in a vulnerable Houston neighborhood has been scrapped after an organized effort to raise awareness of the project’s dangers.

We congratulate Air Alliance Houston, Texas Rep. Armando Walle and all the others who helped raise awareness of the threat this project posed to the Aldine community. It shows that, when organized and motivated, we can make a real difference in our neighborhoods and cities.

Nomadic Aggregates, LLC, was seeking a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to open a new concrete batch plant in Northeast Houston at 4213 Mooney Road.

Concrete batch plants are dangerous when they emit high levels of particulate matter pollution, and pose increased risk of traffic accidents because of an increase in heavy trucks. These plants are currently permitted to operate 24/7.

Adrian Shelley, Public Citizen’s Texas office director, wrote a letter to the TCEQ asking them to closely scrutinize this application and do everything possible to protect public health. Adrian’s letter is attached at the top of this page. And here’s the response of Air Alliance Houston to this great news:

Dear Partners and Friends,

Last night, faced with fierce opposition from residents, elected officials, and advocacy groups, the Nomadic Aggregates Company withdrew its air permit application during the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) public meeting. The company wanted to operate a new concrete batch plant in Northeast Houston near a residential community where it would have been located close to 300 households and over 1,000 residents. This win represents another example of how powerful working together toward a common goal can be.

Air Alliance Houston directly notified residents that would be impacted by the facility and provided them with the information needed to participate in the public meeting. We worked with elected officials and partnered with the Metropolitan Organization (TMO) to help share information with the broader community. Over 100 residents attended the meeting and many of them thanked us for notifying about the permit. This was the second batch plant permit request that was withdrawn under public pressure this month. The withdrawal emphasizes that if we join forces, communities of color and low-income neighborhoods do not have to continue to be treated as sacrifice zones to support development in the Houston Region.

Everyone has a right to breathe clean air and where you live should not determine your health. Environmentally hazardous facilities do not belong near homes, schools, parks, and other places that pose threats to our health.

Fighting concrete batch plants on a case-by-case basis is a short-term strategy that Air Alliance Houston must apply because of the state’s weak air permitting and public notification requirements. However, we need your continued support to help us take this fight to our State Legislature in 2021 – in order to develop stronger air permitting requirements that prohibit hazardous facilities near the places where we live, work, learn, and play.

This is another huge victory, but the work is not finished and we are sure there are other battles against similar facilities to be won. However, we are ready for the fight.

Sincerely,

Air Alliance Houston
www.airalliancehouston.org
713.528.3779