Community Opposition Drives Victory Over Planned Rock Crusher in Fort Bend County
Julpit Inc. withdraws air permit application after sustained community pushback
ROSHARON, Texas — A controversial proposed concrete-crushing facility in Fort Bend County has been abandoned by the company behind it, signaling a big victory for the surrounding communities that banded together to oppose the project over air-quality and health concerns.
In a notice issued Friday by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the developer, Julpit Inc., confirmed it is no longer interested in operating at the proposed site on FM 521 in Rosharon, dropping its pursuit of a required air permit and effectively ending a two-year battle that saw the community repeatedly rebuff industrial encroachment into their neighborhoods.
“This is a historic win for the people of Rosharon and nearby communities in Fort Bend County,” said Haley Schulz, an organizer for Public Citizen and a resident of Fort Bend County. “Industry seems to operate under the assumption that it can simply outlast and outspend concerned residents. They have been proven wrong by the organized, persistent advocacy that stood to lose something that corporate profits can’t replace: community health. This is a win for the clean air all Texans deserve.”
Julpit’s abandoned air permit application was the company’s third attempt, with the TCEQ rejecting the two previous applications. The environmental regulatory agency is often viewed as too friendly to industry interests and its denial of a permit is almost unheard of. The denial of the first two applications followed intense pushback from residents of Fort Bend County.
While this withdrawal is a reprieve for Fort Bend County, the ongoing saga and multiple applications show that the permitting process is broken, and a successful campaign of community opposition requires extraordinary persistence to overcome the potential and harmful impacts of a corporate polluter.
Public Citizen will continue to call on the Texas Legislature to support common-sense reforms that protect residential areas and level the playing field in a community’s fight against a polluter.