Just this week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote to TCEQ Chairman Jon Niermann to voice his opposition to the construction of a concrete batch plant in Grayson County - a largely rural county located 60 miles north of Dallas.

"There is simply too much risk to the county and its citizens," Patrick said while requesting an immediate pause to the permitting process until the legislature can weigh in.  Patrick wrote “[b]usiness leaders, clergy, elected officials, community leaders, and an overwhelming majority of the public have all voiced their objections to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) granting a permit…”

This is exactly the same situation in Harris County where over 2,600 people have opposed a proposed concrete crushing plant to be built next to the LBJ Hospital campus in Northeast Houston in the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood.

Last fall, 72% of Harris County voters voted to invest over $2 Billion to build a new hospital, an in-patient mental health facility and level 1 Trauma Center at the LBJ campus. And, just like the business community in Grayson County, we're equally concerned with how a plant like this will affect our investment and the health and well-being of the surrounding community. 

Letter to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Lt. Governor of Texas Dan Patrick

So why are pollutant-heavy plants like these okay for Harris County but not okay for Grayson County? 

Call or email Lt Governor Patrick with a message like this:

Lt. Governor Patrick, thank you for asking TCEQ to stop issuing permits to build concrete plants until after the Legislature reviews the  permissive standards TCEQ uses to grant these permits in our communities. A few days before you wrote them, TCEQ granted a permit to build a concrete crusher plant next to the LBJ Hospital campus. Please tell TCEQ to retract that permit and take a long look at the valid concerns raised by dozens of organizations and thousands of residents.

You went to Grayson County and heard that community's strong opposition to a plant. Now come to Harris County and hear ours. Ask TCEQ to reverse their decision until the Legislature can develop better standards that protect our churches, schools, hospitals and businesses.

EMAIL: https://www.ltgov.texas.gov/contact/contact-general/

CALL: (512) 463-0001

In photo: Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, Archdiocesan Director of Social Concerns, speaks at the podium in front of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Houston with other congregational and community leaders, including Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS.

[Excerpts]

The historically African-American neighborhood inside Houston’s northern 610 Loop has held townhall meetings and protests since last year to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). But its Director approved a permit this past January for Texas Coastal Materials to build a concrete and rock crusher across the street mere yards away from the busy public hospital.

Now residents, state representatives and Church leaders hope a letter-writing campaign gathering thousands of signatures to Gov. Greg Abbott will help him to overturn the Standard Air Quality Permit 173296 given to the company.

Father Martin Eke, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in that neighborhood, said, “The company tells us it will not be a problem. But my parishioners and I live here in the community. The crushed gravel with its particulates will only add to the air pollution here.”

....[Sister Maureen O’Connell] added, “The letters reflect the commitment of the people of God and their desire to live and thrive in an environment that promotes the common good.”

Kashmere Gardens Community, Churches Protest Another Polluting Company, The Catholic Herald [pdf]

[Update: TCEQ's own Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC) finds that "good cause to overturn the ED’s decision exists, based on substantial evidence provided by the Movants that the entirety of the facility will not be located further than 440 yards from a school or place of worship."]

On Friday February 16th, TMO leaders publicly called on Governor Greg Abbott to overturn the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) permit that would allow construction of a concrete crushing facility next to the LBJ Hospital.  Concrete crushers can have dire consequences for the communities that surround them including particle and noise pollution, damaged roads, and cracked windshields.  Houston Public Media warns that the risks of fine particle exposure can include "elevated levels of heart disease, stroke, asthma, cancer and other respiratory issues."

“This just doesn't make sense,” Sister Maureen O'Connell of the archdiocese told Chron. “Why are we going to do this to people who are already at risk?”

To sign the petition and voice your support, click here.

Press Conference [video]

Community Leaders Urge Greg Abbott to Reverse Permit for Concrete Crushing Plant Near LBJ Hospital, Houston Public Media [pdf]

Community Organizers Ask Governor to Pump the Breaks on Concrete-Crushing Facility, Houston Press [pdf]

Houston Religious Leaders Protest Concrete Crushing Plant near Hospital, Chron.com [pdf]

Religious Leaders Join Opposition Against Proposed Concrete Plant by LBJ Hospital, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

Tell Gov. Abbott and State Lawmakers to Overturn TCEQ Permit Allowing a Concrete Crusher to be Built Next to LBJ Hospital

Sign below to voice your opposition, download a letter or download a petition and ask your congregation members, family and friends to complete it telling Governor Abbot to deny a permit to build the plant.  

Latest Update: TCEQ's own Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC) finds that "good cause to overturn the ED’s decision exists, based on substantial evidence...that the entirety of the facility will not be located further than 440 yards from a school or place of worship."  OPIC Filing   

TMO will collect all letters and petitions by April 1.  We only have until April 8 to change the decision.

TMO leaders from Kashmere Gardens crashed a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) hearing to voice their concerns and opposition to the construction of a concrete processing center slated for a low-income neighborhood within mere steps of the LBJ Hospital.  The proposed location is also near walking trails, parks, and residential neighborhoods. 

Leaders asserted that concrete crushing facilities pose medical risks to vulnerable hospital patients and residents in surrounding communities -- primarily through expected increases in air pollution (soot, dust, and silica) which could trigger asthma attacks or other heart conditions.  Expected increases in noise and light pollution also has the potential to interfere with family and community life.

During the last 13 days that TCEQ allowed comments to be made, TMO drove a tenfold increase in comments submitted online -- from 66 before they began engaging their members, to 733 comments submitted by the Monday afternoon deadline. 

Polémica por Solicitud de Permiso Para Construir Otra Cementera en Houston: "No Estamos de Acuerdo", Univision Houston