Decision looms on controversial wastewater plant for housing development<\/a><\/p>\nThe plant, to be built in Grey Forest, will serve the proposed Guajalote Ranch development, a project that calls for roughly 2,900 homes in the area. The permit allows for the release of up to one million gallons of treated wastewater each day into the Helotes Creek watershed, a tributary that feeds directly into the Edwards Aquifer, a major source of drinking water for the region.<\/p>\n
Opponents, including the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, the City of Grey Forest, and nearby landowners, warned that the project threatens to pollute groundwater in a region known for its porous karst terrain. They also pointed out that TCEQ\u2019s own Office of Public Interest Counsel had recommended rejecting the permit, citing scientific studies from the Southwest Research Institute that found any wastewater discharge in the area would \u201csignificantly degrade\u201d the watershed.<\/p>\n
Despite this, TCEQ Chair Brooke Paup said the evidence supported the application, stating, \u201cIn my evaluation, I find that the evidence and record supports the ALJ\u2019s determination that the applicant met its burden to establish that the draft permit is protective and meets all applicable requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Environmental advocates expressed outrage. Randy Neumann, chair of the Scenic Loop\u2013Helotes Creek Alliance, said, \u201cWe are of course extremely disappointed in the commissioners\u2019 decision this decision does nothing to protect public health and natural resources.\u201d He vowed to continue the fight, adding, \u201cThis is by no means the end of our fight and if the 2.5 million residents across Central Texas who depend on the Edwards Aquifer ultimately don\u2019t get the remedy they deserve, our message will be, \u2018See you in court.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
State Rep. Mark Dorazio, who represents District 122, spoke against the project during Wednesday\u2019s TCEQ meeting.<\/p>\n
I have talked to city, state and county leaders. I have spoken to Republicans and Democrats. I have spoken to scientists, businessmen, and homeowners. I\u2019ve met with Lennar and I have met with residents along Helotes Creek,\u201d Dorazio said. \u201cThrough all of that, I keep coming up to the same conclusion: this wastewater treatment plan is unwise.<\/p>\n
But others defended the proposal, including Helen Gilbert, who represented Municipal Operations LLC, the company behind the permit.<\/p>\n
But this permit meets and exceeds applicable morals and statutes. It is not a serious risk, as you just heard,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cWith all due respect, the protestants and Representative Dorazio have not looked at the evidence.<\/p>\n
critics accuse Lennar of choosing a cheaper and riskier wastewater solution rather than paying $20\u201340 million to tie into the San Antonio Water System. The proposed PID would shift costs to future homeowners through higher property taxes.<\/p>\n
Despite the pushback, the commission ultimately voted to approve the permit, clearing the way for the development to move forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) voted to approve a permit for a controversial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,698,8084,12836,12908,13002,4701,12911,13003],"class_list":{"0":"post-16237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-bexar-county","12":"tag-edwards-aquifer","13":"tag-guajolote-ranch","14":"tag-helotes-creek","15":"tag-lennar-homes","16":"tag-tceq","17":"tag-wastewater","18":"tag-water-quality"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}