 Good evening. Today is April 5th, 15th, 2024. And this is the public meeting concerning toward Texas LLC. It is an application for an air quality standard permit. Registration number 174858. Before we go any further, I'm going to have one more time formally for the record, our interpreter service to announce their service to the public. Good evening. My name is Thomas Lacombe with Global Speak Translations. And this evening we are offering translation services into Spanish. So for anyone who may need this type of service, please see us here at our booth as the Global Speak Translations, and we'll provide you with a receiver for the interpreters. Good evening. I'm Thomas Lacombe with Global Speak Translations. And this evening we are offering Spanish services. In case you need a receiver for the interpreter, you can find me here, near the table, at Global Speak Translations. Well, thank you very much. Okay, thank you. I first want to thank everyone for your attendance, and I look forward to your participation. My name is Deanna Avalos, and I am with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. For the rest of the evening, you will hear us referred to that as TCEQ for short. Specifically, I am with the Office of the Chief Clerk. And my role tonight is that of facilitator and moderator. As the facilitator of the meeting, it is my job to keep the meeting moving forward, so we reach the main objective, which is the taking of your formal comments on the record. At this time, I'd like to just begin by recognizing and thanking on behalf of all of us, Representative Nate Schefflein, who requested this public meeting. I understand there may be other local officials that are present. We thank you for being here, and we look forward to your participation in the meeting. Again, the purpose of tonight's meeting is the taking of formal comment on this application for the record. I'm going to go ahead and go over the format of the meeting. Part one will be the introductions of the panels that are sitting before you. Part two will be a question and answer session. You may ask questions during this time, and the applicant and representative and the TCQ staff will address questions related to the air quality permit application. Part three will be the formal comment period. This is where you voice your concerns and comment on the application to the TCQ as part of the official record and consideration of this application. Okay, so a few ground rules. We have a limited amount of time tonight to get everything accomplished, but we can do so by following the format of the meeting. So ask questions only during the question and answer session during the Q&A informal, and hold your comments for the formal comment period, which will be the last section of the meeting. If you would like to speak formal comments, the registration table will be available to you all evening. You may sign up your attendance on record. It's optional. You may request to be on the mailing list or to speak those formal or comments or if you want to write comments, you could write them throughout the meeting and turn it in before you leave. Many of you perhaps has submitted comments online already to the TCQ. If you've done that, know that they are a part of the record and they will be considered equally as any comments that are spoken orally during our formal portion tonight. So if you wanted to do additional, you could do so, but know that your comments are on the record. As moderator of the meeting, I just want to ensure that we have a space that everyone feels comfortable sharing, whether it's the public asking a question or giving comment, or whether it's the panels responding to those questions. So then I ask that we all just be respectful of each other during our interactions. I will recognize only those who have the floor to speak. So this mic in front of me is the public mic. So whoever is at that mic, that's who I'm going to recognize. So if you have a question, you're going to come to that. And in the comments, I will call you out in the order that you signed up. All right, some logistics. If you don't mind putting your phones on silent, that would be perfect. Restroom locations are actually in front of me straight to the back. That's where you'll find the restrooms. And again, we are using microphones not only to amplify so we can all hear each other, but to record the meeting. And at any time, if you can't hear, it sounds like we have good acoustics. But if any time you cannot hear your panel when you're addressing your question, just wave at me or do this to your ear, and I will address them. For my panels, it's very important to hold the mic up so that if you're soft spoken, my audio guy can adjust the volume a little bit. But if your drops, then he really can't help. So for panels, keep your arm up. Okay, with that being said, let's go with part one, introduction of the panels. To my right, I'm going to start with the applicant. We have Mrs. Melissa Fitz. She is a consultant with Westward Environmental and Mr. Tim Sanson, managing partner of Tour Texas. They're going to speak to what exactly are they applying to TCQ for and anything like they'd like to share about operations. Hi, my name is Melissa Fitz. Thank you for joining us tonight. I'm with Westward Environmental and we're the environmental and engineering consulting firm who prepared the air permit application for Tour Texas that we're meeting about tonight. Tour is a local business with over a decade of experience in the DFW Metroplex. Their main office is in Fort Worth with several other locations in Forest Hill, Melissa, Hutchins, Dallas and Forney. Our application is for a TCQ air quality standard permit for a concrete batch plant to be located along Old Denton Road in Fort Worth at an existing site which is currently zoned by the city as heavy industrial. A similar concrete batch plant was previously operated at the same site by a different company in early 2000s. So the infrastructure roads, plant foundations and bunker walls already exist on site. It is important to note that a concrete batch plant is not a cement kiln nor factory. People often confuse these facilities and their processes, especially the terms cement and concrete. But cement is an ingredient used to make concrete. Cement is a powdered substance that is manufactured through a chemical combination of ingredients which are heated at kilns at very high temperatures where there could be combustion emissions, exhaust gases, mercury, etc. There are currently less than 10 cement plants in Texas, such as those you see in Midlothian. And they are considered federal major sources. However, concrete batch plants like the one proposed by Tour are smaller operations that are considered state minor sources, where measured amounts of cement, sand, rock and water are mixed together by a recipe to make concrete. It's a paste when newly mixed and then strong and durable as it hardens. Concrete is needed for roads, bridges, homes, schools, hospitals, churches and more. Particular matters such as dust emissions are the primary concern at concrete batch plants. Of course, some materials such as sand and rock or stock piled on site, which are sprayed down with water, finer materials such as cement cannot be exposed to the elements such as wind and rain. Thus, cement is stored in silos that are completely enclosed and vented to silo top dust collectors. To control any displaced air, a cement is unloaded into the silos via totally enclosed transfer from delivery trucks. The batch point where all these materials are gravity fed into the mixer trucks is sheltered on three sides and has a suction shroud that is vented to a central dust collector. The TCQ has developed this particular standard permit for concrete batch plants with a comprehensive evaluation of air quality emissions. It includes production and equipment limitations, proper dust control, good housekeeping, regular monitoring of emissions, specific opacity limitations, testing by certified personnel, record keeping requirements and proper documentation to show compliance with any permit requirements. Tor is proposing to utilize a small batch plant at this site that will meet or exceed the TCQ air permit requirements. We are requesting half of the hourly production that is allowed by TCQ at 100 cubic yards an hour rather than the maximum of 200. At a greater distance from the plant to the property line than is required by TCQ at 155 feet rather than the minimum of 100 feet. With better dust control that is required by TCQ with a filtering velocity of 5250 ACFM rather than the minimum of 5,000. And it will operate on electric wind power rather than using diesel gen sets, which the TCQ does allow up to 1,000 horsepower. The TCQ has conducted research which shows the standard permit is protective in accordance with state and federal standards. The EPA has established primary and secondary standards to protect the public health, including our most sensitive members, such as children, the elderly and individuals with preexisting health conditions, as well as to protect the environment, including animals, crops and vegetation from any adverse effects. This facility will be safe for our employees on site and also safe at the property lines and beyond. We're committed to being responsible neighbors and we're here to answer any questions that you might have regarding this air permit. Thank you for your time tonight. Okay, thank you. So now let us turn to the TCQ panel. I'm going to start with the air quality permits division. We have Alexander Hiller and Joe Nikoja. And Alexander is going to speak to the receipt of the application and TCQ's technical review. Hello, everybody. My name is also thank you very much for attending this meeting. My name is Alexander Hiller and I'm the permit reviewer responsible for the technical review of the air quality standard permit application submitted by the Tor Texas, the applicant on my right. They submitted the application on December 11th, 2023. And the one the application we're here to discuss tonight is would authorize the proposed permanent concrete batch plant facility at the 13-001 Old Denton Road. The requirements, and I apologize if I'm repeating anything that Melissa did cover, but I think it's really good information. So I do want to make sure that we it is set. The requirements for the standard permit are specifically created for concrete batch plants across the state of Texas, and to ensure that they all meet state and federal rules. And are therefore protective of human health and the environment. And just as an outline, I have some of the operational requirements that the applicant will be required to follow in order to receive or to even apply for this permit, one of which being the hourly daily or sorry, hourly and annual production limits. As I said, they're doing 100 out of the 200 that will be allowed. We have set back distances, which is how far the actual facility will be on the property towards their property line. So how far from the property line will the facility be operating? We have our distance limitations for roads and stockpiles, where they keep their material used to create concrete and the roads they use on site. We have the emission control devices. We, Melissa, touched briefly on the filtration system that's required with a control efficiency of at least 99.5%. And they have represented the equipment they would use would meet that requirement. Moving right along to two. All right. The requirements are based off of an extensive protectiveness review done by the TCEQ to ensure operations at concrete batching facilities would be protective, again, of human health and the environment. I would like to kind of elaborate on what my role is in the permitting process. So when I receive an application, it's my job to ensure that all of the air contaminants at the proposed facility have been properly identified, that all appropriate control methods have been identified for each emission source. So the particulate matter for this source and how we control that with our filtration systems. And the compliance history, both for the applicant themselves and the site that they're operating at. So those are two separate things, making sure that we're having good operations on site and that the applicant themselves has been operating correctly. And lastly, public notice requirements of making sure that the public is informed of the application. In short, I reviewed the permit application, including all the supporting area maps plot plan process flow diagram, the compliance history review and a site review to the local TCEQ staff. And I compared all of these items against the TCEQ's technical requirements for the permit and the applicant has represented in their application materials that the operations would be protective of human health and the environment, which is a requirement of both the EPA and TCEQ. Additional authorizations for other types of permits might be required. But tonight we are here just to talk about the air quality standard permit for concrete batch plants. I'm available for any other questions we might have regarding the facility. The technical requirements are happy to answer. Thank you very much. Okay, he's going to pass that microphone down to Abigail Adkins. She is a staff attorney with TCEQ, the Environmental Law Division. She will introduce herself again and talk to us about the administrative process for this type of application and highlighting that public participation component, where we are tonight and where we go from here. Thank you, Deanna. Good evening. My name is Abigail Adkins and I am an attorney in the Environmental Law Division. I want to thank you for coming to this public meeting tonight. I'm here to tell you where we are in the process and where things go from here. The public comment period provides a chance for the public to comment on air permit applications. Tonight's application is for a concrete batch plant for Tor, Texas. The last day of the public comment period for this application is Wednesday, April 17th at midnight. If you submitted a comment online prior to this meeting, it is already a part of the formal record. You may choose to make additional comments for the record tonight during the formal comment portion, or you can submit a comment online. After the public comment period closes, the executive director will prepare a document called the response to comments or the RTC that will respond in writing to the comments received during the comment period, including those comments received prior to this meeting and any we receive tonight in writing or orally during the formal portion of the meeting. When we complete the RTC, it will be mailed out to all persons who either provided comments or are on the mailing list for this application. I'm available to answer questions relating to the administrative process of obtaining this permit, but we also have staff available to answer technical questions. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Abigail. So here in the audience, we have Kimberly Fowler, who is with our local regional office, who can address questions as well. And here to support the running of the meeting with me from the office of the Chief Clerk, I have Jim Fernandez working our audio equipment. So again, good plug for speaking well, very well into the mics. And then at the registration table, I have Christina Burke and Brad Patterson, who will be available to you there all evening long. Also in attendance, we have Josh Amador with the Intergovernmental Relations as a liaison to speak with public officials. All right. So let's go ahead and get started. It's your turn. So what we're entering into now is the informal period. Basically, it's a question and answer session. It gives you an opportunity to ask questions directly to the applicant and TCQs, a rare opportunity to have the applicant and TCQ in front of you for them to address questions related to this application they just spoke of. So you can just come on up, ask a question, allow them to respond before you follow up with a secondary question. If I see a line forming, then I'll ask you to limit your questions to two, maybe three, and then circle back in line perhaps. I want to give as many people an opportunity as possible that we have time for. So does anyone have a question that they'd like to come on up and ask? Okay, I have someone coming. Sure. Come on down. All right. So yes. Good evening. Do I need to identify myself? No, no. It's informal. You can just state your question and then allow the response. You can adjust the mic up and down. Yes. We were just wondering who would be monitoring compliance with air quality standards. Okay. So can I have the regional office address that and reintroduce yourself? Sure. My name is Kimberly Fowler and I'm with the TCQ and our DUFW regional office. I'm the Air Section Manager. So our office is local to DFW. We cover 19 counties here in the Metroplex. So for these types of facilities, we would be the ones who would be conducting the investigations at them if the permit is issued. We also have staff that work within the city of Fort Worth who are considered our local air program. Because of the location of this site, they may also be the ones who would receive your concerns or complaints that you may see and they would conduct an investigation at that site. Are there like regular on-site inspections? So because of how the standard permit is prepared, these facilities are generally considered low risk. So we typically don't investigate them on a scheduled basis like we would some of the other ones. If we do have a reason to raise the risk concern for these types of facilities such as we receive a complaint or we receive some sort of documentation, then we would conduct investigations more often. Thank you. Thank you sir. Very good questions. Thank you Kimberly. Yes sir, you have a question and for free to adjust the mic. I do. Are these permits transferable? Should they change operators or should they sell the property and someone else take over the facility? Excellent question. So I think that's a two-part but if someone were to purchase the property or the company is that what you're asking? Yes. Yes, so there can be a change of ownership in the facility, correct. And they don't have to reapply? It wouldn't be a completely new application, no sir. It would be an administrative process of changing the ownership. Okay. Is there a term limit or a renewal requirement for the permit? Yes, so standard permits are for the one that is there to be applying for is on a 10-year renewal cycle. Okay. For the applicant, what do you expect the daily output would be relative to the 100 cubic feet per hour? This is Tim. This is Tim Sansone. We believe that our maximum output is 100 cubic cubic yards an hour. Cubic yards? Correct. 100 cubic yards an hour. However, we do not anticipate hitting that anytime soon. We are shooting for low volume. Maybe it's two trucks an hour. Something in that ballpark is our generation for this area. I'm sorry. Two trucks per hour doesn't help me. Like 20 yards an hour, 30 yards an hour kind of max area. That's our goal for what we're trying to achieve. Okay. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. For free to adjust the mic. Thank you. This is for the applicant also. What is driving having this plan up here? Is there a need for it? Is there, are the current places, are they not able to handle the demand that's out there? It's a very good question. There has been a lot of changes in the concrete business and currently at this time we have customers that ask us, hey, we are traveling troubles getting truck loads of just, hey, two, three yards, four yards, five yards. And so there is a demand for that low volume of service. You know, maybe there's a driveway that's getting forward or somebody has a pothole that they need fixed. Maybe a little retaining wall in the backyard. That's our type of customer we're reaching out to. And they don't get the contractors do not get the ability to have that truck delivered on time. And so there's a lot of challenges. And so that's where we're trying to increase the service. And second part of the question is, is where, where do you anticipate a majority of your business to come from? What part of the Metroplex are you anticipating that coming from? It's all regional. When it comes to concrete batch plants, you can't deliver a truck from here to say Frisco. Absolutely. Right. It's got to be close by small deliveries of neighborhoods. You know, maybe it's a poor in a backyard somewhere that that's what we're looking at. So maybe it's a five mile, 10 mile radius is primarily our focus. So are you not looking then to support residential or commercial clients that have big projects going on? Such as neighborhoods or big, big commercial facility? Our plant is not designed to facilitate a big commercial for work. This isn't like maybe it's sometimes it's hard to express like when we say 100 yards an hour to max, we can't compete with the big Martin Marietta's of the world. Like that's not where we're at. So when someone is asking, hey, how much concrete are really going to make? We're small potatoes in this business. So our unit that we produced, you know, says a maximum produced 100 yards an hour. But we don't anticipate hitting that. And if you can't hit that constantly, you're never going to get a job at a big facility like that. And so that's kind of where I was going because we're experiencing a lot of growth north and northwest of here. And so the builders from their standpoint, they're needing mud all the time. So is that going to be your who you market to are you marking to just the smaller concrete guys that are just doing driveways or small pores like that? If the opportunity arises and there's a there's a house that needs a new concrete pad. I mean, that that's a potential for us. That is a potential business. I don't see us competing with those SRMs of the world that that have that market tie down, though. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Those are good questions. Yes, sir. Good evening. Thank you for being here. A couple questions. You said the infrastructure is already there. So this was a previous ran plan. Why did their permit expire? Do you have any idea? I'm not sure if it expired or if they left. I don't know. I couldn't even guess. It just seems like the early 2000s kind of coincides with the building and occupation of Timber Creek high school. So I kind of wondering if one in one equals to that would be a guess to sure. And I'm in residential construction, so I recognize how much a hundred yards is, but I also recognize, like just as he said, the need for constant driveway pores, a hundred yards and hours still a decent amount. And I know that you said that you're not going to hit that maximum. Yeah. Do you anticipate? I mean, is there a scaling up process? Absolutely. There's a scaling up process. I don't care what business you're in. You can't just start out at your max production. Sure. So absolutely. We may not sell a single bit of concrete for three months. I really don't know. Right. Thank you for those questions. Yes, ma'am, you have a question. Yes, I do. This is for the plant manager. How many feet do you in your family live away from a plant like this? I have not measured that. I can't tell you. Is it within a mile? It's probably within two miles, for sure. Interesting. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am, you have a question. Other than the governmental standards that are in place, which are absolutely not enough to contain the fine particulate matter that is emitted into the air within 20 miles of any such facility, how do you intend to contain the crystalline silica, for instance, so that people are not subject to fine particulate matter that is potentially going to give them long term lung disease, cardiovascular issues, cancer? Address conditions. Do you want to address the conditions of the climate in respect to human health? So what you're addressing is what I would call health effects, human health effects. Human and animal health effects and also effects on the environment, for instance, farmers will be affected by this. Yes. Yes, ma'am. So that's what I would call the national ambient air quality standards. It's just an acronym that we live and breathe by. So the NAACS are the standards that the US EPA has put out that say this is the standard that would meet requirements to protect human health and the environment. Those are, there's both primary and secondary NAACS. The primary NAACS are for human health. That's for the, and it's to say that if you meet these standards, if you're below this level of, of emission or pollution, then you would be, you know, it would be healthy. It would not be detrimental to their health. So what we see is that the secondary NAACS looks at flora fauna, that's your agriculture, your wildlife, your I'm thinking crops that have been raised and that sort of thing. So this standard permit, when it was developed, the protectiveness review that was written took into effect the current NAACS that said, if you can meet these levels, then it would be, it would not be harmful to human health and the environment, including the primary and secondary NAACS. You realize that that is not accurate. I mean, you realize that there have been studies that have proven that the governmental, that, that governmental, I'm sorry, regulations in place are not enough to protect human, animal, plant health. So that's why we're here tonight, right? And that's what I'm not asking. That's going to be, that's why I directed my question to the person from the plant. I want to know what other measures, other than governmental are being put into place to contain the particulate matter that may affect we residents who live within very few miles of this proposed plant. Okay. Do you have additional information besides the permit conditions that Alex went over? Is there anything additional that you may be doing? Well, in my introductory statement, I had mentioned the things that they're doing above and beyond the requirements of the TCEQ. Okay. Can you state them again, please? She can repeat them. And then outside of the answers they're giving, if you disagree, then you want to bring that back in the formal comments. Yes, I do. Thank you. Okay. Can you highlight some of those again for the audience? Would I like to hear those again? Okay, great. No, we can do that. So I'll work together. So yes, let's go over those again. So the current TCEQ standard permit limits production to 200 cubic yards an hour. TOR is going to, the maximum will be 100 cubic yards an hour. The distance from the property line that the TCEQ requires is 100 feet. The TOR plant is represented at 155 feet. There's a better central dust collector. So when all the materials are gravity-fed into trucks, there's a dust collector that has a suction that pulls the dust into the collector, which uses filter bags to capture the air or capture the particulate before it's released into the air. The requirement from the TCEQ is a minimum of 5,000 cubic feet per minute. They're going to be using 5250, 5,250 cubic feet per minute. And then there's no electric line power. I mean, they're going to be operating on electric line power. There won't be any diesel engines powering the plant. OK. And so again, we don't have to agree, right? And that's why we have that formal. So if you still have concerns or issues or contradict that, you're going to raise that onto the formal record. Yes, sir, you have a question? So as a resident in this area, we know there are hazards of environmental safety for this. My question is there is a proposed high school, which is not very far from that side. Was that considered while giving the permits for this kind of facilities? OK, so I turn that over to Abigail. Hi. So TCEQ does not have authority to consider potential effects of future land use when deciding whether to approve or deny a registration. Actually, that is proposed. There is a banner there. So it might have been like can you speak into the mic right there? Actually, there is a banner put over there for a high school for Northwest ISD. So with kids in that area and a facility like that in near vicinity, it's very risky. OK, so and you want to bring that into your comments. But as far as there being a high school being developed there, can you just repeat that a little bit louder? Yes. Sorry, TCEQ does not have the authority to consider potential effects on property values, future use plans, or zoning. However, applicants must comply with local government requirements such as zoning. OK, and authority meaning legal authority. Yes, like we do not have the ability to consider that when deciding whether to approve or disapprove this application. That again does not override any other regulations. I don't know there could be something else out there. That's just we cannot consider that. So OK, good question. Thank you. Yes, sir. And feel free to adjust the mic if you need to couple of two part question. Can you lift it a little because I want to make sure we're hearing you. I just want to know a little bit about the where are we in the stage of approval? And is there the comments are taken? Is there a chance we could stop this by our comments or criticisms? OK, so Abigail, can we touch on again? Where where are we in the permitting process right now? Yes, so we're in the comment period for this. We have not made a final decision on this permit yet. So we will take into account all of your comments. And like I said earlier, we will respond to them in writing. So make sure you're on the mailing list for that or you make a formal comment so that you will receive the response to comments because we will respond to you in writing. The other question I have is maybe for you. Has there been a change in the requirements for air quality since 2018? So this this standard permit for country batch plants was updated in January of 20 January 24th, 2024. This is this past year brand new. Yes, sir. I was I was good. I was personal. I used to have a business next to Charlie's Concrete and on Katie and Golden Triangle area. Keller Haslett. They built up. Oddly enough, they built a home development there right by it. But my business was a used car lot and I couldn't keep cars clean for the dust and I was a lot further than a hundred feet from the plant. So that's why I'm real curious where the standards are that's going to keep this dust down, especially with athletes on the field at the high school. And it's just it's just too close. If I can piggyback off what we're saying there, I think that's a really good point. If you're in an area and you are seeing particulate matter coming off of the property, that would be a violation of their permit. And that is something that you can contact the local T.C.Q. office to get an investigation to come out and actually have some repercussions for not complying with the permit. So that's exactly. OK. And then also just raise that in general in your comments. OK. And so, you know, that's two miles from here. You're two miles from here. There's another one in Roanoke. Maybe three miles from here. So how many concrete plants do we really need? Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Befre, I said if you need to. Hi, I have a question. I have a question for the company rather than the T.C.E.Q. That's OK. Go home. I'm just wondering if the company has evaluated the impact that this plant will have on property values either through a professional assessment or consultant of a professional appraisal because of the visual blight, additional noise, truck traffic, and all the different factors that come in with the environmental. I assume the majority of the people here are those homeowners of whose values will be impacted. Unfortunately, we didn't do an evaluation of that sort. However, the site is currently zoned heavy industrial and there was a previous operator at that site. Yeah. Before we had several homes and many instances. Thank you. Yes, sir, you have a question. Yes, I want to piggyback off a couple of comments that were made, particularly about the particulars. You guys made a comment. Maybe I missed it. Is that the particulars said we're not going to have onsite, I would call them examinations or investigations or just checking to make sure the permit is up to. OK, so let me have Kimberly come back up. She can clarify the information she was providing related to this and why. Yes. So as we've been discussing, the permit is protective of human health and the environment at the property line. So these facilities are generally considered low risk. And so our agency and our regional office will typically respond to complaints at these types of facilities. These types of facilities are not ones that honor our, I guess, as scheduled rotation for us to come out. However, we can raise that level for us to put them on a rotation if we are seeing issues at the site, if they receive violations and then we will go out and do more frequent investigations of these types of sites. Well, that's not good enough because the inspections and stuff in the particulars sometimes are not going to be able to be seen. We've been told many times from other companies, etc. etc. that it's going to be OK by the time it's that's not our job to do that. That's your job to watch this watch our backs. OK, so we're going into comments and you want to bring those back in the comments. OK. That's OK. OK. But you have a line of people as I'm just going to ask you one question. Yes, well, I can address your concern that you have. Right. So as I talked about before, we have our office covers 19 counties and DFW. So we don't have enough investigators to conduct investigations at all the sites all over DFW within the 19 counties. So we do rely on the public participation to call our office and let us know if you are seeing something. We also accept citizen collected evidence. So if you have concern about being able for us being able to see what you are seeing, we accept videos and we accept pictures that we are able to include in our investigations. But additionally. OK, go ahead. Additionally, when we do come out to conduct the investigation, we are asking you different questions about the time of day that these things are happening when you have these concerns and all of our investigations are conducted unannounced. So we don't announce the facility that we've received a complaint. We show up during the time that you say that you have seen the issue. And so that's how we conduct our investigations. Our investigations are on a priority schedule. Right. So if we receive a complaint and you're alleging health effects, then that would raise the priority of our response. We are not first responders. So typically we are not able to respond within 24 hours. However, if there is a health concern, we do have investigators that are available for a day of investigations. All right. Do you want to comment? May I have one more thing? Do you have one? Yeah, only because I want to make sure we get some of your neighbors. I think what I have to say is very important. We we see enough pollen on our back decks and everything else. And I don't know how anybody in this room is going to be able to decipher if it's something coming from the plant or from the trees or whatever it is. And by that time, it's just too late and people are sick. So I do have. And my wife had cancer. OK. And I don't want to go down that road again. And I'm just telling you, I'm really concerned about that. We have a green belt behind our place with protected areas and stuff like that. We've got a school district, which is really irritating to me is the fact that you guys don't care if you put this thing close to a school. It doesn't matter about the trucks going up and down the road that probably don't meet any DOT standards. Half the dog gone time because I used to work in that industry. So this is really concerned to me. And I think you guys really I don't think it's the right. I think it's a good concept, but I think it's the wrong place. OK, thank you. So those are comments. We also urge you to put those in the comments. Yes. So when we conduct our investigations to your point about the pollen and the dust, our investigators do have sampling techniques that they are able to employ at your property. So that would be taking samples of any sort of particulate that we see. And then that particulate is analyzed by our lab. When we do that, we also collect samples from the facility. So we're able to make a comparison and we would be able to tell whether or not particulate from that particular site was impacting your property. And so we do have that ability as well as handheld monitoring equipment that we can use during our investigations. OK, very good information. Thank you. Can I reiterate what Deanna has said and what I was saying when we respond to comments, we will only respond to comments that are in the formal comment period. So please limit yourself to questions here because unfortunately that will not end up in the formal record. So just keep that in mind when you're asking these questions that we need to keep them limited to questions right now. We will have a formal comment period. Yeah, in addition, in addition, just advocating for your neighbors. There is a long line. I would like to reach as many questions as possible. But the more and more I hear people going to comments and not asking questions is an indication to me that you want to move towards the formal. So so be respectful, mindful of your neighbors. There may be someone at the back who wants to ask a question and I want to try to get to them. Yes, sir. Sure. Two quick ones. You mentioned you cover 19 counties. So I was wondering how many inquiries do you typically get a month? I don't have that information. But if you do want to leave that as a comment, then we can provide an answer to you. No, it's not it's not that many. It's like a ballpark. It's probably in between 10 to 15 that we receive a month. No, no, each week. OK, so probably on a monthly basis, it could be anywhere from 30 to 40. And how much staff is in your office? We have 13 air investigators. OK. And then my last question, what's the determining factor on if you're going to deny or approve the permit request? What all goes into that? I assume public participation is part of it. So if the applicant meets the if the representations that they have in the application meet the requirements of the standard permit, then we would we would issue the permit. But what does that mean? What goes into that decision? So the standard permit is is written in a way that says these rules would be protective again for the protective of human health and the environment across the state. So if you meet these rules, you would essentially be protective. For example, the 5,000 ACFM, that that section travel, capturing the dust coming off the drop, that's that's a rule that we set. We looked at it and modeled it and said, hey, if they can meet this, it's protective of human health and the environment at that 100 foot fence line level. Does that make sense? It does. Is this public participation? Is that a part of the formula? It is a part of the formula. Yes, it is. Oh, sorry. OK, sir. It is part of the formula. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yes, ma'am, you have a question? Yes, I do. I have a couple, actually. Can I start with one? My question is on the specials or the standard permit. Does that include questions about water, the source of water and wastewater and the impact that they own the environment from from these type of companies? No, so this is a very specific air quality permit. Any anything to do with water would still be handed by T.C.Q. That would be a different division to be the water division. So were you needing to do a water permit? There is a requirement for stormwater, both during construction if there's any land disturbance and during operation. So there's two different stormwater permits. Two different ones? OK, thank you. And I think you may have answered this, but I'm not sure I got it. Are you going to do outside electricity or are you generating your own electricity? We are not generating our own electricity. OK. All right. And then I think this man asked this, but I can't remember. I got distracted. Apparently, there were new standards of an effect January 2024. So are you applicable to those standards, but even though your permit was requested in 2023? We requested the permit application in 2023. But on January 24th, 2024, the T.C.Q. required that we update the application to show compliance of the new requirements. So 2024. OK. And then just one more question, because there's still a line behind you. OK. How can you monitor the 99.5% efficiency if they're not doing outside inspections? Are there machines or equipment that measures the efficiency of that? There's manufacturer specifications for the equipment, but there's also requirements that we do monthly and quarterly visual inspections to make sure that those are operating properly. So I guess my question is kind of like, OK, if I'm a radiology tech, I wear a badge. And I see how much radiation I'm exposed to every month. There's nothing like that for your guidance. There is the EPA does require that you are certified to read opacity. You have to go to smoke school to do that. And there's test methods for both visible and opacity requirements that you have to follow that the EPA has guidelines for. And you do that, I guess, if it's required. If they have certified staff, yes, or it can be contracted out to. Do you have certified staff or are you contracting it? No, our plan is to contract that out. To contract that out. To hire someone who's certified in that. OK. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Yeah, I was interested that you updated the standards. And I was wondering what were the changes? Were the standards upgraded? Were they improved? Increased? Sure. So there was there were several stand. I mean, several portions of the application from a of the standard permit that were updated. One of them was a decrease in the hourly throughput that was one of the went from 300 to 200 for truck mixes. There was a change in like best management practices for like 20 of 20 of vehicles so they don't track dust on the road. That was that was a day we made. We worked at specific counties. Some counties had the main differences we took into effect was called the background. But especially the air, the particular matter that's in the air, just in the background. It's always there. And some counties had a higher background. And so we had the setback distance increase for those. So instead of, so say, for example, instead of 100 feet in the city of Houston, if you're in Harris County, it would be 200 feet because they have a higher background concentration of those particulates. Stuff like that. The standard permit is available online. Or we have a copy. I think we have a hand out over there if you'd like more information on that. One more question because I want to make sure we're moving through the line. So the 5,000 cubic feet of air filtration has not changed? That did not change. What did change on the pickup is the suction child used to be required to have a three-sided curtain. If you imagine a freezer, but a three-sided curtain and now has a fourth side that hangs over the truck that increases the capture. That sounds good. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. You have a question. As was discussed earlier, there was mention of the TCEQ not having this actually a question for these folks. Can you pull the mic down just a little? Yeah. Here we go. There was mention earlier about the TCEQ not having any sort of enforcement ability where the new high school is concerned and the proximity to the plant that's being proposed. Given that fact, is there some economic reason that drives keeping that plant so close to it, even though you guys know that the school is going to be there, there are going to be families moving in close to that because everywhere I've ever lived close to a school, there are housing developments that pop up right next to it. And you folks are going to be building or establishing this concrete batch plant there. And there are literally no monitoring. There's no monitoring going on to ensure this. And I forgive me, but I don't have any faith in self-regulation. Industries are not interested in doing that. They're interested in making money. And I understand the need for concrete and for construction. That's great. Why can't we have both? What is the financial driver here that means we have to have this plant so close? Why can't it be just a little further out? And then all of these concerns that all of these folks are bringing would be evaporated. They would just be gone. I think you had several questions in there. First one is economics, I believe. And the second one is why so close to high school. When we did our analysis of the site, it is very challenging to find a location that is zoned heavy industrial, that meets the requirements that we've met, that's the distance away from homes. We did a lot of research before purchasing this property. And we analyzed and thought that this was the best location. If there was another location, in fact, councilmember reached out and said, why don't you go somewhere else? And he still hasn't offered me another location to go to. So I understand your question, but we also have a question too that says there's a need in the community. Customers have reached out to us and said, hey, oh, you can get concrete at two yards, great, let's do it. So there is a need. And we've done our homework in terms of what other options are available. And this was the best location. And then I think you had another question there about economics. Sorry, that was one more question. That was all of a piece. Would it be more significantly more expensive to be just a few miles further out? It's all about just trying to find the location that works. It's very challenging to find a heavy-zoned industrial property to actually have a batch prying on. It's very challenging. One of the note that I think is worth talking about here real quickly is that I understand your concern and your health. I have concern too. I mean, I'm around these plants all the time. I'm around my employees. I don't want my employees getting sick. I don't want that guilt. So when TCQ says these requirements because this will keep your employees safe, I'm doing it. No question about it. We've been in business for a long time. We're not going to have employees getting sick or hurt. Safety's paramount for us. You name it. So I understand your concern and I care about all of it. I really do. I want you to know too that I have people that are next to these machines all the time. I don't want them getting sick. OK, do you have a second question? I do. I appreciate that consideration. I think that at the end of the day, though, money talks and things like that tend to go by the wayside. When push comes to shove, the economics tend to come to the forefront. I mean, it's a business. It's not about taking care of people. Essentially, that's not the primary goal. It's the main driver is profit of any company. So I have concerns where that's concerned. The other issue I have is that while there is a complaint process that's been presented by the TCQ folks, as another gentleman mentioned, that's kind of closing the barn door after the horses are out. Like that's the damage has been done. If there's an issue with particulates in the air and people are breathing it in, it's collecting on vehicles, it's getting everywhere. We, you know, somebody reports that the damage is already done. People have already breathed that in. Someone may already be sick from that through no fault of their own, except just dumb luck and living too close to this plant that doesn't actually operate yet. How do you understand the question? Because there's a line of people. My question would be, why isn't that a bigger consideration than the one you presented about difficulties finding the location? Because Texas is a big state and I find it hard to believe that we can't find another place for this plant. OK. So he kind of addressed that on site location, zoning and so forth. Do you want to add anything to that answer or have you? OK, so that's his answer. OK, so folks, I see the line is long and it continues to grow. We I need to start being stricter on questions only. I am going to end the Q&A at seven 10. So that's approximately 20 minutes. So so work with me and focus on your questions. Hold your comments to the formal comment period so that they're on the record. And when I end the questions, it doesn't mean it's your last opportunity. You can talk to staff, call them, but I need to move us to the formal. Yes, ma'am. I'm not sure if we have any scientists in the room right now, but I would like to know how we should notice fine particulate matter in the air immediately. How do we notice that? Is there an answer for that? Because I'm speaking directly to you, I think in that because there is no oversight of the this plant, how do we notice until we get thick until we feel ourselves getting asthma or somebody has a heart attack? How do we see or measure the fine particulate matter in the air from day one? Do we just need to call your office every single day and report that we think there is contamination so that you come out and test every day? Because we can certainly do that. So let's give her an opportunity to address your question. Right. So we we have handheld equipment that we are able to use. And you do. How do we measure it? As the public, right? You may not be able to measure that. However, you see dust, like if something is. How do we measure a fine particulate matter? I don't want to hear about dust. I want to hear, how do we measure fine particulate matter like the matter that I talked about earlier that creates lung disease and cardiovascular issues? How do we, the residents who live in close proximity to your plant? By the way, sir, they chose you well. You are super sincere. And I'm sure that many people believe you, but thank you for answering that question. So there is companies that make monitors that homeowners are able to purchase. So if you would like to do some research, then you would be able to have that available to you under the confines of the TCEQ and how we can help you should you call our office, right? You would be able to say, you saw something from the facility or you saw a drag out that came on, you know, to the road and cars are driving over and the particulate is happening. And then we would be able to, you know, come out, use our handheld monitors and then do our tape lift sampling. So that's what we have. Once you measure the particulate matter in the air, what do you do then? So we conduct on-site investigations, right? So if our monitors are reading anything on there, then we go to the site. We move through their permit and we look at the records that they are required to keep. We also do a site walkthrough where we go through the operational requirements of the permit and make sure that they are using the suction shroud, that the pavement is paved, that they're cleaning it as they're properly should, that their baghouse is working correctly, that they've conducted their method nine testing if they have that or method 22 and they're required. So we go through those records in order to determine. From our tape lift samples, if we take tape lift samples at the complainant's property, we will get a sample from that and then we will send that to the lab and then we will, you know, compare those once they come back. And so if we think that there are too many particulates in the air, but you don't think so, then we're just stuck, right? So you asked about scientists earlier, right? So our tape lift sample would help us determine the science about whether or not particulate from their property across their property line and impacted an off-property receptor. Okay. I'll let you go. Yes, sir. Okay, Melissa would like to add to that. I just have one comment. She asked about crystalline silica earlier. TCEQ did an in-depth analysis about crystalline silica and that document is online. If you can Google it, it's just a TCEQ crystalline silica analysis. Okay, yes, sir. Your follow-up question. So about six or seven years ago, the EPA mandated that all new homes have to have a fresh air ventilation system added to their HVAC systems. As a real estate inspector, I see that on all new homes. What will the impact of any of this dust getting into a home in a concentrated manner, how's that gonna affect our homes? Secondly, in a commercial aspect, such as our streets. Can I answer your first question first just so we get that one out of the way? So the Clean Air Act regulates outdoor air, not inside air. It regulates ambient air. So I cannot answer any questions about how it would impact your HVAC system. Okay, what I'm saying is there are vents on all houses built in the last six years. It's on the outside of the house that draws in outside air. Into your house, which becomes indoor air. So we regulate ambient air. I'm sorry, that is the way the Clean Air Act works. Unfortunately, that is how. But if I'm bringing in toxic air outside, how do I deal with that? I can't help with that. So the next part of that is when you go into a commercial setting, these rooftop units have things that we call economizers on them. When the outdoor temperature is such that we can use the outdoor air to cool, it turns off the HVAC and draws in outside air. So we're back to the same thing. We're drawing in that air. Our predominant wind is from the northwest. That school's right across the street. If that system goes into economizer mode, we're now drawing that air into the school. Okay, so that's a comment because she's- No, I'm asking a question. What are the kids supposed to do? Okay, so she just answered that. Alex, can you add to her answer? Yeah, we just kind of talk more about the protectiveness review. The standard permit was designed to be protective of human health in the environment and the ambient air quality. So when the applicant is operating within the confines of the standard permit, it is protective of the human health and the environment at that property line. So any ambient air surrounding that property line is therefore also deemed protective. So just to be clarified here, we're taking ambient air from the outside, bringing it into our home. We don't need to worry about it once it crosses that threshold into our house. It's okay to breathe, correct? What he said was that the standard permit and the protectiveness review that was created to make sure that it was protective of human health and the environment saw that if the applicant is abiding by the terms of the standard permit, then it would be protective at that fence line. So it's not saying that it's not gonna be, there's not gonna be any pollutants in the air. It's saying that the actions for this air permit would be protective at that line. That's why we had the- Your key word was if. And I understand that, but I just wanna make sure you said if. Okay, that's all I got. Thank you. Okay, yes ma'am. And feel free to adjust the mic. You have a question. I have a question about what you just said and then I'll go to my other question. It's, you just said it's protected once it goes past that line, the permit is. So does that mean that the homeowner's not protected because the company is protected by that EPA thing? So let me clarify. So a concrete batch plant mixes materials together in a way in specific mixtures like a recipe and puts it into a truck. And what we look at is we say, well, where is, for lack of a better word, where's dust gonna come off? And that would be the stockpiles. That would be the roads that are driven on or it would be that drop, right? So what we do is we say, well, the stockpiles need to be either bunkered or watered to keep the dust down. We need to have the roads cleaned and maintained. We need to have the trucks that are leaving, clean and maintained. We have that drop that suction to come out of the drop. Also with the loading of the silos, there's a filter there at that point too. But what that's doing is that when we made this protectiveness review and it's a model that's the word is conservative, it's made to say like if everything happens in this model that it's conservative that it would be more than protective. So it's, but it's a conservative model that works at the entire state. And we looked at, I'm gonna explain as a grid receptor, but we said at 100 feet, this is protective. And that just means that at before 100 feet, the particular matter may have been higher than the standard, the NAC standard, but at 100 feet and further, it's below. And so that's what that means. That's why I keep saying it's protective at the fence line. At 100 feet is the requirement for the fence line. They actually said 150, more than 150 feet. So they're giving you an extra 50 feet for that particulates to drop out, to fall down through gravity. And so that's, I mean, it's a little bit hard to explain in one sentence. But that's what I should have said. Thank you. My other question is probably directed towards her. I call you, I say, I think there's a problem. You test it, you confirm there's a problem. What is in place for the homeowners that's going to protect us? Or what are, who's going to take on the expense of cleaning it up on our property? So if you are asking if, you know, there was a upset or you have something on your property, that would be a civil issue that you would need to speak with the company about or pursue your own ways. So if we do go out and we do find that there is dust crossing the property line, that doesn't mean that they're not in compliance with their permit. And so we would then cite a violation, you know, for them not capturing their emissions, right? And so with our violation process, we have them come into compliance by doing corrective action. So that would be, you know, whatever issue was causing the dust to leave the property, they would need to, you know, make changes and then provide us with written documentation on how they mitigated that issue. We would go out, conduct another investigation to determine whether or not that issue was resolved. And then we would then resolve the violation. If it came to the fact that they were still in violation, you know, once we've done all that and the issue was not resolved, then our violation process allows us to move forward to our enforcement process. And that's where the fines occur and where they could be assessed the penalty for not being in compliance with their permit. Am I understanding correctly that as a homeowner, I would have to retain my own attorney to get my own property back to the state that it was in before it was contaminated? Correct. Okay, so we have about 17 more minutes. Even if the line continues to grow, I will have to cut the Q and A at 720. Yes, sir. If I understood correctly, you said- Just step up, just step up. If I understood correctly, you said in the early 2000s, there was another plant there similar. I tend to believe back then, there weren't housing developments around there. Has anybody done a property value on what happens to our houses? You know, when this type of plant moves in, are you, anybody care about that? I can have- I'm sure everybody in this room does. Okay, so I can have TCEQ address. So is property value something that we have the authority to look at and consider? As I said before, that is outside of our jurisdiction. We are not able to consider property values. Whose jurisdiction is it? It is not within the jurisdiction of the TCEQ to consider on this air application. So no one can answer that question. It's not subject- Thank you. Okay, yes, sir. My question is to you. You're running it off of the outside electricity, correct? You don't have a failsafe? The power comes from the grid, yes, that's correct. Yes, well that grid's getting ready to be changing quite a bit. It shuts down quite often. Anybody lives in the area knows very well. And they get ready to put a switching station right across the street from you because I know I'm right there too. So I know the power goes off all day. And then where you're built at is now a wind tunnel. With that 170 coming through there, it shoots dust, everything. My car's everywhere we have. And any release you have is just gonna end up in everybody's properties all the way up through Saratoga all the way into Woodland Springs. What's your failsafe? Because I can tell you right now, the power will be shutting off on and off throughout the workday. Okay, so let me address the question. If the power goes out, we won't be generating concrete. Yeah, but if you're generating concrete when it shuts off and you have a release? It will not be pumping dust into the concrete if... I kind of disagree if it stops. I've seen it, I'm working the field. And that's okay, you can disagree. And some of that have you bring back into the comments onto the record about the electrical. I got some others too. Okay, yes ma'am, I feel free to adjust the mic. We wanna make sure we hear you. Yeah, ooh, sorry. I was a union rep for many years. And in my industry, our members had to wear personal protective gear when they were working with certain chemicals. Do your employees do that? We do wear PPE, personal protective equipment. Okay, do you recommend that we get personal protective equipment? Yeah, ma'am, that's a good question. We're talking about two different things. When we're dealing with chemicals or we're dealing with sand aggregates, they're very different. So if we're dealing with chemicals... But the dust, they wear a dust mask, right? A special... No, ma'am. No, ma'am. Nothing on their face. No, ma'am. Do we have OSHA in Texas? I'm not sure. Okay, my second question was, if I understood correctly, this is not a zero emission. You have a vacuum type system that reduces the emissions. To what percent? The dust collector requirement from TCEQ is 99.5%. 99.5%. In terms of your yardage that you're creating, how much is that per yard in poundage? There are emission calculations that TCEQ requires us to do for the application. So that information is in the application about the emissions. Could you tell us? Give me a minute. I can open the document. If it takes you a minute, we might move to the next question and have you come back. Okay, because I wanna utilize the time. And so can we have the lady answer her next question? The other question I have is... This will be your last because I need to make sure my understanding is that you cannot take into consideration the neighborhood, schools, property values. I'm not sure what you do take into consideration except what they tell you in their books unless we can see something and then complain. So is your question what we take into consideration? My question is, do you take into consideration all the emails we get from other health organizations and news media on a daily basis thing? Don't go outside, the air quality is unhealthy. So are you asking if we take into account like monitoring data and things like that or just like public opinion? Right. Because we will take public comments. I'm talking about when the AQMD or some other organization issues a warning and says there's too much dust in the air, elderly people, children should stay in, it's unhealthy, you can see it on your weather apps. What happens with that in combination with what they're generating? Okay, so I think it goes back to permitting about when you're considering the health and the conservative health impact. Because you only consider health issues, right? In a certain zone. Correct. And let me repeat and I'll try to be clear again and I had to clarify over the standard permit, the requirements within standard permit, the section trial, the offsets for the fence line to the equipment that emits pollution, those things that are within the standard permit, those were determined based upon this protectiveness review, this model that said would it meet the national standards, those NAACS. And to get to what you said, if they meet the terms of the standard permit, then it will meet the terms of those NAACS and if it meets the NAACS, it'll be protective of human health and the environment. So that's, I know it's a step to it, but that's what I'm saying. If they are complying with the terms of the permit, then it meets. Regardless of what other things exist in that area. Yes, yes. What we did was we said, we looked at the background in the area per county and it looked at how much, and that's averaged over three years. It's not just a one day, but you looked at the, even with Saharan dust, you know, that stuff that comes up. But we looked at all the background and saw that if it meets the terms that we laid out the permit, it's protective. Okay, so we're gonna go back to your other question. She's found it, and then I'm gonna invite the next person forward. We use the TCQs and mission calculations, which is based on production rates and operating hours. And the PM 2.5 pounds per hour is less than 0.1 and the PM 2.5 tons per year is less than 0.25. Italy terms, what is that in poundage? Pounds per hour was less than 0.1, 0.10. And the tons per year was less than 0.25, 0.25 tons per year. Tons per year. Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. Yes, ma'am. So I have some questions. This is supposed to have permitted for 24 seven. And so a little concern about the noise from the trucks that are coming in and out and what time of day they'll be coming in and out and the impact on the roads. I mean, we just lived through the construction of 170 and it's beautiful. And I hate to see it destroyed by the trucks coming in and out. So let's stop there. Can you address? Yeah, any of that? So our hours are currently Monday through Friday. We do not have posted hours as a business yet in terms of what it's gonna be, but most of the time, most concrete is in the early morning, especially here in Texas, where it's hot and to be poured quickly. So usually all operation is done early morning out of your way. Five a.m. Yes, absolutely. There are some concrete activities that will continue on through that, but it'd be very low volume. So will the trucks be lining up outside on the frontage road or in your plant? No, there is enough room in our plant for the trucks to stage. Okay, and then we talked a little bit about ways to mitigate the dust pollution. And you've talked a little bit about what you're doing beyond or within the standards in reducing what you're doing. But to go above and beyond with best practices, are you looking at dust suppression and fencing or vegetation around it or what are the best practices might you be doing? There is substantial investments in the site already with bunker walls, watering devices on site, concrete paved roads so that dust is minimized. This site is a premier site for a concrete batch plant to limit impact to the environment. So how tall are the bunker walls? I can't tell you exactly, I don't recall. Taller than me? Oh, yes. But not as tall as your silos or probably not. We don't have vertical silos on our facility. Oh, no silos. Will you have silos? We do, they're horizontal. Horizontal, okay. Okay, so there's people who haven't had an opportunity, so let's let them. Okay, come on up. Thank you everyone for taking the time to count and speak to us this evening and forgive me if I mischaracterize this. To the gentleman, I believe you said you're the plant manager. You said that this was gonna be a very localized business with customers within a what of five to maybe 10. But I also heard earlier that you talked about the potential of scaling up as years progressed by. So maybe five, maybe 10 now. Does that turn into maybe 15, maybe 20 years that you're scaling up this? And then when the permit is on a 10-year cycle, I heard earlier, so the next permit comes around, you scale up even more requests or do you start building other concrete plants nearby? Because this area seems to be growing at a rapid pace. Everybody knows that and I was part of that rapid pace growth. So five, 10 now, maybe 10, or 15, 20, 25, 30 later on. Is that possible? It's very unlikely. You reach a point where it's not economical. We talked earlier about economics. If our trucks are going that far, first off, our plants not designed to keep up with those kind of projects in terms of capacity. And second, it would be more economical for a local plant to deliver concrete to those jobs. But can it be scaled up to that? Like let's say, I don't know, Texas Motor Speedway calls you up and says, hey, we need so many tons of concrete. Are you not gonna do that? No, we would not be. They would get a permit for a plant on site if they needed something that massive. Yeah, very different business. All right, thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay, so I had, if I run out of time, this gentleman right behind you, he was the last one in line. And if I hit my time, I won't be taking anyone behind him. Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. This is more of a question for y'all. And I first read about this in a print article and then Ms. Fitz and Mr. Samson kind of alluded to it that the permit is up to 200 cubic feet. Yards, 200 cubic yards. But they've mentioned that they only plan to do half and then possibly scale it. But the permit is for 200, so if they decide to scale it to the max, there's nothing else they need to do with y'all. So they represented that they would only produce that 100 cubic yards per hour. If they were to change the representations, they'd have to amend their permit and come back into us. Okay, thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you for being patient. So you just talked about the operating hours and you said that currently at full capacity, what hours do we expect the plan to be running? I don't have an exact answer for you. We do not anticipate running 24 hours a day. That's not our business plan. Isn't that what the permit is for? It can go up to 24 hours? The reason is that's a yes or no question. Is it a 24 yes or no? We can't compel him to answer yes or no. However he feels he needs to address the question, we have to allow him. Okay. Now, and then you can redirect to T.C.Q. What does the permit allow? Sure. Okay, so would you like to, okay. Our goal in this is to allow flexibility. If we have a unique customer that needs a pour at midnight because of temperatures, we wanna be able to do that. If we have a unique customer that needs a pour at 4 p.m., we need to be able to do that. Do we think that the plan's gonna run seven days a week? Absolutely not. No question. Do we think it's 24 hours a day? Absolutely not. We're just looking for flexibility. Okay, so that's the T.C.Q. Can it run 24 hours? I feel like that is a yes or no question. So they requested the 87.60 in their representations. So 87.60 hours per year is what they represented. I'm sorry, I didn't remember. So 87.60 is 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But that's what they were off. If they were issued this permit, they would be authorized to operate at that 87.60. Okay, thank you. Also, for the permit, is this permit only for air quality at the moment? So we're not considering light pollution, sound pollution for those of us who live across the street. Correct. Light pollution and noise pollution are outside of our jurisdiction. But is that because you guys are just the air quality people? Because I feel like T.C.E.Q. would be able to look at all those. We do not have jurisdiction over sound or light. That does not mean that somebody else does not. We do not override any other local jurisdiction. So that would be something from, I would say something like the city of Fort Worth to handle. But we do not have jurisdiction over that. And nobody at T.C.E.Q. has jurisdiction over that. We do water, waste, and air. Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you, sir. Okay, we have a couple of minutes. Do you have a question? Yes, I do. So the magic number that was stated, I believe was a hundred feet safe zone. The offset from the equipment, from the engines, the silos, and the section shroud is a hundred feet. That's what's required in this county. So that's in consideration of how far the dust will travel. That's the distance from the silos, the engine, if they had one, they did not represent, but the silos and the section shroud. And you must be at least a hundred feet or greater. Okay, so you've determined that that's the safe zone, say, right? Yes, sir, the protectionist review, the model that determined that said that that is, that's where they need to be. And at what wind speed was that taken? That model was at three years of meteorological data at minimum. So it averages over that and looks at all the scenarios. It's available by request if you'd like it. We experienced some high winds here just recently. You did, did you take that into consideration in possibly granting this permit that the winds could exceed a certain wind speed? The model required, the model that we use the protectionist review looked at meteorological data from the last three years to make the determination. Okay, I understand where you're going with that. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Those were excellent questions. A good exchange of information. Now, people have already signed up. I've got them here for the oral comment. As you were making those, asking those questions. So things raised for you that you didn't agree with or issues or other information that you want to be on the record for TCQ to consider. If you have already not, if you have not already submitted that online in your comments or you're not already signed up, consider either writing them and turning them in before you leave or they said that the comment period extends to Wednesday at midnight. So you could add them online or you can sign up to speak comments. So we're going to take a five minute break and then we're going to go straight into that formal. But if you decided that oral is an option to speak oral comments, go ahead and register. Otherwise you can do it online. So 725, we're going to start the formal comment period. Thank you. Okay, good evening. Today is April 15th, 2024 and I am opening the formal comments portion of this public meeting for TOR Texas LLC application for an air quality standard permit registration number 174858. Before I proceed, I'm going to have our interpreter services make an announcement of the services available tonight. Good evening. Once again, my name is Thomas Lacombe with Global Speak Translations. We are offering translation services in Spanish for this evening. So anyone who may need a receiver to understand the interpreters, please find us here at our booth that says Global Speak Translations. Good evening. I'm Thomas Lacombe with Global Speak Translations. Tonight we're offering translation services in Spanish. If you need a receiver to listen to the interpreters, please find us here at our booth. Thank you. So as a reminder, this is your opportunity to submit formal comment onto the record for TCQ consideration. Also as another reminder, the staff nor the applicant will be responding. You can enter questions into the record and the TCQ will respond in a written response to your comments. You will be called in the order that you signed up. The public will also have a time limit of three minutes. I will show this as your warning so you can start to summarize your time. Okay, so you'll get three minutes, but a one minute warning. Again, we're going to use the same mic. Because it's for the record, I apologize if I mispronounce your name. When you come up, first thing to start with is correct me. Your first and last name for the record. All right, thank you. So we're going to start again, which I recognized earlier and we thank him for being here. Representative Schatzlein, is that all right? Okay, and for you, so there is no time limit. You represent so many constituents. Thank you for being here. Well, thank you so much TCQ for being timely and responding to this. I'm here, I don't think it's any surprise to anyone that I'm registering opposition to the concrete batch plant in the current location that it's in. Here's what I'll say in regards to the concrete batch plant. We just got interim charges from the Texas State Senate, from our Lieutenant Governor. Our speaker hasn't issued any interim charges, but our Lieutenant Governor has been explicit in these cement production plants. In fact, what he said was, we want to examine the impacts of permanent cement production plants on local communities, make recommendations to ensure that they're strategically situated and uphold community standards, while also fostering economic development. I'm an economic development guy. My wife is heavily into real estate. She's a realtor. She helps people find homes. I took an oath in January of 2023 to protect every one of our citizens and to uphold the law and to walk alongside and fight for the values that my constituents told me to fight for. And that ensures protecting the next generation of Texans. And that goes into the reality that these concrete batch plants have serious negative consequences when it comes to the lung development of our children. And when I look at this, the reality is that this is something that we are open to looking at another location somewhere not near, not near an elementary school, not near where our children are at play, not near where they're shopping and development, not near where there are homes right across the street and multifamily units. This is going to negatively affect our community in a massive way. One of the things that I looked at is the EPA has found that the air pollution and particulate matter from concrete batch plants increases the risk of asthma, as well as cardiac arrest. And the other thing is volatile organic compounds. This is a big deal that are also, they're a problem, but VOCs can irritate the eyes, respiratory system, cause shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, skin problems, and impair memory. The reality is is that I am dedicated to partnering with our Texas State Senate here in the Texas house at our capital to make sure that when it comes to these concrete batch plants, we're placing them in areas where our community can feel that while we're fostering economic development, that their best interest is in mind. This is a bipartisan issue. This is something where we can all agree that the next generation deserves a healthy environment to play sports, to go to school, that our parents do not deserve to feel like they're putting their children in an unsafe environment when they send them off to our schools, our grade schools. And that's why you're gonna hear from Keller ISD and from Northwest ISD and from the city is because we are opposed to the location. It's a big deal. I urge TCEQ not to approve this, but to look for another location where our children are safer and where we can reestablish a good relationship with this business, with this industry to make sure that the next generation is not at risk that our livelihood is not at risk. We haven't even talked about what it's gonna do to our property evaluations, what it's going to do to our neighborhoods, how this is gonna affect the future economic development and growth for other small businesses and other industries that wanna move in, but maybe won't because of the environmental impact it's gonna have on families, on houses, on schools, and where our children play. And so from the state of Texas, as the state representative for district 93, I am vehemently opposed to the location of this concrete batch plant. Thanks. Okay, thank you. Is that Councilman Allen, is it? Blalock, thank you. Thank you, I appreciate that help. Come on down, sir. Thank you. I wanna thank everybody for being here today. Start with your name again. Sorry, I'm Allen Blalock. I'm Councilman for District 10 and Fort Worth. I'm also very softly spoken. I wanna thank Tor for being here. I wanna thank TCEQ for being here. I wanna thank all of the people that came here to voice their concerns tonight. I am not as great speaking off the cuff as our congressman, I'm sorry, our state representative. So I'm going to read from my notes. So I am City of Fort Worth Councilmember Allen Blalock representing City of Fort Worth District 10 where this concrete batch plant is proposed to be located. It's no secret that I am opposed to a permanent batch plant at the proposed location. I was disappointed to learn about this permit request from the media and then with the applicant after the fact canceled the meeting with me without offering a reschedule. We would offer assistance in locating property that would be more appropriate and that potentially avoid the situation we are in now. That offer to work with the applicant to find a better location still stands. We can do better than what is currently proposed. The proposed plant is surrounded by Northwest ISD and Keller ISD schools, preschools and daycares. There are apartments and a large residential community close by. Additionally, Fort Worth Housing Solutions has two major developments, the Holstein and the Opal. The Opal was named after Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth who has been recognized at the state capitol and the White House. We did the groundbreaking late last year. There are multiple outdoor environments, including shopping at Cabela's, Traeger's, I'm sorry, Tanger Outlets, Sunman Creek Event Center, numerous youth athletic venues and several pet care facilities. There are 11 parks of various sizes and three hotels within a couple of miles of this location. The DFW area is currently in non-attainment. The EPA will likely designate the air quality in DFW area as severe. Plans are under development at TCEQ to propose to the EPA to achieve attainment. If the DFW area is unable to achieve attainment, section 185 per ton fees could be assessed beginning as early as 2028. Anticipated fees for the Metroplex are currently estimated at 45 million. That was discussed recently at the North Texas Council of Governments and that information came from TCEQ documents. As we know that these sites raise several concerns for our community, air pollution and public health safety risks. Facilities such as this emit particulate matter by material small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream and possibly cause an increased risk of respiratory illness like asthma, bronchitis and heart disease. We have concerns about infrastructure, increased heavy truck stress and damage to taxpayer funded streets and roads. With quality of life issues, in addition to the emissions and health concerns, the increased traffic noise and dust would significantly impact nearby residents. Additional air pollutants, VOCs, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides would be emitted. These are precursors to ozone and as mentioned, our region is currently in non-attainment. I wonder how increasing sources of these pollutants helps us get closer to attainment. And so that's a question for TCEQ and so for these reasons, I strongly oppose the site for this concrete batch plant and urge you to deny the application and for the business to consider a more suitable location with greater distance from residential areas. And at the city, I will comment that I have also given directive to our legal department and we are working to remove the ability to do concrete plants by right in the city of Fort Worth and will require conditional use permits moving forward. So I hate that we have to go that direction but that's what we're going to do to help give us a little more control of these in the future, thank you. Thank you. Okay, so I'm going to call out the next group of people who would be speaking, so listen for your name and it gives you an idea if you're coming up and feel free to move forward. There's a front row that is free so that you'll be closer. And then, and I appreciate you supporting your neighbors but remember that we are trying to record them. So their time will not stop. So if you're clapping and it disrupts their recording or startles them, their time is still ticking. So maybe just like silent claps or, you know, arms in the air, support them in a way that doesn't disrupt their comments. Okay, here's your next group of people. Is it Mark, is it Letch or Leach? Okay, Mark Leach will be followed by Russell Fuller, followed by is it Leslie or Leslie L. Ellsworth and then Steve Spells and Cody Wittenberg. That is your next group of people. So you can go ahead and make your way forward and we're gonna begin with Mr. Leach. Okay, first and last name for the record and then I'll start your time. Mark Leach, President of the McPherson Ranch Home Owners Association representing 804 homes. Thank you again for being here. So much has been said about the environmental impact of what this is gonna do to our surrounding communities. The proposed batch plant site would be located within three miles of four elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and directly across the highway from our new high school for Northwest ISD. As I stayed earlier with the periling winds coming from the Northwest, that's gonna blow it right over our site. I've heard that there was no alternative site for this type of facility. I do need to remind y'all if you don't know, SRM Concrete has a place at 11801 Katie Road in Keller. AHI Masonry has a facility at 400 North Highway 377. They have rail that comes in there that dumps these products off into vertical silos. Martin Marietta has a place at 1200, Texas 114 in Roanoke. SRM Concrete has another place at 14960 I-35 in Northlake, and then NBR has a facility at 1678 Harmon Road. There was a statement made that they couldn't find another place. Argos Ready Mix has an abandoned facility on Harmon Road over here in the Warehouse District. Is that place ever been considered? So as a representative of our HOA, we vehemently oppose this application, and we hope the TCEQ will deny their application as well. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Fuller. My name is Russell Fuller. You need an address or something like that? Honorable committee members, I'm Russell Fuller, President of the North Fort Worth Alliance. We are an alliance of 45 property owners associations in the far north of the city of Fort Worth. We encompass over 36,000 homes and in excess of 72,000 voters. I've been authorized in a vote of our members to represent them in opposition to the air quality standard permit for the concrete batch plants, proposed registration number 174858, due to its potential polluting effect on nearby apartments, homes, schools, and businesses. In considering this application, we urge you to take into account the increased pollution that will be caused by the trucks delivering materials as well as the diesel trucks taking finished products away from the site. This request is oversized for the use to which the applicant intends to put it. The fact that the commission earlier confirmed that the permit is transferable with the change in operator or the sale of the property to a new operator must be part of your consideration. This permit is placing a high potential of a much more negative impact on our north Texas environment than the applicant would have us believe. This alone should be grounds for denial. In a study done for the nearby Alliance Airport, now Perot Field Alliance Airport in 2010, the results showed that the prevailing winds come from the south 60 to 65% of the year. The remaining 35 to 40% of the year, they come from the north. Keeping this in mind, the businesses have 19, pardon me, keeping this in mind, the businesses, the 19 three-story apartment buildings immediately within 500 to 1600 feet north of the site will be affected most of the year with dust particulates gases. The 990 homes of the ranch's neighborhood association, 337 homes of the Lost Creek Property Owners Association and the children, faculty, staff, and parents at the Tidwell Middle School and the residents of the Opal and the Houston apartment complex also north of the site will be affected. During these days of the, during the other days of the year when the winds come from the north, the remainder of the year of the homes in the Riverside Place development that are a thousand feet from the site as well as the new long scheduled high school from Northwest ID, Northwest ISD so I don't think it's potential land use. Residents of the Valley Ridge and the villages of Woodland Springs and Saratoga Property Owners Associations would have to cope with the direct path of the pollution. There are more than nine existing concrete batch plants within eight miles of the site to our home to small batch service. There is no economic development enhancement from the siting of this plant, therefore no justification for the increased pollution it would bring. As a second point, most of the large projects needed high volume of concrete apply for temporary permits and bring their own batch plants. To that's time, you can make a couple, you may make a couple of final statements or you can also turn that document in. We are a volunteer organization that has no dues or fees. You've had, we have to rely on the reports of which the committee is well aware and to which the councilman just referred. This plant is unmonitored, oversized, poorly located and of no economic value to the area residents that would offset its impact on our air quality of life and that air quality attracted many of our residents to Texas and to this particular area. Okay, thank you. Yes, sir, I can enter that in the record. Okay, is it? Good evening, my name is Liesl Ellsworth. 20 years ago, the landscape in this area looked very different and I understand the hardship in trying to find a place that is zoned heavy industrial. However, we have to acknowledge that there has been a lot of development in the area and that we now have a lot more rooftops and a lot more children who are raised, living and growing into adults and breathing in the air that is going to be produced by this plant. I understand that some measures will be in place to try to control the air quality. However, we know that TCEQ only monitors air quality within the boundaries of the plant. What happens beyond the boundaries of that plant? It's going to be blown into the neighborhoods. Anything within five miles has been studied and proven to cause the health effects that were mentioned earlier and that I will not repeat. What is not encouraging is that the TCEQ will not be constantly monitoring this. I know when people get busy, they sometimes overlook monitoring some of those important measures and so the burden has then been transferred to the neighbors, to the residents to first of all see the consequences, prove the consequences, bring in the complaint and then, from what I understood earlier, we would then have to also engage in legal action to make any difference. So I'm not a big fan of being reactionary. I'd rather be proactive in this case. And based on that, I would strongly advise my neighbors to vote no on this. I know that we probably don't have much to say because it's already been zoned, but I would encourage everyone to contact Tech Starts as well as the Department of Public Safety and voice your concerns. And when you do so, please make sure that you put down your name, your address and contact number because sometimes if you don't include that, it gets thrown out. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Steve Spass? Hey, good evening. This is Steve Sproulson. I'm the president of the Northwest ISD Board of Trustees, the school board. First, I'd like to thank Representative Schatzlein for calling this meeting and also Councilman Blalock for bringing this to our attention. I have a resolution that we voted on last board meeting in opposition of this and I'll file it for record. So I'm gonna skip a couple of whereas and just read part of it and then have some notes at the end. Whereas Texas Education Code 11511B authorizes the board to seek to establish worker relationships with other public entities to make effective use of community resources and to serve the needs of public school students in the community. And whereas toward Texas LLC seeks to construct a concrete plant, batch plant at 1301 Old Denton Road, whereas a proposed construction site is surrounded on three sides by six Northwest ISD school sites where thousands of students engage in athletic activities, recess and outdoor activities on a daily basis. Now, therefore be it resolved that the board strongly opposes the placement of a concrete batch plant facility at 1301 Old Denton Road approved on April 8, 2004 by unanimous vote of the Northwest ISD Board of Trustees. And want to bring out also bring out what we are a couple of our core beliefs and strategic goals at Northwest as to why we're here today in opposition but core belief number one is kids come first. Core belief number three is each student success as a shared responsibility of students, family, schools and communities. Strategic goal number three, Northwest ISD will foster a safe environment and a culture of engagement that values the voices of all students, staff, families and community members. So with that said, as it's been mentioned several times high school number four for Northwest ISD is currently under architectural design and will be built there on Old Denton Road Riverside Drive right across from 170 and it will be built to house 3,400 students. And we have outdoor sports year round, football, soccer, track and then we also have fine arts in the mornings during the fall with band marching band and all times early in the mornings. And then there'll be three elementary, there's currently two elementary schools, one on the way and those are for 850 students. And then we have typical middle school which is 1,100, 1,200 students. So the air quality concerns are a big concern for us with about 8,000 students in the immediate area. Another issue is transportation issues even though we talked about early morning hours. Being in high school, 3,200, 3,400 students and you figure about a quarter, three quarters of those are gonna be brand new drivers, 16, 17 years old on the roads at the same time with these heavy trucks. Last month I was in Hayes County I believe. A school bus hit a, had almost a near head on collision with a cement truck. The school bus flipped, killed a five year old and an adult on board. This past week at Eaton High School which is off of a 287, that's a Northwest ISD high school. We have a high school senior that's fighting for life in ICU because she hit a heavy truck while driving our roads. So obviously the safety of the roads and the air quality issues are a big concern, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cody Whittenberg. Good evening, my name is Cody Whittenberg, Interim Environmental Services Director with the city of Fort Worth. The city of Fort Worth cannot support a concrete batch plan at the proposed location due to the following concerns. Local air pollution, public health and safety risks, risk for damage to infrastructure, impacts to quality of life and proximity to residential and school property. Thank you for hosting this meeting. Please consider denying this application to allow for a more suitable location. Okay, thank you. Okay, the next group of people, listen for your name. Let's see. Kimberly, is it Giannotti? Am I close? Is Kimberly still present? Last name, it looks like maybe a G-I-A-N-N-E-T-T-I. No one? Okay. How about Jason Wells? Is Jason, you're still present? Okay, Jason will be followed by James Lappin, then Shane Hardin, Ted Bergeron, and then Ruth Ray. That is your next group of people. Go ahead and make your way forward. Okay, so I think we established that Kim, is it K-I-M, yeah, Kimberly is not present. So then we'll start with Jason Wells. Are you, no, you're someone else in line? Okay, yeah, you're just moving forward. Yeah, I invite you to move forward. There are open seats. Thank you. My name is Jason Wells. I'm a board member of the Riverside Place HOA, a community of 108 homes that is just across 170 from the site, the single closest homeowner community to the proposed site. Our community is vehemently opposed to this concrete bash plant. In addition to the air quality issues that have been raised many times today, and throughout the comments that you guys have gotten online, and as a resident who can see the site from my house, the light, sound, and traffic pollution that will accompany this site should be enough to get this application not approved. If it isn't though, worry for the app for air quality should trump those issues. The applicant lied on their application when they intentionally omitted the overlook ranch multi-family community. That also should be part of the community record and heavily sanctioned in looking at this permit. I had my first child, Mike Daughter Claire, three months ago, and I and her mother are strongly worried about her health and well-being living in a house within 1,000 feet of the site. The high school that's being built is gonna open in just two years. That's gonna bring a lot of traffic as well, and adding more traffic with concrete trucks will cause more air quality, light pollution, sound pollution, and traffic ingestion. Allowing the applicant to run 24 hours a day when there are so many homes so close to the site within 1,000 feet just across the freeway is unacceptable. Please reject this application and keep my community that is so close safe. Okay, thank you. James Lappin, L-A-P-P-I-N. Am I saying that right, Mr. James Lappin? Okay, if he's no longer present. How about Shane Hardin? Is there a Shane Hardin? How about Ted Bergeron? Very good, thank you. Hi, yes, my name is Ted Bergeron. I don't represent anyone, just a concerned homeowner of Saratoga. I do not feel this location is an appropriate place for a concrete plant. Its planned location is very close to thousands of homes, as well as the future site of the new NISD high school, whom my daughter will actually be the first class there. I'm concerned about the impact to the health of this community, noise pollution, as well as the effect of its presence will have on our home values. The governmental regulations in place are simply not enough to effectively protect this community. The individuals in my home already suffer with horrible allergies. I am concerned that the dust emissions will negatively affect our short and long-term health, as well as the health of my neighbors, many of whom suffer with asthma and have children who were born premature or may suffer with long issues. I do not wanna see this concrete plant approved in this location. There is no acceptable reason that justifies it being located so close to homes and schools. I highly doubt any of you would wanna plant such as this being built near your home or family. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Is Ruth Ray present? Yes. Hi. Thank you to Representative Schatzlein and Allen Blalock and other representatives who are here, Northwest ISD, Steve Spurls, anyone who has come out and publicly voiced that opposition from a position of authority. Can I start with your first and last name? Ruth Ray, please. And I also would just like to point out, multiple other parties have submitted letters of opposition, including County Judge Tim O'Hare, County Commissioner Gary Ficus. And if it isn't evident, I don't know any just random homeowner in the community that would desire this. Everybody I've spoken to and seen commenting online was strongly opposed to this. I live in the Saratoga subdivision. My oldest daughter is a realtor. She and I have had long conversations about the impact of property values. My youngest daughter is zoned to potentially go to the new high school. And so she would be in marching band at that point and she's outdoors a lot. And it's just a concern that we all have. And I heard a comment earlier that really was just a concern about the whole process. And I think it came from you, Sir, in the plaid shirt. It said something like, well, at this point in the process, it's probably gonna go through or something along those lines. Well, what is this? And just kind of a dog and pony show where we come in. So I feel like I would appreciate it if the comments and considerations were taken seriously by the individuals that took their time out to come here tonight and really strongly consider finding a location further out. It's just, if it's not clear, it's just not wanted. So that's it. I strongly oppose it and I'd like you to hear that. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Your next group of people, is Wendy Skaggs here? Yes. Okay, make your way back down. How about Stacey Bixler? Stacey Bixler. Melanie Remo. Okay, perfect. And Kenya Alou, or maybe that's, is that correct? Okay. And then followed by Jonathan Gardner, or Guardia. So that's our next group of people to start with Wendy. First and last name. Wendy Skaggs. I'm a pharmacist and we can't breathe. I treat patients, children, elderly, people your age, your kids, maybe yours. 99.5%, you said, was what the containment is. 99.5% need to breathe. How about a hundred percent? I don't see half a percent here that says, I support you. I see 99.999% that oppose you. Contemplate your house, your family, the value of your home. I contemplate mine. I consider my patients. I consider my neighbors. I stand with my councilman, Alan Blalock. I stand with my mayor, Maddie Parker. I stand with residents like Mark and Amy, Rich, Tom, Melanie. I stand with you, please deny. You're impacting our livelihood. You're impeding our successes, our relationships, our homesteads. You are challenging our opportunities to live in the city of Fort Worth, to contend with yet one more. How about no more? None. We've got too many today. How many of you were able to get concrete for your driveway? Amen to that. I got concrete for mine too. I have one minute, so I'll be fast. So please don't make more struggle to breathe. Don't make one more asthmatic rush to the pharmacy for an albuterol inhaler that is on short supply because hundreds of extra patients need it this week. Don't make children run on a track to fall dead from a cardiac arrest, an asthma attack. Sell your concrete 10 miles north, 20 miles east, 40 miles west. Thank you for concrete, but we don't want that hard stuff here. If it's not apparent, let this parent tell you. I am feminitely opposed. Thank you. Thank you. Stacey Bixler, I thought, did we have a Stacey Bixler? Okay. How about Melanie? Hi, my name is Melanie Rummel. I'm a resident of Crawford Farms HOA, which is about two miles away. My biggest concern as a nurse and as a parent is the silica dust that your plant will be emitting into our community. Even small amounts have been shown to worsen asthma and COPD, lead to decreased lung development in children, cause lung cancer, silicosis, and premature death. I looked at calculations of how far a particle will travel based on its size and wind speed. The average annual wind speed in Fort Worth is 13 miles per hour. A five micron particle can travel over nine miles in that wind speed. The silica dust that's produced is half that size and can travel even farther and it's invisible. So all these tests about look at it on your stuff, well, it's just everywhere and nobody can see it. And I know you've said that you will water the stockpiles and you have a silo filter. I actually looked it up the zero filter. It's pretty cool. But I also know that four years into doing business when presumably you would have known all the safety risks, your company was fined thousands of dollars for having grinders and dusters that did not have the required dust suppression system in the Forest Hill location. Next to several other housing communities. For at least two months, according to that report, your company exposed thousands of people to carcinogenic silica dust and other contaminants. You only added the dust suppression systems after you were caught. My understanding is that this land was zoned for industrial use before the neighborhoods and schools moved into the area. Before children were playing in their driveways. Before teachers were hired to nurture their growth. I don't think any of us are against having concrete. I saw your website with the mulch the sand. I love supporting small businesses but the location right across the street from housing developments and with a short distance of several schools would not only be a hazard to our health but also irresponsible. Thank you. Thank you. Kenya. Hello, my name is Kenya Alou and I'm a resident of Steadman Farms. We keep hearing that in the 2000s there was the same type of plant located at the same location in question. We do not live in the same landscape we did in 2000. It's been 24 years. We have more residential schools, apartments, mixed use development and it's naive to compare 2000 to 2024. I applaud Councilman Blalock for fighting to end the practice of never expiring permits. The TECU does not have enough staff to investigate issues by their own words. Citizens will have to be the plant police. Another issue that I heard during questions and had not thought of previously is that the plant will not generate its own electricity. We'll further burden the grid we already have issues with. We all deal with rolling blackouts over here. I worry about our property values in the community. We love so much and I'm concerned for the health of the population exposed to a plant of this nature. The best line from the panel tonight was that once the air is in the home from the outside, it's not their issue. I was disappointed to hear that there was nothing in place to rectify a homeowner's property if contaminants were found due to this plant. Only out of our own pockets could we rectify anything. This is a horrible idea. I oppose this proposed permit and I'm asking TECU to deny the application. Thank you. Is Jonathan, is Jonathan, okay, you are here. Thank you. Thanks, Jonathan. Our day at 3033 Bell Lago Drive forward Texas. I'm also representing Riverside Place, which is the closest neighborhood to the proposed site. Our neighborhood's, it's two streets. We have over 20 kids, senior citizens. During the construction of State Highway 170, we could actually smell the diesel in our backyard from the trucks leaving the site. So I would love for you guys to consider that. And that's just, you know, that State Highway 170 is eight miles long. And so that's one main concern. I can go out a backyard with my son and could smell the diesel, very strong smell. I would also like to, the other thing is, Mil and I, you'd have these trucks reversing, so I don't know if trucks will be reversing. If so, they have those safety sounds that they have to sound. I don't know if there's any prevention that's gonna be used for that. And I'd also like to, I don't wanna repeat all the different concerns we all have, but I have the environmental ones and I'll submit them to the record. Thanks. Okay, thank you. Do you wanna turn those into me or will you do that online? You've done it, you can turn it into me or you can do it. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Okay, our next group of people. Jennifer, Jennifer Leah Weber-Farrell. Okay, she's coming on up. How about, is it Debbie Smollemberg? Debbie, S-M-O-O-R-E-N-B-U-R-G. Is she present? I don't see anyone. Okay, how about Jaina Herrera? Jaina, okay, you're here. And how about Gregory Farrell? Okay, so that's our next group of people. Yes, ma'am. Hi, Jennifer Leah Weber-Farrell, Crawford Farms. I think you all know where I stand, where this is concerned based on my last comments. I have a lot of history experience with asthmatics and I think that that's a huge potential issue here. I don't know if any of you have had any asthmatics in your families. If you've ever seen or heard anyone die from an asthma attack, but I have. I have a sister who is really super asthmatic. Anything can trigger it. I have a friend who recently had an asthma attack that was so dire that he was in intensive care. For months, he was rehabilitating from that and a few years ago when my daughter was in the ER for a very serious issue, there was a gentleman brought in with an asthma attack and I had the unfortunate experience to listen to him as he passed away. No one could help him. It was incredibly, incredibly upsetting for me and I wasn't the one going through it. That man, that poor, poor man. This is what you're asking us to suffer. This is what you're asking these people to put their children through because those children who don't have asthma currently might probably will if they're exposed to too many particulates over a long period of time. So what I'd like to do for the rest of my time is read you the EPA's environmental effects of particulate matter from the EPA website for as long as I have the time to do so. The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. Small particles, less than 10 micrometers in diameter pose the greatest problems because they can get deep into your lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream. Exposure to such particles can affect both your lungs and your heart. Numerous scientific studies have linked particle pollution exposure to a variety of problems including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, non-fatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, increased respiratory symptoms such as irritation of the airways, pardon me, coughing or difficulty breathing. People with heart or lung diseases, children and older adults are most likely to be affected by particle pollution exposure. Fine particles are the main cause of reduced visibility haze in parts of the United States including many of our treasured national parks and wilderness areas. Particles can be carried over long distances by wind. And I think we've heard a lot of that tonight. And I also want to mention that you see these empty seats behind me. Many of these are empty because people didn't feel like they had a voice because of something you all said, I think. They thought that this had already been decided and that they shouldn't stay. Okay, so that's time. That's sad, wouldn't you say? Okay, Janna, okay, next. Janna, is it, did you say Janna? Janna. Janna, okay. Hi, thank you for being here. My name is Janna Herrera. I'm not as prepared as some of these but I still want to voice our opinion. Have lived here all my, most of my life. Grew up here, I should say. We moved back in this area and long ago these were just fields. None of this was here, it was country. And I understand the economics, I'm in business. And by listening to what you had to say it appears you're trying to tell us, make it warm and fuzzy, what you want to do and say the right things that you want us to hear. But the fact that you've put in an application or a permit in for 24 hours, that's concerning. So while you might not be planning to pour concrete every day 24 hours there's that capacity for you to work up to that. The other thing that I'm concerned about is how much land you actually have there to grow your business where there are more trucks on the road. There's enough impact of traffic here with trucks tearing up roads, it is serious. And we're slow to capture paving those roads that have issues from trucks. I'm really disappointed to hear that the TCEQ group that you look at standardized data if I heard you correctly. Apparently you don't test the area where this company would like to have the plant. And yes, it was there maybe 20 years ago or however long ago. And as other people have stated, this area has grown. This is not the country anymore. We are a long ways from the country. So respectfully, I would ask that you please work with our councilman Alan Blalock to find another location. I know that's impactful for you because it's your business or you're representing your company. But I ask that based on what people are saying. And I feel like we have to come out and speak up for our rights and not just slam dunk it, it's a done deal. Going back to your standardized testing that's extremely disappointing. I don't understand how you don't sample the air out here, look at the environment out here but just to look at a standardized test, that's shameful and it's very disappointed. I feel like it's been standardized answers tonight which is unfortunate. And I'm not sure if I have the right, the TECU which if that's what it is, I'm not sure of the proper, sorry, of this young lady that's been speaking but to, I'm a proactive person, I'm not a reactive person. And I think all of us in here and that we're here earlier that were voiced in our opinions, we don't want to then come and have to say we see dust or we have issues, we can't breathe. That's long past the point of where it's safe. Now you're reactionary and it doesn't seem like this agency is able to help people until it's after and then it is imposed upon the residents in the area to address the fact and pay for some kind of siding to get something rectified. That's not how we want to go. Thank you for listening and I appreciate your time. Okay, Mr. Gregory Ferrell. Hi, my name is Greg Ferrell. I'm a resident and homeowner. I live in the Crawford Farms Housing Development and I'm registering opposition to this permit application. As our state representative mentioned earlier, the EPA says that an increased risk of asthma and cardiac arrest from particulate matter can occur from output by plants like this concrete batch plant. A study by Harvard University and the Environmental Defense Fund found that in Houston in 2015 alone, fine particle air pollution was linked to over 52,000, I'm sorry, 5,200, my bad. 5,200 premature deaths and 49 billion in associated economic damage. Company's self-regulation didn't prevent that. The TCEQ's regulations enforcement did not prevent that. Any complaints that are lodged are after the damage is done, as I said earlier and other folks has mentioned as well. So it's kind of too late to do anything about it at that point. The folks behind this plan are prioritizing economics over people's health. An offer has been made to help them find a better location if they are sincere about being a conscientious neighbor. They should take up that offer and listen to all of the opposition to this permit. I'm asking the TCEQ to please consider the wellbeing of people in this community and deny this permit application. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, I have called all those who signed up to speak. Again, it's not the end of the comment period you have until Wednesday until midnight. So you could continue to file comments or add on to any comments you've already submitted online. But is there anyone here tonight who has not had an opportunity to speak and would like to do so now? Okay then. So let's talk about the next part of the process. As we said, the comment period will be open until Wednesday, April the 17th until midnight and you can submit comments online. And then after that, staff is gonna collect all those comments that were submitted online. Anything submitted in writing tonight as well as the all formal comment portion. And they're gonna respond to that in the executive director's response to written, response to comments, written response to comments. And you'll receive, look out in the mail, you'll receive a cover letter that will explain how to obtain that RTC. RTC, if it's not as part of your package, it will give you the option of how you can get that from the TCEQ. All right, so staff is gonna be here for a few minutes if you wanna come up and get their business card, if you wanna talk to them additionally or ask further questions and we will be packing our equipment. But other than that, I wanna thank you for your participation, safe travels and this will close the public meeting for tour Texas LLC registration 174858. Thank you.