Harris County is taking the gloves off in a courtroom battle against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) over the approval of a contentious concrete crushing plant, as officials claim it could throw a wrench in the health of local communities. In a suit filed Wednesday, the county and its allies are putting the state agency in the hot seat for giving the green light to a project that flies too close to the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and a swath of residential neighborhoods already burdened with pollution.
The lawsuit, a joint punch from the Harris Health System and neighborhood groups in Kashmere Gardens and Trinity/Houston Gardens, calls out the TCEQ's permit standards as dangerously outdated. According to the Houston Chronicle, the suit argues that the planned facility granted a thumbs-up by the TCEQ in January for construction at 5875 Kelley Street, doesn't meet distance requirements that shield schools and places of worship, though no such protections are currently extended to hospitals. Blasted by lawmakers and hospital staff, the facility's proposed spot has stirred up fears of pumping harmful pollutants directly into nearby neighborhoods.
Christian Menefee, the County Attorney, threw down the gauntlet in a statement obtained by Houston Chronicle, saying, "We know that pollutants from these types of facilities can cause serious health issues. It should go without saying that patients at a hospital and the doctors and nurses who treat them should be able to breathe clean air without concern. And yet, saying it has not been enough to stop this plan, so the county is now taking legal action."
With the new facility poised to start crushing stones a stone's throw from the hospital, the lawsuit is tapping into the community's pulse where concerns run deep over connections between the fine particles the plant will emit and increased rates of heart disease, stroke, asthma, and cancer. Esmail Porsa, CEO of Harris Health, told Houston Public Media in a statement, “What is even worse, with the proximity of this proposed plant, is that local patients seeking care and treatment for a respiratory condition exacerbated by pollution may be exposed to even higher concentrations than while at their own home,”
In response to the public uproar, Texas Coastal Materials is sticking to its guns, having pushed the application through a process peppered with resounding opposition, including over 800 letters urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott to step in against the plant. Keith Downey, the president of Kashmere Gardens Super Neighborhood Council, argued that TCEQ needs to prioritize people over profits, insisting, “Our concerns have been ignored, but we will continue to fight to stop this permit,” as reported by Houston Public Media.
