Harris County commissioners were scheduled Thursday to consider authorizing the County Attorney's Office to seek a court order that could shut down Budget Ready Mix, a concrete batch plant at 14915 Market Street in east Harris County. The county says it already sued the company over alleged air and water permit violations, and officials say the facility's air permit has since lapsed, leaving it operating without an air quality permit.
According to Click2Houston, the county is seeking authorization for a shutdown or other court-ordered relief while the case proceeds. The matter is scheduled for trial beginning next Monday, November 16, according to the court agenda cited in the station's report.
Residents frustrated by the Budget Ready Mix situation aren't alone in watching Harris County's concrete plant industry closely. Across the county, the same report notes, companies like Five Star Ready Mix have applications pending with state regulators that could add even more capacity near homes and schools.
A Separate Permit Fight Near Ley Road
Five Star Ready Mix has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a new air quality permit that would authorize two permanent concrete batch plants at 8001 Ley Road in northeast Houston, per the same account. Unlike the Budget Ready Mix case, which involves county enforcement, that application is purely a state matter — Harris County does not issue air quality permits for concrete batch plants, a responsibility that belongs to TCEQ.
Amy Dinn, an attorney working with residents challenging the Five Star permit application, said those residents have legitimate concerns about the potential impact of the facilities on neighborhood air quality. Dinn told the outlet that the county receives notice of every requested permit, but it is TCEQ that ultimately grants them. Residents near the proposed site have already submitted comments and requested a contested case hearing, the station's report states.
Concrete batch plants produce the concrete used in construction, but their operations can generate dust and particulate matter that may affect nearby communities, the same account notes. That tension — between an industry residents say they can smell and taste, and a permitting system based in Austin rather than at the Harris County Courthouse — is at the center of both the Budget Ready Mix and Five Star disputes.
How Residents Can Weigh In
For pending applications like the one from Five Star Ready Mix, TCEQ provides public notice to affected residents during the permitting process, and the agency's online facility map identifies permitted facilities and proposed projects, per the same report. Affected residents can review applications and raise concerns before permit decisions are finalized, and they can ask to be added to TCEQ mailing lists for specific permits to receive application and meeting updates.
Residents can also submit public comments directly to TCEQ during the public comment period, and in some cases, people who meet eligibility requirements can request a contested case hearing to formally challenge a permit application, the article notes. Deadlines and eligibility requirements vary by permit application, so the specifics depend on the facility in question.
For facilities that are already operating, like Budget Ready Mix, the path runs through Harris County rather than the state. Residents can submit environmental complaints about operating facilities through Harris County Pollution Control Services, whose online complaint form is intended for non-emergency environmental concerns. For urgent situations, the county lists 713-920-2831 as its environmental emergency contact number.
A County-Wide Pattern of Enforcement
The Budget Ready Mix case isn't an isolated action. Harris County has previously reported more than 130 concrete batch plants operating across unincorporated Harris County and the City of Houston, though figures vary across sources — Houston Public Media has cited more than 140 plants countywide, while Rice University's Kinder Institute, drawing on EPA data compiled by the Houston Chronicle, has put the number at at least 188 plants in Harris County alone — more than any other Texas county.
The Kinder Institute's analysis also found that almost one-third of the concrete batch plants in the city are located a short walk from a school or day care. Between January 2020 and June 2023, Harris County's Pollution Control Division conducted 313 concrete batch plant investigations and issued 172 violation notices, according to figures in the Click2Houston report.
Budget Ready Mix is far from the first plant to draw a county lawsuit. Harris County previously sued Texcon Ready Mix over alleged environmental violations at a north Houston plant on South Carr Street, as Houston Public Media reported. In March 2025, the county sued Yellow Jacket ReadyMix, LLC, and 2210 Hartwick, LLC, over alleged violations at a plant in the Lindale Farms area, with the county asking a court to shut down that facility unless it complied with regulations, paid fines for violations spanning four years, and met fire-safety and floodplain standards.
State regulators have also moved against plants that fall short during the application process. TCEQ voided Zamcrete Ready-Mix LLC's air-permit application after the company failed to provide complete and accurate information following deficiency notices, according to Air Alliance Houston. For residents who want to track other pending applications, TCEQ's permit search portal and its summaries of pending new source review applications offer a way to follow facilities before they're built, while those challenging proposed plants are encouraged to keep an eye on contested case hearing notices like the one TCEQ published earlier this year for J7 Ready Mix's proposed new permit.
