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State representative Armando Walle voices his opposition to a concrete batch plant planned in Aldine during a public meeting by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
Aldine residents hold up signs in opposition to a proposed concrete batch plant during a public meeting by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
Meliton Gomez, who is trying to build a concrete batch plant in Aldine, answers questions from residents during a public meeting hosted by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia voices his opposition to a concrete batch plant planned in Aldine during a public meeting by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
State Rep. Armando Walle and Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia listen as residents voice opposition to another concrete batch plant planned in Aldine during a public meeting by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
Rocio Witte holds up a sign in opposition to a proposed concrete batch plant during a public meeting by TCEQ at the East Aldine Management District building on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Houston.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
An empty lot at 10945 Eastex Freeway is shown Wednesday, July 6, 2022 in Houston. State environmental regulators have approved a permit for a concrete batch plant to open on this proposed site in Aldine, angering politicians and residents.
Aldine residents in April packed into a community room to tell state regulators that they did not want another concrete batch plant in their north Harris County neighborhood. They took turns over several hours pleading with officials to turn the Avant Garde application down.
On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston’s dangerous concrete plants are mostly in communities of color.
Numerous residents that night submitted requests for what’s known as a contested case hearing — a step that would give them another chance to fight a facility they consider a hazard to their health. Dozens filled out a petition asking for one, state records show. Some asked on their own.
As it happened, the deadline for requesting a contested case hearing had already passed. But none of the people asking for one that night knew. And state environmental agency officials there didn’t publicly tell them. Regulators approved the permit for the facility, where the materials for concrete will be poured into trucks.
The ordeal left those involved feeling tricked, becoming an example for critics who say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality fails to be transparent with the public and take their input into account. (Both issues are now being considered in a legislative agency review in Austin.)
“Why even hold the hearing that night?” Commissioner Adrian Garcia asked when interviewed by phone. “It was just an immense disservice to the citizens of the community.”
A TCEQ spokesperson didn’t respond directly to the criticism by Garcia and others.The spokesperson did write in an email that a public meeting could be held regardless of whether there was a chance to request a contested case hearing.
On HoustonChronicle.com: A Texas official didn’t know what to do about environmental racism. Houstonians had plenty of ideas.
Concrete batch plants are historically controversial. Residents near them have concerns around noise, lights and air pollution, while industry officials say they are perfectly safe. Batch plants in Harris County tend to be in areas that are a majority people of color, such as this neighborhood in Aldine.
Transparency and communication on the Avant Garde proposal have been an issue from the start. The state published its notice of the application online on Jan. 14, 2022, state records show. A sentence warned in bold that a contested case hearing request had to be filed within 30 days.
One theoretically could have watched the state database to see that notice. People can also sign up to get mailed notices on a specific permit or all Harris County permits, an agency spokesperson said. The notice was mailed to required parties and emailed to required legislators.
The 30-day clock for requesting a contested hearing started on Feb. 9, when the notice was published in the newspaper. Houston Chronicle records show it appeared in the community sections for Memorial, Katy, Bellaire, River Oaks, West University and Sugar Land.
State Rep. Armando Walle can’t keep up with all the notices he gets from TCEQ, he said. He found out about the issue because he happened to drive by the site and see a small sign about a permit being sought. His chief of staff wrote to the agency to request a community meeting.
Deadlines for who needs to request what when vary depending on the kind of permit being sought. But it never occurred to Walle that asking for a contested case hearing at the public meeting would be too late. He left feeling proud of the community that night in April for passionately making the case to go to the next step in the fight.
When he found out they messed up, Walle felt betrayed. He went door-to-door afterward, he said, to tell people what really happened.
Regulators at the meeting, Walle said, “never told us anything, and so we were under the impression that ‘Hey, look, you could still have a contested hearing.’”
The process isn’t totally over: The company lacks the necessary county permits to develop in the flood plain. County inspectors cited them for what they allege was work done without permission. (Photos show the site was graded.)
Owner Meliton Gomez, who has insisted he wants to be a good neighbor, said the company was only storing equipment on the site. “We haven’t done anything wrong,” Gomez said by phone.
The issue sits now with the county attorney’s office.
Joyce Lee contributed to this report.
emily.foxhall@chron.com | Twitter: @emfoxhall
Emily Foxhall covers the environment for the Houston Chronicle. She joined the paper in 2015 as a suburban reporter. She has documented the city's sprawl while playing a key role in the paper's breaking news and enterprise coverage. Her reconstruction of the Santa Fe High School shooting, along with two other colleagues, won first place for feature writing from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors. She was part of the Chronicle team that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news in 2017 for coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Soon after, she began roaming the state as the Texas Storyteller.
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