Tarrant County neighbors fighting proposed plan for concrete plant

The plant would produce ready-mix concrete by combining water, sand, aggregate, fly-ash, and cement, a state filing says. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) must permit the operation of such a plant.The TCEQ hosted the public meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Anchora Event Center in Mansfield. Representatives from J7 Ready Mix, the plant’s owners, will attend to answer questions. 

During the meeting, Melissa Sims, a resident, voiced her concern. 

“This cement plant imposes on our future. We were here first. This is an attack on our rights,” Sims said. “They should take their plant to a rural area and not affect the people.”

Neighbors say they are most concerned the facility will pollute their air. Concrete batch plants emit some toxins and particulate matter, including dust, which may cause respiratory problems. 

“It’s my job, as a parent, to protect my children,” said Brandon McElroy, who lives across the street from the plant’s proposed location. “Let’s deny the permit and get these guys out into an industrial area where they should be.”

McElroy formed a non-profit, Green Air Solutions, to help his cause. It’s so far raised about $40,000, mostly to help cover attorney’s fees for a looming legal fight over the plant’s location. 

Hundreds of people have donated money or bought yard signs, t-shirts, or donated hot sauce to fund the effort. 

“That tells me we’re still a small town and everyone’s willing to band together,” he said. “People are very into their health.” 

Mansfield ISD has also voiced opposition to the plant, which would go up 600 feet from a property where the district intends to build an intermediate school and 2600 feet from a property where the district intends to build a high school. 

“MISD believes manufacturing concrete this close to campuses poses an unnecessary risk to public school students in the community,” the district said in a statement to WFAA. 

School trustees will Tuesday vote on a resolution expressing formal opposition to the plant’s construction. 

J7 Ready Mix co-managers Fernando Garcia and Richard Mayhew spoke with WFAA before the meeting. 

“We just want the community to know we’re there for them. We’re not perfect. There have been some challenges along the way, and we’ll admit that, we just want to come up with solutions together,” Garcia said. “We’re hoping that we get the community’s blessing, and if not, we’ll go from there.”

In an application for a TCEQ permit, J7 Ready Mix promised to water stockpiles to keep down dust, implement three filtration systems, and immediately correct any potential emissions problems. 

“There’s nothing in our mix that is harmful,” Mayhew claimed. “The little dust would come from the ground and we’re trying to prevent that.”

But neighbors say their faith in J7 Ready Mix is bruised, partly because the company began construction on the plant before securing the appropriate permits. The Tarrant County Fire Marshal Randy Renois confirmed to WFAA that he’s halted the work “until they present plans and permit applications after TCEQ issues them an operating permit.”

“We are learning from our mistakes,” Garcia said. “We knew we had to get the air quality permit, but as far as construction permit, we didn’t know we had to have that.”

Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield) helped organize Monday’s public meeting. He says he hopes J7 Ready Mix will find another location. 

“There’s a right place and there’s a wrong place,” he said. “This is the wrong place for a concrete batch plant.” 

During the meeting, Garcia and Mayhew took direct aim from residents who fired questions during an open forum. 

“I don’t want my kids to grow up with cancer, or my property value to drop, which is going to happen if you put this plant in,” one resident said.

At one point during the meeting, Mayhew said the company is “learning as we go, no doubt. Neighbors responded: not in our backyard. 

Source: WFAA