The WWGC Protests Southern Crushed Concrete
/The State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) held a two-day contested cased hearing in Austin on an air permit for a concrete manufacturing plant to be located next to the Willow Waterhole Park (Docket 582-15-0460). The Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy (WWGC) was granted party status to protest this permit late last year and participated in this hearing.
The hearing concerned the application by Southern Crushed Concrete LLC to construct and operate a concrete batch plant on a property at 5001 Gasmer. The Southern Crushed Concrete facility is directly adjacent to the Waterhole, and has long been a matter of concern for local residents, members of the WWGC, and users of the Park.
The Honorable Casey Bell, Administrative Law Judge, presided over the hearing. The hearing resulted from the WWGC’s protest against the issuance of the permit, aided by local elected officials and other neighborhood groups. Rep. Boris Miles, Councilman Larry Green, Westbury Area Improvement Corp., and Westbury Civic Club, Inc. all assisted the efforts of WWGC to protect the Park and its users.
The conservancy presented testimony from four witnesses: Ralph Rieger, WWGC President; Christopher Zider, Board member of the WWGC Provincial Supervisor; Sister Maria Goretti Oanh Mai Vu, O.P. Dominican Sister of Mary Immaculate Province Convent; and Jerry Demo, an air permit expert. WWGC’s position is that the proposed concrete plant will only add to the already unacceptable particulate and dust emissions that come from the stockpiles and trucks at the unpaved property.