Nearly 400 people came out Thursday night to speak against a proposed concrete plant outside of Mansfield. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has given preliminary approval to the site on Gibson Cemetery Road in unincorporated Tarrant County.
The proposed site is on a rural road with lots of homes nearby and neighbors think an industrial plant just doesn't fit. Thursday night was their last chance to speak up before the TCEQ makes its final decision on a permit and they're not going out without a fight.
Two years ago, Rene Luna traded city life for the country, a horse to feed, s'mores by the fire and the wide open sky.
"It's peaceful out here and the quality of air, in the evening times, you can see the clear sky," Luna said.
Now, he worries plans for a concrete batch plant within eyesight of his property could change all that.
"It's surrounded by hardworking families,” Luna said. “We don't want that plant near our homes."
Luna is worried about air pollution, noise and increased truck traffic on Gibson Cemetery Road.
"The roads are narrow as it is, they're small and they can only hold so much traffic," Luna said.
Close to 400 neighbors raised the same concerns at a public forum with members of TCEQ and representatives from the company behind the proposed plant, Bosque Solutions.
"I think it's misconstrued and I think we have some explaining to do to make people feel a little bit better," said John Sheffield, President of Bosque Solutions.
For starters, Sheffield says a concrete batch plant is not the same as a cement plant and won't have the same pollution.
"The cement comes in on a sealed truck, it is blown up into a sealed silo with a dust collector. So there's no aggregate dust going all over the place," Sheffield said.
But neighbors don't believe it.
"I have seen many batch plants, I'm a commercial general contractor,” said one neighbor speaking from the podium. “They do create dust, absolutely. You can see it in the air, let alone breathe it."
Sheffield is also promising minimal truck traffic. He already stores and moves acid for the fracking industry from that site and says he's had no complaints.
The process is not over. TCEQ will consider public input before making their final decision.
