Awesome monsoon season. Check out the rain in July. And it is still coming. You know, the Farmer's Almanac this year said severe drought for our area. Thankfully, they got that wrong.

NMED preliminary intent is to approve Air Quality Permit for Roper Concrete Plant in Alto on or before October 20, 2021 -- BUT you still have 30 days to write in and oppose. See next article on Concrete Plants in Houston for more ideas to include in your opposition

https://www.env.nm.gov/air-quality/permit-applications-with-public-interest-public-meeting-or-public-hearing/

It’s hard to breathe with a concrete plant in your backyard

NIMBY opposition alone isn’t enough to counter the harmful effects of air pollutants emitted by concrete batch plants located in underserved and over-polluted communities in Harris County, which is home to more of these facilities than any county in Texas. Too often, much of the pollution and many of the polluters largely go unchecked by the state.

“Literally,” state Rep. Armando Walle says, “you can’t breathe.”

The residents the Houston Democrat has represented since 2008 in House District 140, which includes the city and parts of unincorporated Harris County between Loop 610, Beltway 8, Highway 290 and the Eastex Freeway, tell him that the dust that blows from concrete batch plants covers their roofs, their cars, their barbecue pits. They can’t go outside. They can’t have friends over.

The dust, they tell him, is everywhere.

That dust, a kind of air pollution called particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs, is just one part of the problem that concrete batch plants present. Because the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) grants them 24-hour permits, heavy diesel trucks line up as early as 2 a.m. to idle noisily on local streets, waiting to pick up as many as 150 loads every day, emitting even more pollutants like black carbon and nitrogen dioxide. These trucks, Walle says, tear up yards, drainage ditches and other infrastructure governments have to repair. Even attempts to water down the dust end up creating an ugly muddy slurry that tracks all over the community.

Environmental Protection Agency data compiled by the Houston Chronicle show that there are at least 188 plants in Harris County alone, the most in Texas. That’s why, earlier this year, Walle and 280 residents showed up at a meeting to demand answers from a company seeking a permit for a new plant near hundreds of homes in Aldine. It was heated, Walle says, until the owner slipped TCEQ a note to withdraw the request in the middle of the meeting. That came just one week after a company seeking a permit for a new plant next door to a couple’s home and a park in Acres Homes agreed, after years of residents’ pressure, to build it somewhere else.

Keeping these plants out were wins for the health of these communities. But there are already eight concrete batch plants in Aldine. On the other side of I-45, in District B, which includes Acres Homes, there are more than a dozen. Environmental Protection Agency data compiled by the Houston Chronicle show that there are at least 188 plants in Harris County alone, the most in Texas.

And there are more in Texas than any other state. Though they produce one of the ubiquitous materials of cities, the concrete we pour for everything from sidewalks to stormwater pipes to skyscrapers, the unique combination of Houston’s lack of zoning, the region’s relentless outward growth and an overly permissive state environmental agency means that too many concrete batch plants are making it too hard to breathe.

What happens at concrete batch plants? Behind the fences, mountains of sand and rock and aggregate are loaded around the clock into the drums of the trucks. That, says Corey Williams, research and policy director for Air Alliance Houston, is the largest source of the dusty, gritty pollution that Walle has heard so much about.

It’s like when you forget to change the vacuum cleaner bag at home — except, in Texas, no one’s coming to remind you. That’s also the only place, Williams says, where the plants are required to control the pollution. A vacuum system is supposed to suck the dust into a baghouse, which is supposed to filter out the particulate matter.

The problem, Williams explains, is that baghouses have to be maintained and emptied regularly. When they’re not, or when that’s done improperly, they end up making even more of a mess. It’s like when you forget to change the vacuum cleaner bag at home — except, in Texas, no one’s coming to remind you.

TCEQ, Williams says, rarely returns to plants once permits are granted to inspect the baghouses and other operations. Companies are expected to clean up after themselves. “Nobody’s checking,” Williams says, “unless somebody from the community is vocal and makes complaints about emissions.”

But, without air monitors, residents might not know about those emissions. It’s dusty, but they might not know that they’re breathing one of the deadliest kinds of air pollution. Particulate matter is linked to serious health conditions, including reduced lung development in children, higher rates of asthma, bronchitis, heart disease and cancer. The most recent data, compiled from a range of sources, including satellite imagery, show that, in 2015 alone, particulate matter was linked to 5,200 premature deaths in Houston.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also a problem at concrete batch plants, says Dr. Latrice Babin, director of Harris County Pollution Control. VOCs can irritate the eyes and respiratory system and cause shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, skin problems and impair the memory. Higher concentrations of VOCs can damage the liver, kidney and brain, according to Babin.

Particulate matter is linked to serious health conditions, including reduced lung development in children, higher rates of asthma, bronchitis, heart disease and cancer. “Living near these facilities, you are exposed to higher levels of harmful pollution,” says Fern Uennatornwaranggoon, air quality policy manager with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Even inside a community, the pollution from a concrete batch plant can be comparable with the pollution along a congested freeway.

The findings of new research from EDF, which drove 32,000 miles in 22 Houston neighborhoods with air monitors mounted on Google Street View cars “confirm communities’ lived experience. They’ve always known where these problematic facilities are,” Uennatornwaranggoon says. In Houston, almost one-third of the concrete batch plants in the city are located a short walk from a school or day care.

The health impacts of this pollution are profound, and they are disproportionately borne. Because land has been cheapened by redlining, disinvestment, restrictive covenants and environmental racism, polluters concentrate unevenly across the region, often intentionally in communities of color and low wealth, compounding other issues and creating entrenched disparities, almost all of which are being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Those who are exposed the most to pollution are the least responsible for it. Fifth Ward, on the other side of the freeway from Acres Homes, has four concrete batch plants and 10 metal recyclers — and has higher rates of COPD, coronary heart disease and stroke than the city average. Asthma rates edge close to 11%, compared with 7% in River Oaks — where there are stormwater pipes and sidewalks and skyscrapers, but not a single concrete batch plant.

What can be done? As residents in Aldine and Acres Homes prove, relentless community organizing can keep new concrete batch plants out — if the community knows when one’s coming in. TCEQ requires companies to post signs at proposed sites and print notices in a local newspaper to get their permits, but that’s “the bare minimum,” Williams says. The state is burdening the communities threatened by these plants to protect themselves. Unless you drove by or scoured the fine print, you’d never know.

Dr. Bakeyah Nelson, Air Alliance Houston’s executive director, has said that permits should also consider the context of the site and the cumulative impacts of exposure to many sources of pollution. The permit, she said, shouldn’t be based only on what is supposed to happen inside the fence.

What’s needed most going forward is a reevaluation of the entire permitting process. “The issue is lax enforcement from the state, and I think it’s by design,” Walle says. “I can't remember the last time TCEQ rejected a permit.”

He says he has filed bill after bill in recent legislative sessions to require more protections. Right now, for example, plants are required to maintain a buffer zone only of 440 yards from the nearest school, home or church. He thinks that should be increased. He thinks TCEQ should conduct more inspections. He thinks the agency should scrutinize permits more closely. He thinks the state should be more creative, he says, and give local health agencies and pollution control more authority.

In Houston, almost one-third of the concrete batch plants in the city are located a short walk from a school or day care. He’d like to see TCEQ have the budget to hire more full-time employees who can focus on this particular problem, he says.

The bills, he says, go nowhere. “Industry kills them.”

But pollution is killing Texans. It’s inconvenient for industry and those in power to listen to people in communities like Aldine and Acres Homes, but that’s who we need to listen to, and work together, so everyone can breathe clean air.

“Do you want to live next to a concrete batch plant?,” Walle says he has asked the owners of companies who are seeking permits that, right now, don’t always lead to plants that are good for the health of the community. “I’m not saying they’re bad people,” he says. “I’m saying, ‘Be better neighbors.’”

Allyn West is a senior communications specialist for the Environmental Defense Fund. You can follow him on Twitter @allynwest. This article first appeared on the One Breath Partnership website.

Sign the online petition to oppose a Concrete plant at Hwy 48 & 220

https://www.change.org/p/lincoln-county-commissioners-petition-in-opposition-to-the-proposed-concrete-plant-to-be-located-in-alto-off-hwy-220?utm_campaign=fb_dialog&utm_medium=email&utm_source=signature_receipt#_=_

Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Concrete Plant to be located in Alto off Hwy 220

Rancho Ruidoso Valley Estates Committee started this petition to Lincoln County Commissioners and Petition in Opposition to the Proposed Concrete Plant to be located in Alto off of Hwy 220

Attention: Roper Construction, Inc. has recently purchased land in Alto near the intersection of Hwy 48 & 220 (Airport Road) near the entrance of the Legacy Lane housing development for a proposed Concrete Batch Plant. This plant will operate approximately 52 weeks a year, 7 days a week, at 18 hours a day or more. This has the potential to impact the surrounding communities in a profoundly negative way. Concrete batch plants produce a large amount of granule dust, which not only does this dust have a big effect on the environment, but it can also influence the health of residents who live in the vicinity. Some of the health issues related to living near a concrete plant include respiratory issues, eye irritation, fatigue from the noise and smell, and memory loss. The environmental impacts are also significant and those include high amounts of water usage, noise & light pollution, heavy truck traffic, and destruction to plants and wildlife. Can you imagine the loss of not seeing our beautiful wildlife in the area because of all the noise, traffic, and the destruction of the flora they feed upon? This is a primary concern to many who live in this beautiful community. This proposed plant will be within approximately 1.5 miles of the following locations just to name a few: · The Alto Lakes Golf and Country Club (Main Clubhouse) · The Alto Post Office · White Mountain Wilderness Area (This seems highly questionable considering the stiff regulations of Wilderness Areas and should be looked at closer.) · And residences in Sun Valley, Enchanted Forest, Legacy Estates, and Ranches of Sonterra. *** It should also be noted that the property is on a highly visible area of the Billy the Kid – State and National Scenic Byway. Other serious implications of this Concrete Batch Plant are the estimated 72,000 gallons of water use daily, Decibel levels of rock crushing could be as high as 150 Decibels, and possible misrepresentation of the use of the property by Roper, Inc. in the purchase of the land. Please sign the petition below to help initiate a Public Hearing by the New Mexico State Environmental Office & as an indication of your Opposition to this Concrete Plant in our Beautiful Community of Alto.

Concrete Plant Information & meeting

FYI: Alto Lakes is having a meeting at Alto Lakes Country Club Pavilion WEDNESDAY, July 21, at 3 pm. As I understand it, the public is invited to hear/talk about the Concrete Plant, you don't need to be a member of Alto Lakes. This is NOT an official public meeting of the NM Environment Department – Air Quality Bureau.

Here's the current structure of how a permit goes through NMED and this is where your comments sent to NMED will become part of the process and hopefully produce results:

Thank you for contacting the Air Quality Bureau regarding Roper Construction Inc’s air quality permit application for the proposed Alto Concrete Batch Plant. The application is now available on our website at the following link. https://www.env.nm.gov/air-quality/permit-applications-with-public-interest-public-meeting-or-public-hearing/ The application was received by the New Mexico Environment Department on 06/22/2021 and has been assigned to Deepika Saikrishnan for review. Contact Details : Deepika.Saikrishnan@state.nm.us or 505-476-4360 (when returning voicemails I may be calling from an unidentified number.) The Department has 30 days to review the application and determine whether the application is “administratively complete.’’ This is not a technical review of the application, but a review for the presence of the required parts of the application. If ruled administratively complete, the Department will post a public notice for this facility. Per 20.2.72.206A(5)NMAC, shown below (text and link provided), interested parties have 30 days from the date the Department’s public notice is published to express their interest/concern in writing. These written comments would be part of the permit application record. Emailed comments are considered written comments. NMAC (http://164.64.110.134/parts/title20/20.002.0072.html) 20.2.72.206 PUBLIC NOTICE AND PARTICIPATION: A. The department shall: (1) Make available for public inspection a list of all pending applications for permits or permit revisions; (2) Make available for public inspection the permit application and the department's preliminary determination. This material shall be available both at the department's central office and the district or field office nearest to the proposed source. Copies of any permit application, except those portions of which may be determined as confidential in accordance with 20.2.1 NMAC (General Provisions), will be supplied upon written request and payment of reasonable costs; (3) Subsequent to an affirmative administrative completeness determination, publish a public notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area closest to the location of the source. The notice shall include: the applicant's name and address, the location and brief description of the source, a summary of estimated emissions and ambient impact, and the department's preliminary intent to issue the permit if the construction or modification requested in the application will comply with air quality requirements, including ambient standards. The notice shall identify the location of the permit application and department’s analysis (when available) for public review and describe the manner in which comments or evidence may be submitted to the department, including that persons must inform the department in writing of their interest in the permit application in order to have a 30 day period to review and comment on the analysis under Subsection B of 20.2.72.206 NMAC below. The notice shall clearly state that any person who does not express such interest in writing prior to the end of the initial 30 day comment period will not receive notification of the availability of the analysis and thus forewarn such person of the need to express interest in writing if they desire to review and comment on the analysis; (4) Provide the notice under Paragraph 3 of Subsection A of 20.2.72.206 NMAC above by mail, which may include electronic mail, to all individuals and organizations identified on a list maintained by the department of those who have indicated in writing a desire to receive notices of all applications under this part; (5) Allow all interested persons thirty (30) days from the date the public notice is published to express an interest in writing in the permit application; (6) Mail written notice of the action taken on a permit application to any person who expresses an interest in writing in the application; and (7) Mail a copy of the public notice at the same time it is sent for publication to the appropriate agency in the following locations if the source will locate within fifty kilometers of the boundary of other states, Bernalillo county, or a Class I area. Copies of all public notices shall be sent to US EPA Region VI, if requested by US EPA. B. In the event that any person expresses an interest in writing in the permit application, the department shall also: (1) Notify each person who expressed an interest in writing in the permit application of the date and the location that the department’s analysis was or will be available for review; and (2) Not issue the permit until at least thirty (30) days after the department’s analysis is available for review. During this thirty (30) day period, any person may submit written public comments or request a public hearing. C. The department shall hold a public hearing if the secretary determines that there is a significant public interest. Public hearings shall be held in the geographic area likely to be impacted by the source. The time, date, and place of the hearing shall be determined by the department. The department shall give notice of the hearing to the applicant and the public. The secretary may appoint a hearing officer. A transcript of the hearing shall be made at the request of either the department or the applicant and at the expense of the person requesting the transcript. At the hearing, all interested persons shall be given a reasonable chance to submit data, views or arguments orally or in writing and to examine witnesses testifying at the hearing. [20.2.72.206 NMAC - Rn & A, 20 NMAC 2.72.II.206, 2/2/01] P.S. Follow the link and click on the highlighted ‘application pdf’ to view the application. https://www.env.nm.gov/air-quality/permit-applications-with-public-interest-public-meeting-or-public-hearing/

Thank you, Deepika Saikrishnan If guidance or a determination is included in this email, it is intended to serve as general guidance and is in no way a formal statement of Department policy. New information or changes to regulations may result in a different determination or guidance.

Deepika Saikrishnan Environmental Scientist Permitting -Technical Services NM Environment Department – Air Quality Bureau 525 Camino de los Marquez, Suite 1 Santa Fe, NM 87505 505-476-4360 Deepika.saikrishnan@state.nm.us www.env.nm.gov

MORE INFORMATION ON THE CEMENT PLANT AT HWY 48 & AIRPORT HWY 220

Here's the letter sent to nearby property owners about the proposd cement plant

Watch for a Lincoln County Commissioners Meeting regarding this proposed Cement Plant. Attend & protest! Some people have protest sheets for signatures, including John Soden and Sue Harkness of Weasel Production at 1086 Hwy 48

June rain helps the 2021 yearly moisture total