Dos Republicas Coal Mine causes possible contamination of Maverick County Water Control & Improvement District No. 1’s Lateral 20 water

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

The Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 (MCWCID No. 1) Board of Directors held a special meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 to discuss and take possible action on the possible contamination of its Lateral 20 water by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its Eagle Pass Mine operators, North American Coal Corporation and its subsidiary Camino Real Fuels, LLC.  The MCWCID No. 1 provides water for agricultural, irrigation, farming, domestic use, and other uses to District members.

MCWCID No. 1 General Manager Cynthia Martinez advised the Board of Directors that on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, an employee of the District had reported the possible contamination of Lateral 20’s water with a black-colored substance believed to be coal dust and other coal mining debris, requiring the notification of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Railroad Commission of Texas to have to investigate the incident and take water samples to determine what was the black-colored substance within Lateral 20’s water.  The MCWCID No. 1 also notified Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its operators concerning the possible contamination of the District’s Lateral 20 water.  Martinez noted that on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, there were high winds in the Dos Republicas Coal Mine area and that the coal mine may have been operating under these high wind conditions.

Martinez noted that TCEQ came to Maverick County on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, to take water samples and submitted them to their laboratory to determine what was the black-colored substance in the water and whether Dos Republicas Coal Partnership had committed any violations of their coal mining permit.  TCEQ spoke to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership concerning the MCWCID No. 1’s complaint and concerns regarding the possible contamination of the Lateral 20 water.  TCEQ advised the MCWCID No. 1 that it would take up to five days to receive the laboratory results of the water samples taken from Lateral 20.  The District is awaiting to receive the laboratory test results from TCEQ.

Martinez advised the Board of Directors that the water that was within Lateral 20 at the moment of the possible contamination was flushed out of the lateral so that it would not be used by local residents for domestic use and by farmers and ranchers for their livestock and agricultural crops.

Martinez noted that Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its coal mine operators were requested to clean up the black-colored substance on the water and within Lateral 20.  Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is currently having to truck domestic water for MCWCID No. 1 users along Lateral 20, principally residences and farms along FM 1588 (Thompson Road).

The MCWCID No. 1 unanimously approved to authorize Legal Counsel and General Manager to notify Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its coal mine operators that the District will hold them liable for all expenses, costs, and damages sustained by the local water irrigation district as a result of this potential water contamination incident.

Another possible water contamination arising from the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership Coal Mine occurred on October 13, 2015 when thousands of fish in Elm Creek and adjacent ponds were killed by a dark black-colored water substance that emanated from the Eagle Pass Mine site after major thunderstorms and rainfall in Maverick County.

The City of Eagle Pass, County of Maverick, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, local farmers and ranchers, the Pacuache Tribe, and thousands of Maverick County residents have opposed the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine among many reasons include the possible contamination of the City of Eagle Pass, City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and Maverick County’s only source of potable water-the Rio Grande River-as the coal mine’s water discharges into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River about one mile from their water treatment plants on the Rio Grande along the United States-Mexico border.  Currently, there is an appeal of the Railroad Commission of Texas coal mining permit being legally challenged in the Texas Supreme Court and the TCEQ’s water discharge pollutant permit is on appeal before a Texas Court of Appeals.