Supreme Court of Texas denies Petitions for Review of City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County & Others of Railroad Commission of Texas’ Coal Mine Permit to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership

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

On Friday, March 10, 2017, the Supreme Court of Texas denied the Petitions for Review filed by local opponents of the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine coal mine permit previously issued by the Railroad Commission of Texas on January 29, 2013, including the City of Eagle Pass, Texas, Maverick County, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, George Baxter, and many other local farmers and ranchers.  The Paquache Nation, a Native American tribe, requested party status in the Administrative Hearings before the Railroad Commission of Texas and the 261st Travis County District Court proceedings, but its requests were denied by both judges.

The decision to deny the coal mining opponents’ Petitions for Review means that the Supreme Court of Texas refused to hear the legal issues in controversy in the all-Republican Railroad Commission of Texas Board of Commissioners issuance of the controversial coal mine permit to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership on January 29, 2013 and allowing the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas decision to uphold (affirm) the 261st Travis County District Court’s decision by Judge Darlene Byrne that the Railroad Commission of Texas did not commit any reversible error to reverse the coal mine permit issued to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership legally stand.

Still pending is another appeal to the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas to reverse the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issuance and renewal of a permit to discharge coal mining waste and storm waters into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership approximately one to two miles upstream from both the City of Eagle Pass Municipal Water Treatment Plant and the City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico Municipal Water Treatment Plant, the sole source of potable water to over 300,000 people on the United States-Mexico border.

An overwhelming majority of Eagle Pass and Maverick County citizens oppose the controversial open surface coal mine operated by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership within three miles of the City limits of Eagle Pass (within the extraterritorial jurisdiction) that discharges its coal mining waste and stormwaters into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande as over 8,000 residents signed a petition in opposition, marched against the open pit coal mine, and participated in both administrative and judicial hearings.

Maverick County residents point to two recent incidents that demonstrate the potential dangers of contamination  presented to people, livestock, wildlife, and agriculture by the Eagle Pass Mine of Dos Republicas Coal Partnership.  The first incident occurred during October 8-9, 2015 when severe thunderstorms in the community caused the Eagle Pass Mine to release water from its detention ponds to avoid overflow and possible catastrophic flooding of Elm Creek and the Rio Grande, resulting in hundreds of fish being killed in Elm Creek and adjacent farm ponds with black waters.  The TCEQ and EPA came down to test the water and dead fish, concluding that the fish died from a lack of oxygen in the water.

The second incident recently occurred on February 14, 2017 when the Eagle Pass Mine was operating on a cold day gusting with high winds, causing coal dust and other mining chemicals to blanket the water of Lateral 20 of the Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 with a black coat on the surface of the water.  The Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 had to shut down Lateral 20, flush the water within the Lateral, and truck domestic or potable water to several District members’ households.  The TCEQ visited Lateral 20 and took water samples to determine the chemicals in the water. The TCEQ laboratory test results are pending.

The Eagle Pass Mine is owned by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership, a Texas general partnership composed of two Texas Limited Liability Corporations who in turn are owned by the Mexican company of Minera del Norte (MINOSA), a subsidiary of the Mexican company Grupo Acerero del Norte (GAN), the parent company of the Mexican company Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), controlled and managed by the Alonso Ancira family, Xavier Autrey Meza, and other owners.

The Mexican company of MINOSA owns the Eagle Pass Mine as well as the twin sister open surface coal mine known as Siglo XXI (21st Century) or Tajo Norte (North Pit) in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico near the banks of the Rio Grande approximately one-quarter to one-half mile upstream of both the Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico municipal water treatment plants.  Eagle Pass, Maverick County, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila,  Mexico residents face the potential contamination of their sole source of potable water and air by these two open pit coal mines owned by MINOSA on or near the banks of the Rio Grande and Elm Creek on the United States-Mexico border.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership contracted North American Coal Company to operate and manage the Eagle Pass Mine, which incorporated a Nevada company called Camino Real Fuels, LLC to handle the operations and management of the Eagle Pass Mine, shielding themselves from any potential liability in the event of any contamination incident.

The bituminous coal mined in the Eagle Pass Mine is sold by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership to a Mexican company who has a government contract with the Mexican government-owned Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE-Federal Electricity Commission) to burn at the two controversial coal-generated electricity plants called Carbon I and Carbon II located in Rio Escondido, Coahuila, Mexico, approximately 7-11 miles from the United States-Mexico border.   Carbon I and II coal-generated electricity plants have been signaled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as major polluters of air of the State of Texas, the Southwestern and Central United States, and the majestic Big Bend National Park.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership ships the Eagle Pass Mine coal via railroad through Union Pacific in 150 railroad cars every two days from Eagle Pass, Texas to Rio Escondido, Coahuila, Mexico. The railroad coal-laden cars travel through densely populated neighborhoods and subdivisions, public schools, downtown, and businesses in Eagle Pass into similarly situated conditions in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico until it reaches the coal depot of the two Carbon I and II coal-generated electricity plants in Rio Escondido, Coahuila, Mexico.   Due to the low quality of the bituminous coal from the Eagle Pass Mine, it has to be mixed with higher quality coal from Wyoming and Mexican mines to be abled to burn in the Carbon I and II electricity plants.

Although Eagle Pass and Maverick County residents in opposition to the controversial Eagle Pass Mine are disappointed by the Supreme Court of Texas refusal to hear their appeal,  they stated that they will continue to oppose and fight the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership open surface coal mine and protect the community from potential contamination of its water and air arising from the Eagle Pass Mine.