Court of Appeals to Hear Oral Arguments on Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Appeal of Water Discharge Permit Denial

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2019

The Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas announced that it will hear the oral arguments on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 1:30 P.M. of Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) appeal of the denial of a water discharge permit renewal to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership by Travis County 250th Judicial District Judge Tim Sulak on October 27, 2017 in Austin, Texas.

Both Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and TCEQ appealed District Judge Tim Sulak’s denial of the renewal and extension of a water discharge permit of coal mining wastewater from the controversial Eagle Pass Mine (open surface coal mine) located a few miles north of the City of Eagle Pass, Texas into the Elm Creek and other adjacent creeks and then into the Rio Grande River.

In addition to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and TCEQ appeal, the City of Eagle Pass, the Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, Maverick County, the Environmental Defense Fund, and local farmers and ranchers also appealed certain legal issues that were affirmed by District Judge Tim Sulak in his October 27, 2017 Final Judgment.

The Oral Arguments will be heard at the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas before a three judge panel composed of Justices Melissa Goodwin, Thomas J. Baker, and Gisela D. Triana.  The Oral Arguments are open to the public and there is no admission fee for attending them.

Local governmental entities such as the City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County and farmers and ranchers have opposed the granting of renewal and extension permits to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership continued operation of its open surface coal mine known as the Eagle Pass Mine near FM 1588 (Thompson Road) just a few miles outside the City limits of Eagle Pass in northern Maverick County, Texas.

Opponents contend that the controversial Eagle Pass Mine contaminates and pollutes the sole potable water source, the Rio Grande River, of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico by discharging toxic and hazardous chemicals known to be carcinogenic agents into the Rio Grande at approximately one to two miles upstream from both the Cities of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico municipal water treatment plants, affecting over 310,000 people on the United States-Mexico border as well as others residing downstream of Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership denies the allegations of opponents.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership exports the coal that it extracts from its Eagle Pass Mine to Nava, Coahuila, Mexico to be burned in the Mexican government-owned coal electricity plants known as Carbon I and II, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has documented that it pollutes the Big Bend National Park, the State of Texas, and southwestern and central United States.  The EPA has noted that air pollution from the Mexican coal electricity plants of Carbon I and II affects the public health of Americans.

In addition to this appeal, Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is currently applying to renew and extend its Railroad Commission of Texas permit to operate an open surface coal mine in Eagle Pass and Maverick County for an additional five year period.  A public hearing regarding this second permit by the Railroad Commission of Texas to operate the controversial coal mine will be held in the near future in Eagle Pass for citizens to make public comments regarding Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s application to renew and extend its permit to operate the open surface coal mine for another five years.