Controversial mining plan for border advances

After two decades of intermittent regulatory and courtroom struggle, a controversial proposal to open a large, open-pit coal mine just north of Eagle Pass is moving closer to becoming a reality.

Despite broad local opposition to a mine project that dates to the 1970s, a hearing officer for the Texas Railroad Commission recently recommended that operators be permitted to extract more than 11 million tons of low-grade coal.

The commission is expected to rule on the matter in late January, and unless it denies Dos Republicas Coal Partnership a permit renewal, work at the 10-square-mile site will swiftly begin.

“Once the commission gives a final order, we can legally go forward,” said John Wilson, an Austin lawyer who represents Dos Republicas, an entity owned by Mexican industrialists.

The company expects to mine the coal for eight years.

“The preparation will take approximately a year, and most of the infrastructure will have to be in place before coal can be extracted and shipped,” he added.

Dos Republicas plans to sell coal mined in Maverick County to federal power plants outside of Piedras Negras, Mexico, that operate without pollution controls and cloud the view as far away as the Big Bend National Park.

The Nov. 15 recommendation by hearing examiner Marcy Spraggins came five months after the end of lengthy hearings in Austin. And, as had been the case in a public hearing last year in Eagle Pass, most speakers denounced the project.

Opponents include the city of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, the local hospital district, a local environmental coalition as well as various people who live near the mine site.

They’ve cited fears including air and water pollution, noise, heavy traffic and the destruction of a quiet rural area home to at least one endangered species, the jaguarundi.

Opponents, who gathered petitions containing more than 5,000 names, note the mine would be operating within a few miles of schools and subdivisions. And despite the recent setback, they say they aren’t throwing in the towel.

“We are not resigned to it. We’ll continue to oppose it here,” said George Baxter, a nearby resident who attended the hearings in Austin.

“We’re still hoping we can make a case to the commissioners before a final decision is made,” he added.

Maverick County Judge David Saucedo said the county’s opposition remains firm.

“We’re committed to this thing. We’re going to see it through. Retaining attorneys is costly, but we understand that we have to do what’s right for the citizens,” he said.

Saucedo said he expects to soon consult with the lawyers to explore legal options.

The city’s intentions are less clear. Eagle Pass Mayor Ramsey Cantu did not return calls about the issue, and city attorney Eddie Morales said he’s still awaiting instructions.

“The last marching orders we got were to defend this case and keep moving forward,” said Morales, who said he’s not certain the city will file any formal objections to the hearing examiner’s recommendation that a permit be issued.

But as history has shown, options for opponents are dwindling.

Although they can ask the Railroad Commission for a rehearing of an adverse ruling and even challenge it in district court, the legal outcome is at best uncertain.

An earlier marathon legal battle over a permit to mine coal on the site by a different applicant went all the way to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin, which ruled in favor of the applicants.

Even though those applicants never ended up mining any coal, the ruling kept the permitting process alive.

While not predicting what the commission will do, Wilson said his clients are on solid ground.

“The important thing is that all the protestants had a chance to put on their evidence and to critique the application of Dos Republicas, and when it was all considered, the hearing examiner said the application met all the statutory and regulatory requirements,” he said.

Some opponents have questioned the corporate character of the Mexican owners of Dos Republicas. The issue recently became more relevant when a former governor of Coahuila asserted that the Zetas criminal organization has infiltrated the local coal mining industry.

Other news accounts have described how the Zetas have made Coahuila their stronghold.

Wilson said he could provide no comment on the explosive claim made recently by former Coahuila Gov. Humberto Moreira, whose brother now is governor.

Moreira made the comments shortly after his son was killed in an apparent reprisal for the killing of the son of a Zetas leader. His claims about the Zetas’ links to the coal industry are being investigated by both federal and state authorities in Mexico, according to newspaper accounts.

“I have no facts, no knowledge about what happened in Mexico. I didn’t even know about the allegation,” Wilson said last week.

“In my mind, the mining in Mexico and in the U.S. are different. They are in different countries and regulated differently, so I don’t see the connection,” he added.

jmaccormack@express-news.net

Reprinted by permission of the San Antonio Express-News.