U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold Regional Environmental Impact Statement Public Hearing on Eagle Pass Coal Mine

By: Jose G. Landa
Copyright 2013 Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth, Texas District, is holding a Regional Environmental Impact Statement (REIS) Public Hearing regarding Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, at 4 P.M.-7 P.M., at the Uvalde County Fairplex Event Center, located at 122 Veterans Lane, in Uvalde, Texas 78801. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regional Environmental Impact Statement Public Hearing is open to the public and admission is free.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regional Environmental Impact Statement analyzes potential impacts within certain geographic regions in Texas, including Eagle Pass and Maverick County, that may be affected by future surface coal and lignite mine expansions within the Fort Worth District’s area of responsibility. The Regional Environmental Impact Statement analyzes the potential future direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to waters of the United States, including Elm Creek and Rio Grande River, and all other relevant environmental and human resources, and will facilitate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers formulation of a categorized permit process under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).

A Regional Environmental Impact Statement is required to be prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because surface coal and lignite mining projects such as Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine typically conduct work that results in impacts to waters of the United States. Such work requires permitting under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and for projects affecting navigable waters, permitting under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1989, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is undertaking the Regional Environmental Impact Statement to make the NEPA aspect of the USACE’s Section 404/10 permitting processes more efficient through the development of information, data, and analysis to be used in 404(b)(1) guidelines and public interest review analyses for potential future source coal and lignite mine expansions in Texas, including Eagle Pass and Maverick County.

The Railroad Commission of Texas approved on January 29, 2013 in a controversial split 2-1 vote Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine Permit 42-B to build and operate an open surface coal mine in northern Eagle Pass, about 3 miles from the City limits, on the banks of Elm Creek near FM 1588 (Thompson Road) on approximately 6,700 acres, discharging their coal mining waste on Elm Creek and Rio Grande River just one or two miles upstream of both the City of Eagle Pass, Texas and City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico municipal water treatment plants on the Rio Grande River. The Railroad Commission of Texas approval of Dos Republicas Coal Partnerhip’s permit to open the Eagle Pass Mine is currently on appeal before a State District Court in Austin, Travis County, Texas with a projected trial date in late February 2014. The City of Eagle Pass, County of Maverick, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, and George Baxter are appealing the Railroad Commission of Texas’ controversial decision. The Office of the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot represents the Railroad Commission of Texas while Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its affiliates are represented by private law firms.

What is most startling fact in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Notice of the Regional Environmental Impact Statement Public Hearing is that Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is requesting the USACE to expand its approximate 6,700 acres permit to 25,000 acres of anticipated requests for future authorizations, an area four times larger than its permit, indicating that the proposed Eagle Pass Mine is expected to grow and expand its operations for many years to come including up to 252,300 acres in the Study Area. Dos Republicas Coal Partnership and its representatives were asked at the Railroad Commission of Texas public hearings during 2012-2013 to indicate its future plans for the Eagle Pass Mine and refused to answer these line of questioning. Thus the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers REIS Public Hearing Notice is the first time that citizens of Eagle Pass and Maverick County, as well as local public governmental entities, are learning just how big the proposed Eagle Pass Mine is projected to be, which may stretch from Thompson Road to the east towards Highway 57 and to the west close to the Rio Grande River and north to the Kinney County line and south close to Veterans Boulevard in Eagle Pass. An open surface coal mine as large as proposed by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership may be operational for up to 18-20 years in the community.

Any citizen, entity, organization, or group are welcomed to attend the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regional Environmental Impact Statement Public Hearing and speak and/or present written comments regarding their personal or group comments concerning the environmental impact of the proposed Dos Republicas Coal Partnerhip’s Eagle Pass Mine on Elm Creek, Rio Grande River, and the community in the future. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers REIS Public Hearing is on Tuesday, December 3rd, from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M., at the Uvalde County Fairplex Event Center, located at 122 Veterans Lane, Uvalde, Texas 78801, west of Uvalde on Highway 90.

For more information, please contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at (830) 591-9040.