Dos Republicas Coal Partnership seeks to amend Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
Dos Republicas Coal Partnership, which operates the open surface coal mine known as the Eagle Pass Mine, has applied with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Austin, Texas to amend Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) Permit WQ0003511000 (EPA I.D. No. TX 0109011) to authorize an increase in the coal mining acreage, the addition of sedimentation ponds and outfalls, the addition of effluent limitations, and the removal of certain outfalls which TCEQ previously granted Dos Republicas.
According to the TCEQ Amended Notice of Receipt of Application and Intent to Obtain Water Quality Permit Amendment mailed to Maverick County citizens and governmental entities, the discharges will “consist of stormwater runoff, mine pit water and a minor contribution of facilities water collected, treated, and discharged on an intermittent and flow variable basis.” The TCEQ Amended Notice further states that “the discharge route is from the mine area to unnamed ditches; thence to Elm Creek; thence to the Rio Grande Below Amistad Reservoir.” In other words, the water discharges will be from the open surface coal mine site located approximately three miles from the City of Eagle Pass city limits to certain unnamed ditches then into Elm Creek and eventually into the Rio Grande River, just a mile or so upstream from both the City of Eagle Pass, Texas and the City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico water treatment plants on the Rio Grande River.
TCEQ received Dos Republicas application for an amended permit on September 5, 2013. A copy of Dos Republicas application for the amended TPDES permit is available for viewing and copying at the Maverick County Courthouse at County Clerk Sara Montemayor’s office, located at 500 Quarry Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas.
TCEQ’s Executive Director has determined Dos Republicas application is administratively complete and will conduct a technical review of the application. After the technical review of the application is complete, the TCEQ Executive Director may prepare a draft permit and will issue a preliminary decision on the application. Notice of the Application and Premliminary Decision will be published and mailed to those who are on the county-wide mailing list and those who are on the mailing list for this application. That Notice will contain the deadline for submitting public comments.
Any person, organization, business, or governmental entity may submit public comments and request a public meeting on Dos Republicas application. The purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comments or ask questions about the application. TCEQ will hold a public meeting if the Executive Director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or if requested by a LOCAL LEGISLATOR. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing.
After the deadline for submitting public comments, the TCEQ Executive Director will consider all timely comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. Unless the application is referred to a contested case hearing, the TCEQ’s Executive Director response to comments and decision on the application will be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments and those persons who are on the mailing list for this new Dos Republicas application. If comments are received, the mailing will also provide instructions for requesting reconsideration of the Executive Director’s decision and how to request a contested case hearing. A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court.
Anyone requesting a contested case hearing must request it in writing and include your name, address, telephone number, Dos Republica Coal Partnership’s name as the applicant, the proposed permit number WQ0003511000, the location and distance of your property and/or activities relative to the Eagle Pass Mine, a specific description of how you would be adversely affected by the Eagle Pass Mine in a way not common to the general public, and the statement that “I/WE REQUEST A CONTESTED CASE HEARING.”
If a request for contested case hearing is filed on behalf of a group or association, the request must designate the group’s representative for receiving future correspondence, identify an individual member of the group who would be adversely affected by the Eagle Pass Mine, provide the information discussed above regarding the affected member’s location and distance from the Eagle Pass Mine or activity, explain how and why the member(s) wold be affected, and explain how the interests the group seeks to protect are relevant to the group’s purpose.
Following the close of all applicable comment and request for contested case periods, the TCEQ Executive Director will forward the application and any requests for reconsideration or for a contested case hearing to the TCEQ Board of Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled Commission meeting.
TCEQ will only grant a contested case hearing on disputed issues of fact that are relevant and material to the Commission’s decision on the application. Further, the Commission will only grant a hearing on issues that were raised in timely filed comments that were not subsequently withdrawn.
Anyone submitting written public comments and/or request for a contested case hearing will be added to Dos Republicas application and receive future public notices regarding this application.
To submit written comments and request a contested case hearing regarding Dos Republicas’ application for an amended TPDES permit, please submit your written comments and requests for contested case hearing to: Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 105, TCEQ, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087 or electronically at: www.tceq.texas.gov/about/comments.html.
Anyone needing more information about Dos Republicas permit application or the permitting process, please call TCEQ Public Education Program at 1-800-687-4040.
The City of Eagle Pass, County of Maverick, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, and George Baxter are currently appealing the Railroad Commission of Texas permit to Dos Republicas to operate the open surface coal mine known as the Eagle Pass Mine before the 126th Judicial District Court in Austin, Texas and a final hearing is scheduled for February 25th. A decision is expected during mid-March 2014. After the 126th District Court’s decision, any party may appeal to the state Court of Appeals in Travis County, Texas in Austin.
Meanwhile, TCEQ will go forward reviewing Dos Republicas’ application to amend its TPDES permit to discharge open pit water and stormwaters into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River. Initially, TCEQ had granted Dos Republicas a water discharge permit for approximately 2,700 acres but since Dos Republicas expanded the permit area to approximately 6,700 acres before the Railroad Commission of Texas, Dos Republicas now seeks to amend its TPDES water discharge permit to include the approximate 6,700 acres permitted by the Texas Railroad Commission. The larger the acreage of the Eagle Pass Mine, the larger the water discharge into the Elm Creek and the Rio Grande River just upstream from both the Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila municipal water treatment plants.
