Second Dos Republicas Coal Partnership Lawsuit against Maverick County to be heard March 13th

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2015, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

A second lawsuit filed by foreign-owned Dos Republicas Coal Partnership against Maverick County, Texas, Maverick County Commissioners Court, and Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo regarding the denial of a County Flood Plain Construction Permit by County Judge Saucedo acting as the County Flood Plain Administrator will be heard on Friday, March 13, 2015, at 1 P.M. before 365th Judicial District Court Judge Amado J. Abascal, III, at the historic Maverick County Courthouse, Second Floor, 501 Main Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas.

In an earlier lawsuit filed by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership against Maverick County and County Judge David R. Saucedo filed in the 293rd Judicial District Court before State District Judge Cynthia Muniz challenging the denial of the County Flood Plain Construction Permit, Judge Muniz denied Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s request for a Writ of Mandamus and declaratory relief after a contested case hearing heard on October 9, 2014 in Eagle Pass, Texas, giving Maverick County citizens their first legal victory over the multi-billion dollar foreign-owned coal mining company under the auspices of Grupo Acerero del Norte (Grupo GAN) of Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Dos Republicas Coal Partnership has filed an appeal of Judge Muniz’s decision to the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas and is currently pending.

In the second lawsuit pending before 365th Judicial District Judge Abascal, Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is seeking a declaratory judgment against Maverick County, Maverick County Commissioners Court, and Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo for arbitrarily denying their County Flood Plain Development Permit and are requesting damages, courts costs and expenses, and reasonable attorney’s fees from the Maverick County defendants.

The second Dos Republicas Coal Partnership lawsuit is scheduled for Pre-Trial Motions, including Motions for Summary Judgment filed by both Dos Republicas and Maverick County and other pre-trial matters.

The Eagle Pass Business Journal earlier reported the details of the two Dos Republicas Coal Partnership lawsuits against Maverick County and may be read and viewed in this website under the title: Dos Republicas Coal Partnership Sues Maverick County, County Judge, and Commissioners Court.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership received a permit from the Railroad Commission of Texas to construct and operate an open surface coal mine in Eagle Pass, Texas and several governmental entities and local citizens are appealing this permit before the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas which is still pending.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is a Texas limited partnership owned by two Texas limited liability corporations owned by the Mexican company known as Minera del Norte, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mexican coal, steel, and energy conglomerate of Grupo Acerero del Norte (Grupo GAN) of Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Dos Republicas seeks to extract low quality bituminous coal in Eagle Pass, Texas and transport it through railroad cars from Union Pacific Railroad to Nava, Coahuila, Mexico to the Mexican Government-owned twin coal generated electricity plants known as Carbon I and II, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has documented as being a major air polluter of the Big Bend National Park and the State of Texas.

In addition to the Eagle Pass Mine, Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Mexican parent company is already operating an open surface coal mine in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico on the banks of the Rio Grande River, opposite of Eagle Pass, Texas and Seco Mines area in Maverick County, Texas, known as the Tajo Norte, Tajo Zacatoza, and/or Tajo Siglo XXI. This Mexican open pit coal mine currently in operation is immediately on the banks of the Rio Grande River and extremely close to both the cities of Eagle Pass, Texas and its Mexican sister city, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, municipal water treatment plants. It is estimated that this Mexican open surface coal mine is approximately one-quarter to one-half mile from both municipal water treatment plants on the Rio Grande. In the event that Dos Republicas Coal Partnership should open its Eagle Pass Mine in Maverick County, Texas, it will provide Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Mexican parent company twin open surface coal mines at or near the delicate ecological Rio Grande River.

Both Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras rely on the Rio Grande River as their sole source of potable drinking water as well as over three million U.S.-Mexico border residents downstream from these two border cities.

The City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, the Paquache Clan of the Texas Coahuitecan Tribe, George Baxter, and local ranchers, farmers, and landowners oppose the opening of the Eagle Pass Mine in norther Maverick County, Texas within a densely populated residential area, including two public elementary schools and one pre-kindergarten and kindergarten operated by Teaching and Mentoring Communities (formerly Texas Migrant Council).

The March 13th Court hearing before Judge Abascal is open to the public.