State of Texas denies Maverick County’s Application for Disaster Relief due to October 8, 2015 flooding
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2015
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Division of Emergency Management notified Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo that Maverick County’s Application for Disaster Relief due to the October 8, 2015 flooding caused by over 12 inches of rain during a 24 hour period was denied because “the impact from this event does not meet the requirements for federal grant assistance. The response appears to be within the combined capabilities of the local governments,’ said W. Nimm Kidd, Assistant Director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
Over 370 Maverick County real property residents were adversely affected by the October 8, 2015 fl00ding and will now have to look to the City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County government officials to provide them with assistance to recover from their flooding damages to both personal and real properties.
The only bright news came from the United States Small Business Administration which found Maverick County small businesses affected by the October 8, 2015 flooding eligible to apply for loans to repair and/or replace the damages to their businesses.
The ravaging flash flooding of October 8, 2015 also caused a large fish kill of hundreds of fish from Elm Creek and adajacent ponds for unknown reasons which did bring representatives from the U.S. Environamental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Commission on Environamental Quality (TCEQ) to test the water quality since the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership mega open surface coal mine is only about one-half mile upstream of Elm Creek, discharging its stormwaters and coal mining waste waters into Elm Creek as previously permitted by TCEQ despite the overwhelming opposition of local governmental entities and citizens.
Dos Republicas Coal Partnership is seeking to amend, renew, and expand its TCEQ water discharging permit from its current 2,700 acres to the newly expanded 6,300 plus acres of the Eagle Pass Mine. The City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, the Paquache Clan of the Texas Coahuiltecan Tribe, and local farmers, ranchers, and residents oppose this renewal and expansion of Dos Republicas Coal Partnership water discharge permit by TCEQ. A contested administrative hearing is scheduled to be heard on November 16, 2015 in Ausitin, Texas for this permit renewal and expansion. The public hearing is open to the public.
