Maverick County Commissioners Court discuss options to appeal Texas Third Court of Appeals decision affirming Dos Republicas Coal Partnership Coal Mine Permit
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016
Maverick County Commissioners Court met on Tuesday, January 19, 2016, to discuss in Executive Session in consultation with Legal Counsel what options are available to Maverick County in appealing the Texas Third Court of Appeals decision affirming the controversial open surface coal mining permit issued by the Railroad Commission of Texas to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership in Eagle Pass, Texas, near the United States-Mexico border on the banks of Elm Creek, a direct water tributary which discharges its water into the Rio Grande River about one or two miles upstream of the City of Eagle Pass, Texas and City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico municipal water treatment plants.
The recent case concerning the contamination of the City of Flint, Michigan municipal water supply with lead raises a similar potential issue in Eagle Pass and Maverick County, Texas with the discharge of coal mining waste and storm waters discharged into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande upstream from both Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila’s municipal water treatment plants. Opponents of the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership open surface coal mine also express concerns regarding the potential contamination of downstream Texas-Mexico border communities’ water supply from the Eagle Pass Coal Mine.
During the meeting under Citizens Communication agenda, concerned members of the Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association addressed Commissioners Court and requested their continued support to continue the appellate process against the controversial open surface coal mine to the Texas Supreme Court in Austin, Texas.
Maverick County Commissioners Court went into Executive Session under agenda item No.1 to seek consultation from the County’s legal counsel on the issue. After the Executive Session, Commissioners Court returned into Open Session and took no action as the agenda did not call for any possible action to be taken at this meeting.
Commissioners Court is believed to have heard a presentation from legal counsel regarding the different legal options available to Maverick County regarding the Texas Third Court of Appeals decision affirming the Texas Railroad Commission’s open surface coal mining permit to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership.
Although no action was taken at this meeting, Commissioners Court may address this issue again in the immediate future at another meeting.
Maverick County, the City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, and George Baxter’s appeal of the Texas Railroad Commission’s issuance of an open coal mine permit to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership before the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas was denied as the appellate court found no reversible error made by the 261st Travis County District Court in affirming the Railroad Commission’s issuance of the open surface coal mining permit on January 29, 2013.
The local governmental entities, non-profit environmental group, and individuals are weighing their options whether to file an Application for Writ of Certiorari to the Texas Supreme Court (appeal) in Austin, Texas.
On December 29, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Third District of Texas in Austin, Texas denied the City of Eagle Pass, Texas, Maverick County, Maverick County Hospital District, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association, and George Baxter’s appeal of the Railroad Commission of Texas granting the application of Dos Republicas Coal Partnership for renewal, revision, and expansion of its surface coal mining and reclamation permit on January 29, 2013.
The Appellants appealed the 261st Travis County District Court’s affirmation of the Railroad Commission of Texas granting the open surface coal mining and reclamation permit to DRCP.
The Texas Third Court of Appeals decision of December 29, 2015 found that there was no reversible error in the 261st Travis County District Court’s judgment affirming the Railroad Commission of Texas permit to DRCP to open and operate a surface coal mine and reclamation permit on January 29, 2013.
All of the Appellants’ points of error were denied and found to have no reversible error, causing a setback to the Appellants’ opposition to the opening of the controversial open surface coal mine owned by DRCP, a Texas Partnership composed of two Texas Limited Liability Coporations who are owned by a Mexican subsidiary of Mexican steel and coal giant, Grupo Acerero del Norte, S.A., near the Rio Grande River on the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
Still pending is a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contested public hearing in April 2016 in Austin, Texas regarding an application to expand, renew, and revise Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s TSPDES Permit to discharge coal mining waste and storm waters into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande.