Eagle Pass City Council approves Appeal of Two Dos Republicas Coal Partnership Coal Mine Cases to Texas Supreme Court

By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016

The City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Council approved to file appeals of two different cases concerning the controversial Dos Republicas Coal Partnership “Eagle Pass Mine” at their Special Meeting held on Tuesday, September 13, 2016, at City Hall, 100 South Monroe Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas.

The Eagle Pass City Council approved to file and join the Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association and the Environmental Defense Fund in appealing the adverse decision of the 13th Texas Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi, Texas that Maverick County Judge David Saucedo as Flood Plain Administrator of Maverick County and as the County Judge of Maverick County Commissioners Court did not have the authority to deny Dos Republicas Coal Partnership a construction permit over the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Flood Zone in the densely populated Elm Creek with the Texas Supreme Court in Austin, Texas.

Councilman Luis E. Sifuentes made the motion and Councilwoman Yolanda Ramon seconded the motion followed by a unanimous approval by the City Council.

Eagle Pass City Attorney Heriberto Morales of Langley & Banack stated that Attorney Adam Friedman with the Environmental Defense Fund and Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association noted that the appeal costs and attorney’s fees will be borne by the national environmental litigation non-profit group of Environmental Defense Fund as the City of Eagle Pass’ participation is important in an appeal before the Texas Supreme Court.  Morales added that the City of Eagle Pass’ legal costs and attorney’s fees will be completely covered by the Environmental Defense Fund.

In a second case involving an appeal of a controversial decision by the 261st District Court and affirmed by the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas approving the faulty permit process of the Railroad Commission of Texas concerning the granting of a coal mining permit to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership for operating an open surface coal mine known as “Eagle Pass Mine” in northern Maverick County within the City of Eagle Pass’ extraterritorial jurisdiction, the Eagle Pass City Council approved to file Legal Briefs before the Texas Supreme Court challenging the grant of the coal mining permit by the Republican-led and industry friendly Railroad Commission of Texas to foreign-owned Dos Republicas Coal Partnership at a cost not to exceed $20,000 to City taxpayers.

Councilman Luis E. Sifuentes made the motion while Councilwoman Yolanda Ramon seconded it followed by unanimous approval by the City Council.

The City of Eagle Pass continues to oppose the granting of a permit to operate an open surface coal mine by the Railroad Commission of Texas to Mexican-owned Dos Republicas Coal Partnership in northern Maverick County on the banks of Elm Creek, a direct water tributary of the Rio Grande River, in a densely populated area only three miles or less of the City of Eagle Pass City Limits.  The City of Eagle Pass opposition is based on the discharge of coal mining waste and water into Elm Creek only one or two miles upstream of the City’s municipal water treatment plant on the Rio Grande, endangering the sole source of potable water to over 60,000 Maverick Countians.  Although the City of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico is not a party to the legal battle in Texas, its municipal water treatment plant is also on the Rio Grande and supplies potable water for over 250,000 residents and faces similar contamination of its water supply from Dos Republicas Coal Partnership’s Eagle Pass Mine.

Another state permit currently on appeal is the granting of a permit by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to Dos Republicas Coal Partnership to discharge its coal mining waste and water into Elm Creek and the Rio Grande, however, this appeal was not on the Eagle Pass City Council agenda at its September 13th special meeting.

The potential environmental catastrophe faced by Eagle Pass and Maverick County residents is very real and genuine and is compounded by the operation of a second open surface coal mine by the parent company of Dos Republicas Coal Partnership , Minera del Norte, S.A. De C. V.(MINOSA), known as “Tajo Norte” or “Siglo XXI” on the banks of the Rio Grande in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico even closer to both Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila municipal water treatment plants, approximately only one-quarter of a mile to one mile from both water plants immediately opposite of northern Eagle Pass City Limits.  The two open surface coal mines in Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras, Coahuila on the U.S.-Mexico border and banks of the Rio Grande or its tributaries poses a serious risk of contamination of the sole potable water source to over 310,000 residents of both cities as well as over three million downstream residents of the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley.

In addition to the opposition against the Dos Republicas coal mine by the City of Eagle Pass, Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association,  and the Environmental Defense Fund, the County of Maverick, Maverick County Hospital District, Eagle Pass Independent School District, Eagle Pass Water Works and Sewer System, the Paquache Clan of the Coahuitecan. Tribe of Texas, and other local organizations oppose the controversial Dos Republicas coal mine and have approved resolutions in opposition.  Over 8,000 citizens of Maverick County signed a petition opposing the controversial Dos Republicas open surface coal mine in Eagle Pass.  The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas once vehemently opposed the Dos Republicas coal mine, but surreptitiously withdrew its opposition after holding secret meetings with representatives of the coal mine and being given a private tour of a Mexican open surface coal mine.

Only the Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce and the Maverick County Development Corporation Board of Directors approved resolutions in favor of the controversial Dos Republicas coal mine known as “Eagle Pass Mine” without doing a formal survey of its members.  The Eagle Pass Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors recently were given a private tour of the controversial Dos Repbulicas coal mine,  while the Maverick County Development Corporation Board of Directors received a private tour of the “Tajo Norte” open surface coal mine in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico a few years ago.

Dos Republicas Coal Partnership exports the low quality bituminous coal from the Eagle Pass Mine via railroad to Mexico for burning at the Mexican-government owned coal generated electricity power plants known as Carbon I and II located at Rio Escondido, Coahuila,, Mexico only  a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)) has reported as being two of the largest air polluters in the United States, including the Big Bend National Park, for generation of electricity for Mexico.

U.S. Government agencies such as the EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior, FEMA, International Boundary and Water Commission, HUD, MSHA, OSHA, Department of Homeland Security, U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Commission, NAD Bank, and others have not taken an interest in reviewing and scrutinizing the controversial coal mine’s compliance with federal laws and regulations.
One concerned Eagle Pass citizen suggested that the development of economic projects on the U.S.-Mexico border and their potential environmental impact should be a topic for debate in the current U.S. Presidential Election similar to Immigration Reform.