Under Much Pressure, TCEQ Grants Another Hearing on Blue Ridge Landfill Expansion!

A recent communication from the TCEQ stated that another public hearing has been granted and scheduled on permit number msw-1505A (Blue Ridge Landfill Proposed Expansion) for July 25th 2007 in Austin. This, after much pressure from a coalition of local homeowners from numerous East Fort Bend County, Harris County and West Brazoria County neighborhoods, several Houston T.V. stations and Brazoria municipal and county officials was applied starting in 2006 when the Blue Ridge Landfill near Fresno & Missouri City, TX applied for a permit to go well beyond the current allowable 55 foot limit to nearly 170+ feet.

This controversy has been followed extensively in the local and regional media with the most recent reports of causing potential harm to several counties weather watch system (doplar radar) if the project is allowed to continue. Fort Bend County commissioners and Missouri City officials/city council agreed, through contract with Allied Waste, the second largest waste management company in the U.S., to not oppose the expansion due to substantial tipping fees to both entities. Some have criticized this agreement and the elected officials allowing it. Additionally a significant Barium release, a highly toxic water soluble chemical, was reported released at the site in 2005, which complicated the matter for many local residents still on well water in the immediate area.

Stay tuned as MCC/CRD will continue to follow this ongoing story.

Additional Note: If you live in the Sienna Plantation community (SP Master MUD #1) you may want to check the most recent water reports on flouride levels (still in violation of TCEQ standards) which may pose a health risk to children, elderly and others in the community (Confirm this via TCEQ reports).


Get more on the contested hearing at:

http://cabrle.spaces.live.com/





(c) c.calvin 2007