After Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council member Alan Blaylock publicly opposed plans for a concrete batch plant, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Jan. 26 that it would host a public meeting in the coming months.
The plant would be headed to a north Fort Worth property near homes and a future high school. If approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TOR Texas LLC’s plant would have permission to operate up to 24 hours per day and produce less than 100 cubic yards of concrete per hour. Tim Sansone, managing partner at TOR Texas, said the plant’s actual output will be much lower.
Following calls from concerned residents and conversations with city staff, Parker and Blaylock sent an opposition letter to the commission requesting a public meeting and an extension to a public comment deadline beyond Feb. 3.
“We’re just working on making sure that our constituency has an opportunity to actually hear about and express their concerns and thoughts on what’s being proposed there,” Blaylock, who represents the area, said by phone.
Within hours, Blaylock and Parker’s request was granted. Because state Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, filed a request for a public meeting, the commission will host a meeting that has yet to be scheduled, said commission spokeswoman Laura Lopez.
“The public comment period will be extended until the close of the public meeting once scheduled,” Lopez said by email. “Staff assigned to this project will review the comments submitted to ensure all standard permit requirements have been met.”
Parker’s opposition letter marks the second time in two months she has signed on to oppose a state air quality permit. In December, Parker joined City Council member Macy Hill in protesting a proposed recycling center near Lake Worth, citing concerns over air quality and traffic congestion.
Batch plant operator: Residents won’t ‘even know we are there’
The site, located at the intersection of Old Denton Road and Highway 170 in Fort Worth, is zoned for industrial use but is near apartments and single-family homes. A Northwest ISD high school is planned across the street from the proposed batch plant, Blaylock said.
TOR Texas LLC’s request already has preliminary approval from the state environmental commission’s executive director because it meets all applicable rules, according to a Jan. 4 permit notice. The company operates six facilities permitted by the commission and has always followed state environmental regulations, Sansone said.
Sansone doesn’t plan to build a massive batch plant on the site, which he said previously operated as a concrete batch plant. The facility will provide small amounts of concrete to residents who need it for household projects like sidewalks and landscaping, Sansone said.
Once completed, drivers won’t be able to see the plant from the highway, he said.
“Our goal is for them to not even know we are there,” he said.
If issued, the permit would permanently allow a concrete batch plant that is much larger than the one Sansone describes, Blaylock said.
“Their permit is scoped like they’re going to build a freeway,” Blaylock said.
Residents are concerned the plant will worsen air quality, Blaylock added. Operations at the plant would emit particulate matter into the air, though TOR Texas must meet requirements to pave and water roads to control dust kicked up by trucks and other activity.
Other residents in the Villages at Woodland Springs and Saratoga homeowners associations would prefer a different kind of development at the site, Rusty Fuller, president of the North Fort Worth Alliance, said.
“It’s just so strategically placed that putting a concrete plant there is the least favorable for the city,” Fuller said. “With a growing population in that area, that is the worst possible thing you could do with that property.”
Operator responds to concerns over application, operating hours
Beyond air quality issues, Blaylock and Parker’s letter includes eight other concerns with the plant’s permit application. They allege that TOR Texas LLC failed to include required information on pollution control equipment and did not make elements of the application available to the public.
TOR Texas LLC hired an outside company to file its application, Sansone said.
“My guess is that’s just the standard on all applications,” Sansone said, referring to the application’s request to produce a large amount of concrete.“They just do that. But our intent is not to put in some massive batch plant.”
Sansone also spoke with city staff who told him the land was zoned for industrial use and therefore compatible with operating a concrete batch plant. After Blaylock and Parker filed the opposition letter, he called both their offices but did not immediately hear back.
He hopes to assuage their concerns about the size and operating hours of the plant.
“I think all these things can be addressed,” Sansone said.
This will be Sansone’s — and Blaylock’s — first experience with the environmental commission public meeting process. Following the public meeting, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality staff will respond to all comments and send the application to the executive director.
Before the application receives final approval, people living within 440 yards of a proposed concrete batch plant can file for a contested case hearing, which is similar to a civil trial in state district court.
Fuller is not optimistic about turnout for the public meeting. But Schatzline said his constituents and parents of children who will attend the planned Northwest ISD high school deserve a chance to learn more about the project and its potential impact on student health before TOR Texas sets up shop.
“I’m not anti-industry, I’m not anti-concrete,” Schatzline said. “Ultimately, we just have to make sure that in every community, when things like this happen, we need to know how this is going to affect the community around it.”
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via X.
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