Live Oak Forest Near Hill Country Could Soon Be Sacrificed to Frack-Sand Mining, Residents Fight Back

By Olka Forster

UPDATE (May 2017): In a rare move by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Atascosa County community members were granted a public meeting on the planned frac sand mining operation in which they asked questions and voiced their concerns to the regulatory body. "The meeting was supposed to focus on air-quality concerns, but residents also asked multiple questions about water protection, with the proposed processing site sitting near the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer recharge zone." The company seeking to build the sand mining operation has postponed the start of construction and is expected to present residents with a complete plan of their operation in the coming weeks.

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In northern Atascosa County, just a few miles south of San Antonio, sits 2,000 acres of beautiful ancient oak tree forest. The area has a very delicate and unique ecosystem, from being a sensitive recharge zone for the Carrizo/Wilcox Aquifer, to also being one of the last great oak tree belts in the area. The live oak forest is replete with fauna that is unique to this place. The forest separates the Texas Hill Country in the north and the chaparral brush country of the south and, because of this, is rich in acorn production which in turn sustains large populations of quail, turkey, and whitetail deer. They also have bobcats, breeding populations of kangaroo rats, and other endangered species such as the Texas tortoise and indigo snake. It is also on top of the historic 1813 Battle of Medina battlefield site. 

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The self described rural residents of Atascosa County are finding themselves in a story that is as old as Texas itself; a struggle for the land. Most of the families that live here consist of stay-at-home wives and mothers, teachers, cattle ranchers, farmers, and horse enthusiasts/trainers. The rest are retired couples looking for a quiet and peaceful place to enjoy nature and a safe place to bring their grandchildren.

Now, a large frack-sand mining operation and processing plant has come to town and it has set its sights on their small community. The Steele family, who are local residents, say that the company seeking to mine, Sand Mining of Texas, has been quietly putting six month contracts on thousands of acres for the last year. 

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For the next 20 years, the company, according to their TCEQ air permit (144604), could produce an average 400 tons per hour of sand that has been cleaned and coated with chemicals. If they were to use industrial trucks (also mentioned in the TCEQ permit) to transport that sand, the family estimates that they could run up to 400 trucks a day to transport their product. To get this done they have tried to entice county officials with the prospect of jobs and revenue and have hired a high profile lobbyist. Frack-sand mining is a relatively new type of industry in Texas and has hardly any regulations. In a lot of ways this operation is a test case that might pave the way for how the rest of Texas will be impacted in the future if more of these frack-sand mines are opened. 

The Steele family says, “we have contacted the print press and the local news stations and some have been helpful but we feel we are losing this battle. The company will bulldoze 2,000 acres of beautiful oak trees and use holding ponds to dump chemically laced water from its operations, which borders a runoff creek. This a disaster in the making for about 80 families and the environment.”

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The Steeles say that the plant could pump about one million gallons a day from the aquifer, which, to their family, means that all the small private wells that people rely on for their water could run dry very quickly. They say that one of the biggest concerns from residents is breathing the silica dust, as the wind in south Texas blows constantly, and they have children coming on and off school buses within feet of where this plant is going to be. 

The residents have now organized in an attempt to try and halt the mining operation and processing plant. They have a Facebook page call Not Just Dust - Bruce Rd and have hired a law firm out of Austin to help them stop this company from getting permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  

Currently the status of the air permit at TCEQ is that it is now active, despite the large number of letters (200+) that have been sent by families in the area who are contesting the placement of the mine. They have a few state officials and county officials involved in trying to help but with the lack of regulation and, generally, industry (ahem...money) friendly state regulatory bodies, the Steele family worries about going against a company said to be investing up to $75 million in the project.

“Our property along with many of our surrounding neighbors have ponds, which provide aquatic ecosystems throughout the area, which sustain vast populations of various water fowl and other migratory birds,” said the Steel Family member. “We also have many species of birds of prey and songbirds that use this area for nesting. Their claims of reclamation are a joke and the trees will be bulldozed and lost forever.“

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She continued, “There is plenty of land with our type of sand in this area that is sparsely populated, areas of basically cattle pasture; we ask if there has to be a mine why would they choose to locate one in the worst possible location that will damage the delicate environment here and the health of the people? The answer we have found is that this land was cheaper for them to put contracts on, because it did not have readily accessible access to a highway system.”

The amount of diverse wildlife and quality of life that could be damaged as a result of this project is truly heartbreaking. Share and help the Steele family get the word out.