Concrete batch plant proposed near preserve

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 3/11/21

Bell Concrete of Sulphur Springs has proposed to build a permanent concrete batch plant on Loop 564 south of Mineola.

The location is adjacent to County Road 2724, which leads to the entrance of the Mineola Nature Preserve and is across the road from city property that houses the wastewater treatment plant and part of the nature preserve.

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Concrete batch plant proposed near preserve

Posted

Bell Concrete of Sulphur Springs has proposed to build a permanent concrete batch plant on Loop 564 south of Mineola.

The location is adjacent to County Road 2724, which leads to the entrance of the Mineola Nature Preserve and is across the road from city property that houses the wastewater treatment plant and part of the nature preserve.

The land for the proposed plant is outside the city limits, but there is a city sewer line easement that runs through the property. Nothing can be built on top of or within 20 feet of that easement, according to city officials.

The city’s zoning ordinances apparently have no impact on the proposed business, as it does not fall under subdivision guidelines.

At least one Mineola resident plans to see what can be done to fight the location.

The proposal came to light with the publication of a required notice for an air quality permit through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in the Monitor March 4.

City officials said there has been no request for city water from the owners of the proposed plant.

According to the TCEQ, it receives the most questions about smaller plants authorized under the Concrete Batch Plant Standard Permit. For these plants, the concrete mix is usually fed with water into a concrete truck. The truck finishes mixing the wet concrete on its way to a construction site.

These plants have:

• One or more silos to hold the cement – and sometimes a silo for cement supplement, too.

• A large drum raised high in the air. These drums usually look like a big square funnel on stilts, high enough for a concrete truck to park beneath it.

• Piles of sand and gravel.

• Conveyors to feed the cement, sand and gravel to their silos or to the mixing drum.

• Roads on the property for the concrete trucks – and for the trucks that deliver the sand, gravel and cement, too.

The silos are the tallest part – sometimes as tall as 40 feet.

With the roads, structures and piles of sand and gravel, the whole plant would fit on about five residential lots. But this size can vary.

What will this permit do?

The cement used in a concrete batch plant is naturally dusty. When the raw materials are delivered and when they are mixed, there is a chance that dust emissions can occur on site or potentially leave the property. To limit this, TCEQ developed specific requirements for concrete batch plants to follow under the standard permit.

Whenever there is dust, TCEQ is also concerned about very small forms of dust – particles small enough to get past the body’s protections and into airways and lungs. Even though very little of the dust from cement is that small, the measures called for by the standard permit also prevent this smaller dust from blowing off the property.

The standard permit requires the plant operators to control dust these ways:

• Keep the cement in completely enclosed silos.

• Keep the mixing equipment, stockpiles and silos away from the property lines.

• Add cartridge or bag filters to the silos, so the air that is pushed out when they are filled doesn’t carry dust with it.

• Enclose the cement conveyor belts, so dust doesn’t blow away as the cement is moved to the silos or mixing drum.

• Use filters called baghouses where the concrete is mixed and where it is dropped into the trucks. Like large vacuum cleaners, these filters suck the dust out of the air before it can blow away.

• Spray down the plant roads and stockpiles.

• Take other measures when needed to minimize dust from other sources.

By obtaining this permit, the owners and operators of the concrete batch plant agree to follow its requirements.

Concrete batch plants might be noisy or increase traffic. TCEQ does not have jurisdiction to consider these issues when approving a permit.