Challenging the Permitting Record of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Allyn West reports on the environmental problems created by concrete batch plants, and the residential neighborhoods dealing with the consequences.

The scene for this environmental justice drama is Harris County, Texas, where the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has granted 188 concrete plants the permits to operate, mostly in unincorporated parts of the county like Aldine, where eight concrete plants are currently operating. In Aldine, at least, local residents have scored a pair of recent victories to keep new concrete plants out.

"Though they produce one of the ubiquitous materials of cities, the concrete we pour for everything from sidewalks to stormwater pipes to skyscrapers, the unique combination of Houston’s lack of zoning, the region’s relentless outward growth and an overly permissive state environmental agency means that too many concrete batch plants are making it too hard to breathe," according to West.

This environmental justice issue has roots in the racist land use controls of the past, according to West. "Because land has been cheapened by redlining, disinvestment, restrictive covenants and environmental racism, polluters concentrate unevenly across the region, often intentionally in communities of color and low wealth, compounding other issues and creating entrenched disparities, almost all of which are being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Those who are exposed the most to pollution are the least responsible for it."

From the experiences of the community in Aldine, however, a model for resistance to the permissiveness of the TCEQ has emerged.