Maverick County Precinct 3 - Two decades after the first salvos were fired, a bitter battle over a plan to mine millions of tons of low-quality coal in Maverick County to be burned in smog-producing Mexican power plants will resume next week. On Monday, an examiner for the Texas Railroad Commission will begin hearing evidence on an application by Dos Republicas Coal Partnership, a company owned by Mexican industrialists, to operate a large strip mine just north of Eagle Pass.
The company wants to extract as much as 2.8 million tons of coal a year, for as long as 20 years, and ship it by rail through downtown Eagle Pass to federally owned power plants just outside Piedras Negras.
But as in the early 1990s when the mine was first proposed, there is broad opposition in Eagle Pass. Despite being a low-income border area with chronic high unemployment, the promise of several hundred new jobs has not eroded public sentiment. “My position is the same as from the beginning. No amount of jobs outweighs the health and welfare of our citizens,” said Maverick County Judge David Saucedo, who is expected to testify next week. The city, school district, hospital district, water authority and Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas also oppose it. More than 5,500 people have signed copies of a letter to the Railroad Commission, citing fears of pollution, coal dust and silica, and asking that the permit be denied. The letter closes with the statement: “All the coal from this mine will be shipped to Mexico, so it is of no benefit to Texans. Dos Republicas is owned by Mexican mining companies with very bad environmental records. Please do not endanger our health and safety for the benefit of these foreign corporations.” “We're going to submit them to the hearing officer. We want them to see the opposition from the general public,” said Jose Luis Rosales, a Maverick County commissioner who is also a leader of an environmental group formed to fight the mine. “I know these companies are very powerful at the state level, but we're very optimistic,” he added. Many years ago, a recommendation by the same hearing examiner to modify or deny the mining permit was overruled by the Railroad Commission. But because there was no market back then for the coal, which cannot be sold in the United States, mining never commenced.
In the ensuing years, the permit has survived legal challenges. The Railroad Commission now is being asked to renew and expand it to cover more than 6,400 acres. The commission staff already has determined that all technical requirements have been met. John Wilson, a lawyer representing Dos Republicas, did not return calls seeking comment. While some in the business community quietly favor the mine, the Chamber of Commerce has not taken a stand. Thus far, only the Maverick County Development Corporation has endorsed it. “We're completely in favor of any economic development in our community that is done the right way, and follows the rules and regulations, and we're in favor of that mine,” said local banker Hector Cerna, a member of the MCDC board.
Recently, Dos Republica's owners took some MCDC members on a tour of their mining operations in Mexico. The trip culminated with a lakeside dinner at what was once a strip mine. Werner Johnson, manager of Ancira Ford in Eagle Pass, said he was impressed. “I was pretty amazed at how clean and meticulous they were,” he said. “They built a 20-foot berm around the mine and planted grass and trees on it. You can't even tell there is coal mining going on there.” Johnson said he was confident that regulatory agencies in the United States would hold Dos Republicas to similarly high standards, and he favors the mine. “The community here is struggling in so many ways. We're at 13 to 14 percent unemployment. The county is in debt. This is the kind of project that could help,” he said.
Although Johnson's boss is South Texas auto magnate Ernesto Ancira, cousin to Alonso Ancira, one of Dos Repubica's owners, Johnson said his views are his own. “He's never asked me to promote it,” he said of Ernesto Ancira. But folks who live in the quiet, rural area around the mine are not appeased. Although public comment was taken this summer in Eagle Pass, many are disappointed that the upcoming hearings will be held in far-off Austin, despite requests to move them closer to home.
“I won't be able to attend. My husband is getting very aggressive chemotherapy and is almost bedridden,” said Rosie O'Donnell, 71, who lives near the mine site and has been fighting it for 20 years.
David Frederick, a lawyer representing Maverick County, said the interests that have driven the mine have had little to do with Texas or Maverick County, despite it being “sold as a job creator.”
“For the past 20 years, nothing has happened with this mine. It was always possible to get coal at a lower cost in Mexico,” he said. “I believe the principal reason for developing this mine is to have a bit of a hammer to keep the Mexican mining and transportation workers in line.
“I do not think it's likely for this mine to be developed if there is cheaper Mexican coal.”
Reprinted from Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Controversial-border-coal-mine-back-in-play-2759850.php#ixzz1kuHFgJm3