HOUSTON – Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee, along with local elected officials and community leaders, provided an update to an application for the construction of a rock and concrete-crushing facility adjacent to Harris Health’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.
Menefee was joined by Sen. Borris Miles and Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, president and CEO of Harris Health System in a news conference Friday.
Menefee announced that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved a permit for a concrete crushing facility to be built near LBJ Hospital. The action has prompted legal action from Harris County officials.
“Why is this bad? Well folks, this is common sense, right?” Menefee said. “You don’t put a facility that crushes concrete that pollutes the air just across the street from a hospital, so we’re saying no to pushing pollution on our patients. We’re saying no to pushing concrete on folks who are vulnerable here in our community and we’re standing up to these facilities being hyper-concentrated in neighborhoods that are underserved and have Black and Brown folks who live in them.”
According to Menefee, TCEQ’s process of approving the permit was “sham.”
“More than 660 comments were filed related to this permit application,” Menefee explained. “That’s much higher than we normally see, yet somehow the TCEQ is able to make its way through each and every one of those comments in just over 30 days.”
Menefee said Harris County officials made it clear that LBJ Hospital is also a “place of worship” for patients. The county plans to file a motion to overturn with the TCEQ commissioners. Lone Star Legal Aid will join the county in the effort.
However, Menefee says the motion will likely be unsuccessful.
“And the reason is because the initial decision is made by the executive director of the TCEQ but the motion for overturning is decided by the TCEQ commissioners and I think that those folks have shown us time and time again that they stand for industry and not for the people,” he said. "
Menefee said that “if and when” the motion fails, county officials will be in conversation with Harris Health about taking legal action to ensure that the interests of the hospital and community “are protected.”
The proposed site is less than 500 yards from the hospital and a few feet away from the Bayou walking trials. It’s less than two miles from Kashmere Gardens Elementary School and residential communities.
Sen. Miles released the following statement on the permit approval:
“Yesterday, my office was informed that Texas Coastal Materials has been given a permit to build a concrete crusher right next to LBJ Hospital. This battle is not over and I will continue to fight the construction and operation of this polluting facility.
“Last month, I joined hundreds of community members, medical professionals from LBJ Hospital and environmental advocates to voice our strong opposition to Texas Coastal Material’s air permit application. This plant will threaten the health of patients and staff at LBJ, many of whom are already suffering from serious health issues. Senate District 13 is plagued by the legacy of environmental racism with polluters in their midst that have poisoned the air and water and created a cancer cluster just a few miles from here. TCEQ and its leadership must stop rubber-stamping these facilities and end its cozy relationship with the industries that allow these facilities to grow unchecked in minority communities.
“Harris County voters just approved a $2.5 billion bond to fund a new Level 1 trauma center at LBJ, as well as updating and expanding the hospital. The voters have shown their strong commitment to LBJ, we can’t let polluters threaten that community investment.
“I plan on filing a Motion to Overturn TCEQ’s decision. This rock crushing facility will be located within 440 yards of LBJ Hospital, which is home to a chapel that hosts services and is a major teaching hospital. State law does not allow crushers to be built that close to a place of worship or a school.
“I will never stop fighting against facilities like these and will continue to file legislation to address concrete batch plants and the cumulative effects of pollution so that we can end the locating of these facilities in our neighborhoods. This community should no longer have to suffer from the environmental racism that has been a scourge of our neighborhoods for decades.”