Crowd protest landfills proposed site

By ALLEN ESSEX

Valley Morning Star

BROWNSVILLE, April 6, 2005 A crowd that spilled into the hall outside the Cameron County commissioners courtroom Tuesday demanded a stop to a proposed landfill project east of Los Fresnos by an Atlanta company.

Consolidated Waste Industries proposal to build a 350-acre landfill in the center of a 1,000 to 1,400-acre site north of Highway 100, was far more than the proposal company officials told him about in a recent visit to his office, County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa said.

I was not aware that (Consolidated) had tried to get a state permit, Hinojosa said.

The county will fight the plan to build a landfill near Los Fresnos, working through the courts and any other means at its disposal, Hinojosa and commissioners said.

The countys position is that, if anyone wants to put a landfill in Cameron County, unless they get full community support, the county will oppose it, Hinojosa said. I hope this message goes to the developers.

But Commissioners John Wood and Edna Tamayo cautioned that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, not the county, has the final say on whether a landfill permit is issued.

We understand that there is a need for people to dump their trash, and its got to go somewhere, but this is not a good place, Hinojosa said. Its not going to work there.

James Blackwell, president of BNC Engineering of Austin, the projects engineer, said he wanted to first gather information by having a soil-boring study performed, so he could provide answers to residents questions.

His engineering company is studying three possible sites, two in Cameron County, one in eastern Hidalgo County, he said.

Im not sure how the rumor got started that Im trying to shortchange, just push a permit through, but I assure you thats absolutely false, Blackwell said. His company always first studies technical issues of a proposed site, then deals with the social aspects, he said.

Precinct 3 Commissioner David Garza of San Benito said public outcry against the project has amazed him.

I have been inundated as of last Sunday with calls and e-mails, Garza said. Never in my life have I received that many e-mails in my county office.

Hinojosa suggested workshop meetings at a Los Fresnos school building, but residents at the meeting said there is no need of further discussion; they want the project stopped now, they said.

Hinojosa promised to put a resolution to that effect on next weeks meeting agenda for a vote.

Residents of Del Mar Heights are among those who are working against the landfill, said Del Mar Heights spokeswoman Rosa Silva.

She and other residents have a self-help program called Futuro del Mar and are addressing unhealthy conditions such as flooding, raw sewage, muddy roads and mosquitoes, she said. Building a landfill near their homes will ruin their efforts to improve their lives, she said.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Pete Benavides, Brownsville, marveled at the size of the crowd of angry residents demanding the project be stopped, he said.

In my eight and half years here, Ive never seen so many people in this room, he said.

Addressing Blackwell, Benavides said, If I were meeting such opposition, I think I would just go home.