Crying foul

Homeowners and business representatives are raising a stink about Granbury’s planned new wastewater treatment facility in the eastern part of the city.

They have been scrambling to submit statements to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in hopes that the permit will be denied.

However, they may be misguided in their hope that the state agency’s agreement to continue accepting comments might have any effect.

According to Granbury Public Information Officer Alex Southern, as of late Monday the city had received no indication from TCEQ that it had extended its “official” comment period, which closed June 11.

“That doesn’t mean people still can’t send in concerns/ complaints/issues to TCEQ; it just means the OFFICIAL period ended on June 11,” Southern stated in an email to the HCN.

As of Monday morning, 346 people had signed a petition in hopes of convincing the city to move the plant further north, according to Dr. Victoria Calder, who said she is the “multineighborhood point of contact” for those who stand to be most impacted.

Mallard Pointe, Bentwater, Ashley Oaks and the new Highland Park are among neighborhoods in the vicinity of the planned sewer plant.

If plans are scrapped for the location at 3121 Old Granbury Road, it will mean that the city has flushed money it spent on an environmental study and other related costs after having taken steps to notify the public in advance, city officials said.

“As a matter of procedure, the city respectfully considers each citizen’s feedback we receive on any topic brought forth to the public,” Southern stated. “However, in this case we barely received any response in the several months’ timeframe that it was open for public comment and input.” Mayor Nin Hulett said that

Mayor Nin Hulett said that “everybody agrees” that the growing city needs another wastewater treatment plant, but he indicated that most people prefer that such facilities be built in someone else’s neighborhood.

“There’s never a good place for one,” he said Monday when contacted by the HCN about the blowback from citizens.

The parcel of land in the eastern part of the county was available for sale, Hulett said, which meant that no one’s land had to be sacrificed for the city’s needs.

Also, he noted, the parcel has desirable topography. Wastewater will be discharged by way of gravity rather than the city having to build a costly lift station that could break down and cause sewage to spill.

But opponents say that the facility will discharge up to 2 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into narrow, winding Rucker Creek, where it will then flow to the deeper parts of the Brazos River. People swim, fish, kayak and engage in other water sports on Rucker Creek.

There are fears that foul odors may impact tourism and property values, Calder said, and some are concerned that the discharged wastewater could result in fish-killing golden algae.

Many of the homes in the impacted area have boat docks and are retirement investments, Calder noted.

She said that opponents have formed a group called “Granbury Fresh” and have turned to state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, and state Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, for help in fighting City Hall. She said it was Lang who succeeded in getting TCEQ to extend the public comment period.

Once the new wastewater treatment plant comes in, many homeowners will not feel safe letting their children or grandchildren swim in Rucker Creek, Calder stated. Some have said there was “no way” they would have purchased homes in that area had they known the city would build a sewer plant there, she said.

But Southern said that the nearest home to the planned discharge point is more than a mile downstream.

“And the city will be using the most state-of-the-art (wastewater treatment) technique at the new plant, Membrane Bioreactor (or MBR) and will also be converting the old (wastewater treatment) plant to this new technology,” Southern stated in an email to the HCN.

He continued, “The water discharged from both plants will be of better quality than the ‘fresh water’ found in Lake Granbury. Even the water discharged from the current WWT plant is so clean that Harbor Lakes Golf Club uses it to irrigate their course.”

The “old” wastewater treatment plant is practically within spitting distance of Hulett’s home in Harbor Lakes, and he’s fine with that.

Hulett said that the city spent more than $1 million to upgrade the aging facility and it is “pretty much odor free.” He indicated that he hardly even notices that it’s there.

ECONOMIC CONCERNS

Calder and others aren’t just concerned about homeowners; they’re also worried about the economic impact on businesses.

“The odor is going to drive some folks out of business,” she said.

Calder is particularly concerned about sewer stench possibly reaching businesses at the H-E-B/Kroger intersection as well as places such as Grump’s Burgers and Bennett’s RV Ranch.

A letter to businesses signed by Calder and dated June 14 stated, “Impacts from the Sewage Plant include noxious odors, typically described as rotten egg, rotten food, ammonia, etc., which are produced by ALL Sewage Plants.”

The letter further stated, “The pollution from this facility may also pose health risks (eye irritation, headaches, allergies, etc.), to you and your customers. Sewage Plants attracts flies, roaches, and rats who may spread bacteria and contaminants in the area, including your business location. Noise and light pollution may further impact your revenue.”

INFORMING THE PUBLIC

There is disagreement about whether the public was properly notified, particularly those who stand to be most affected by the new plant.

Calder, who lives in Mallard Pointe, said she didn’t know about the city’s plans until she heard a rumor at a party. She indicated that efforts to obtain documents from the city were hindered during the COVID-19 shutdown when some city employees were working from home.

Calder stated that “a mixup or misstep” by the city may have resulted in names being removed from a certified mail notification list.

Southern detailed several ways in which he said the city made its plans publicly known.

He said that plans to purchase the land for a wastewater treatment facility were announced in an open City Council meeting.

“Once the parcel was selected, we went back before the public in open council and announced where the land was and how much was spent purchasing it,” he said.

Southern also stated that two ads were placed in the HCN as well as in the Spanish-language newspaper La Prensa Communidad, “but we received no feedback.” Ads were placed in both newspapers last November and in May, he said.

Calder said that those who oppose the wastewater treatment plant want an in-person public hearing but are fearful that officials will move the meeting online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the homeowners impacted by the plant are senior citizens who would not know how to participate in a Zoom meeting or take part in any kind of online engagement, she said.

Hulett said that an inperson public hearing will be scheduled as long as COVID-19 numbers don’t spike to such an extent that another shutdown occurs. He said that the meeting will likely be scheduled after the November elections “to leave politics out of it.”

According to Calder, those who want to submit comments to the TCEQ about Permit #WQ0015821001 can find guidance on how to do so at https://law.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2019/01/2017-EC-EnviroPublicParticipation-Guide.pdf. See pages 50-53.

Calder can be reached at vlcalder@aol.com.

kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258

‘The water discharged from both plants will be of better quality than the ‘fresh water’ found in Lake Granbury.’

Alex Southern, Granbury public information officer