Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sewer plant opponents say legal brief favors them

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As Granbury city officials and developers await a decision from the state on the city’s permit for a second wastewater treatment plant, opponents of the plant’s location are pointing to a document from the Office of the Public Interest Counsel as an indication of their possible impending victory.

Stacy Rist and Victoria Calder, both of whom are parties in the dispute, referenced the nine-page OPIC brief when they recently addressed the City Council.

Calder noted that the OPIC opinion “highly favors us.”

The document, filed with the State Office of Administrative Hearings, states that while the city met its burden of proof on 11 issues during three days of testimony in March, it failed to meet that burden on two points — and those failures are “a basis to deny the application.”

Under the Texas Water Code, the public interest counsel is an independent party to all proceedings of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TCEQ is the environmental agency for the state. It issues permits for wastewater treatment facilities.

The need for a second wastewater treatment plant, and the two-year delay caused by nearby residents and business owners who oppose the planned location at 3121 Old Granbury Road, caused the City Council last year to impose a development moratorium throughout the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The existing WWTP on Water’s Edge Drive will be at capacity when projects that have already been approved are brought to fruition.

According to City Manager Chris Coffman, the building ban is affecting about $250 million in economic development.

Opponents of the Old Granbury Road facility fear a number of negative impacts, including harm to the environment. Effluent will be discharged into Rucker Creek, which feeds into the Brazos River and Lake Granbury.

The TCEQ issued a draft permit for the WWTP in May 2020. City officials said they worked with the state agency throughout the process of preparing and submitting the paperwork.

After hearing from opponents, TCEQ commissioners sent the matter to SOAH for a contested case hearing. Such proceedings are similar to a case being heard in district court. Administrative law judges Sarah Starnes and Pratibha Shenoy are expected to soon submit a Proposal for Decision to TCEQ, but the commissioners are not required to adhere to the judges’ opinion.

On a list of items labeled A-M, OPIC, in a closing brief, found that the city did not meet its burden of proof for the items labeled G and I.

Item G states: “Whether the modeling complies with applicable regulations to ensure the draft permit is protective of water quality.”

Item I states: “Whether the nutrient limits in the draft permit comply with applicable Texas Surface Water Quality Standards.”

In reference to Item I, OPIC attorneys Vic McWherter and Garrett T. Arthur wrote, “OPIC appreciates and agrees with the addition of a total phosphorus limit, but the proposed limit is not low enough to prevent algae blooms caused by phosphorus in the discharge.”

The attorneys also wrote, “Given the recreational use of Rucker Creek Cove and the lack of mixing and dilution in the receiving water, it would have been more appropriate to consider the volume and surface area of Rucker Creek Cove instead of the entire Lake Granbury.”

In their conclusion, the attorneys wrote, “On Issue G, OPIC finds the modeling for dissolved oxygen does not comply with applicable regulations and does not ensure the draft permit is protective of water quality. On Issue I, we find the nutrient limits in the draft permit do not comply with the applicable Texas Surface Water Quality Standards. The City’s failure to meet its burden of proof on Issues G and I is a basis to deny the application.”

Jeff Newpher, the city’s communications manager, told the Hood County News that it would not be prudent for the city to comment on the matter.

A decision on the permit is expected sometime this summer or possibly early fall.