TCEQ PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING HONEY CREEK MUD PERMIT — Bulverde Spring Branch Back Porch News
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) held an on-line Public Meeting on the Honey Creek MUD (Silesia Properties LP of San Antonio) Proposed Permit in June. If authorized the permit allows disposal of treated domestic wastewater at a daily average flow not to exceed 365,000 gallons per day via public access subsurface area drip dispersal system with a minimum area of 84 acres. This permit will not authorize a discharge of pollutants into waters in the State.
The wastewater treatment facility and disposal site will be located at 26226 West State Highway 46 in the City of Spring Branch. The wastewater treatment facility and disposal site will be located in the drainage basin of Guadalupe River above Canyon Lake in Segment No. 1806 of the Guadalupe River Basin.
This Public Hearing is the final deadline for a Formal Comment period. The process going forward is that TCEQ will consider all formal comments made at this Public Hearing and those received via email and mail. A response will take several months and a decision will go out to all those who have provided their addresses. Once commenters are notified, there is a thirty-day period in which citizens may request a contested hearing.
Eighteen people spoke during the Formal Comment period. Several property owners in the area of Honey Creek spoke out as well as cavers, geoscientists and long-time residents from surrounding areas. Representatives from various organizations spoke out as well: Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, Texas Cave Management System, Sabar Springs Alliance, Bexar Audubon Society, League of Women Voters and the National Cave Commission.
The comments reflected the general theme that the TCEQ should not grant the permit – that the development would cause catastrophic damage to the area. Most commenters stated that the high density development would generate so much wastewater and runoff that the Honey Creek cave and water system (which is over 21.5 miles long), the Guadalupe River in the State Park, wells and the aquifers below ground in the area would be contaminated.
Even though some revisions were made in the developer’s application, those revisions would still not protect the environment according to those opposing the permit. Comments were made that the eighteen-inch ground cover of soil and non-indigenous Bermuda grasses wouldn’t be enough to keep the already saturated ground from seeping into the groundwater during heavy rainfall and overall climate change. Plus Bermuda grass is not native to this area, is invasive and the soil brought in could contain contaminants. With the huge amount of impervious cover, the affluent drainage would be devastating to the clear, pristine waterways. Several people mentioned the fact that the TCEQ seems to rubber stamp all applications even after presentation of valid reasons for not granting the permits in environmentally sensitive areas. One resident used the situation with the Johnson Ranch MUD and the issues that is causing. Another called for heavy monitoring and inspection protocols.
The permit application, Executive Director’s preliminary decision, and draft permit are available for viewing and copying at the Mammen Family Public Library. Further information may also be obtained from Silesia Properties, LP in San Antonio.
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