Click the link below to read the editorial which was in last weeks newspaper about the Public Meeting with TCEQ and ArchRay.
http://www.pedernalesriveralliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ArchRay-Editorial-8.21.24-2.pdf
Public Meeting with TCEQ and Arch Ray Developers
Friends,
I am posting this on the website because you, gentle reader, are a vital member of the Pedernales River Alliance and right now, we need you.
TCEQ has scheduled a meeting on ArchRay’s request for a permit to dump 35,000 gal of treated wastewater into the Pedernales every day. If you have not already submitted your comments online, please do so now. If you have learned how detrimental treated wastewater is to Hill Country Rivers, including the Pedernales River, and want to make comments, please do so.
Here is how to make Comments to TCEQ:
Enter this permit #WQ0005452000Fill in your personal informationEnter your comments or questions regarding this permit in the Comments blockSubmit
Mark your calendars, The Public Meeting will be held on
Monday, August 19, 2024 at 7:00p
Rockbox Theater
109N. Llano Street
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
After introductions, you may ask the developers or TCEQ any question. Please note, if you have already asked your questions in your online comments, it is not necessary to ask them again as all online questions will be answered offline via USPS. However, if you feel that your question(s) is important enough to ask it in this public forum, do so. During this part of the meeting you may also make comments to describe what the Pedernales River means to you. Please limit your questions and comments to this permit. This is an open discussion time with the developers and TCEQ. Note: comments or questions made during this first period are not for the record.
Please plan to stay for the second half of the meeting, which is very important. Any questions or comments you have not submitted online can be asked for the record during this time. It is vital that we get your unasked questions and comments recorded. If you are unable to stay, please consider writing your comments and questions down and submitting them for the record.
The Pedernales River is a direct recharge zone for the aquifer that provides drinking water to most of Gillespie County. No treated wastewater is fit to drink. Help us protect our drinking water and our river.
Regards,
Deb
P.S. Please share this message with others who care about clean drinking water.
Citizens Stand Up & Speak Up for the Pedernales River
On Jun 13, 2024, a large crowd of Gillespie County citizens showed up to ask questions and make comments to Developers of the Village – Fredericksburg (formerly known as the Village at Grape Creek) and TCEQ. The Village has applied for a permit to pollute – to dump 20,000 gallons of treated wastewater into Beckman Branch (just west of Jenschke Lane off Hwy 290.)
It was clear that no citizens present in the room were supportive of the permit. Many were angry at the thought the dumping that would be approved by the permit. Some concerns were odor, pollution of the aquifers, pollution of local wells, the density of the development, noise, flooding potential, and more. Many cited the years and generations of their families who have lived on the Pedernales River and the importance of the River to them.
As expected, there were two opportunities to speak. The first was supposed to last for 1 hour but went well over. During the first comment time, people lined up to speak. It was an informal time when they could ask questions of the Developers or TCEQ. During this Informal time, the Developers or TCEQ attempted to answer questions. During the second time, Formal Comments were recorded for the record. TCEQ or the Developer will formally respond in writing via US post to each comment/question that was submitted.
Now that the formal comment time has expired, all comments/questions that were submitted online or by fax or mail or during the Formal Comment period at this meeting, will be answered. Upon answering these questions, TCEQ will make the decision to approve or disapprove the permit. We hope that the permit will be disapproved or that the Developers will decide to drop this permit in exchange for a No Discharge Permit. Until we hear one way or another, we wait.
Thank-you for caring enough to show up and speak up. Please continue to conserve water as we are still in drought conditions, pick up trash along roads and at river crossings. Take good care of the Pedernales River – there is non other like it.