Comment to TCEQ

One of the best ways to OPPOSE the DUMP is by submitting your comments directly to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, either in person at the Public Meeting, August 11, or online on the TCEQ website. Our united outcry will not go unnoticed as the TCEQ commissioners decide whether to award a permit for this industrial toxic waste dump. If we stand tall and speak loudly, we can win this battle for our environment and our health.

Already, thousands of concerned citizens have signed CALL’s petition to OPPOSE the DUMP. And hundreds of public comments have been submitted online through TCEQ’s website.

We need hundreds of more comments before August 11.

We need to send a message to TCEQ, both at the August 11 Public Meeting AND online right now.

HOW TO COMMENT ONLINE:

Step 1:  Click here to go to the TCEQ website

Step 2: Enter “2374” in the box for “Permit Number”

Step 3: Submit your comment, up to 10,000 characters.  You may use or edit one of the samples below or compose your own comments.

Step 4: Please make sure you complete the form and click the “Submit to TCEQ” button toward the bottom of the page.  You may also file your public comments by mail, fax or deliver them in person.  All of those options are explained on the form.

SAMPLE COMMENTS FOR TCEQ:

Below, find five sample comments.  Please feel free to use any or all of them:

SAMPLE 1:

I am writing to request that the permit application for the PERC landfill be DENIED. If granted, the predominantly Hispanic, low-income communities of Webb County will bear a DISPROPORTIONATE share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial and commercial operations and the execution of state policies. As the appointed stewards of Texans and Texas’ natural resources, it is imperative that the TCEQ vigorously enforce the existing environmental, health, and civil rights laws in a NON-DISCRIMINATORY way.

SAMPLE 2:  

I am writing to request that the permit application for the PERC landfill be DENIED. It appears PERC and the TCEQ have been handling the application process in a manner that does not ensure Environmental Equity as recommended by the EPA. I believe the predominantly Hispanic, low income communities of Webb County have been DENIED PROCEDURAL EQUITY as a result of non-scientific and undemocratic decisions, exclusionary practices, the request by PERC that public hearings be held in remote locations, and use of English-only material as the language in which to communicate and conduct hearings for non-English- speaking publics.

SAMPLE 3:  

I am writing to request that the permit application for the PERC landfill be DENIED. I believe that the environmental and public health risks that would come with establishing a toxic facility of this magnitude – and the exacerbation of ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM that such a site would bring to our region – outweigh any type of benefit that our local community could be expected to receive.

SAMPLE 4:  

I am writing to request that the permit application for the PERC landfill be DENIED. I am gravely concerned about the public health risks that would come with establishing a toxic facility of this magnitude. Webb County is designated under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act as a Health Professional Shortage Area and is designated as a Medically Underserved Area. Importation of dangerously toxic coal ash to our county will undoubtedly result in increases in respiratory illnesses, cancer and other diseases that will strain our region’s Health Professionals even further.

SAMPLE 5:      

I am writing to request that the permit application for the PERC landfill be DENIED. As it is, the predominantly Hispanic, low-income communities of South Texas already bear a DISPROPORTIONATE share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from international industrial and commercial operations.  According to the TCEQ’s FY2014 Review, only 4 out of 198 active MSW Landfills in Texas reported accepting waste from Mexico: Del Rio LF, Laredo LF, Edinburg LF and Browsnville LF. With all 4 of these landfills located in predominantly Hispanic, low-income communities, it is clear that race continues to be a potent variable in explaining land use, commercial and industrial development and industrial facility siting.