Going Mainstream: River Pollution Saga Increasingly an Election Issue for State House and Judge Candidates

State Rep. Stan Kitzman defended his decision to withdraw his request for a public hearing over LCRA’s request to reduce pollution reporting requirements at the Fayette Power Project.

Following Kitzman’s withdrawal, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) closed the public comment period and decided there would be no public hearing on the matter.

That decision was a big topic of discussion at the Fayette County Republican Party Candidate Forum in Flatonia on Saturday. Kitzman’s Republican opponent in the primary election, Dennis Geesaman, called for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to reconsider the matter. Each of the four candidates for Fayette County Judge who spoke at the forum criticized the lack of transparency.

In an interview with the Record after the forum, Kitzman said holding a hearing on LCRA’s permit application would have given a platform to far-left environmental activists who want to shut down the plant.

“We need every kilowatt we can get in,” Kitzman said. It was a point he stressed repeatedly on Saturday.

The controversy began last summer when the Lower Colorado River Authority petitioned the TCEQ to reduce certain reporting requirements for industrial wastewater discharges from the coal-fired power plant, especially in regard to selenium. At high enough levels, selenium can be toxic to humans and wildlife, especially aquatic life. Discharges from the power plant flow into Cedar Creek and eventually the Colorado River.

The Fayette County Record reported on LCRA’s permit application last summer. After our reporting, 23 citizens submitted public comments to the TCEQ requesting a public hearing on the matter, including Fayette County Judge Dan Mueller. Rep. Kitzman also sent a letter to TCEQ citing the concerns from citizens and calling for a public hearing.

In his letter, Kitzman stated that, “My constituents have expressed deep concern and a strong desire for transparency and public engagement in the decision-making process.”

But then two weeks later Kitzman withdrew his request for a hearing. At the forum on Saturday, moderator Steven Harker asked Kitzman and Geesaman what steps they would take to allow the citizens’ concerns to be heard.

Geesaman responded first. “You mentioned 23 people that requested a public hearing,” Geesaman said. “I was one of those 23. So from my position, not as an elected official, I’ve already been pushing for it. And I’ve already been talking to another individual who’s looking at applying for an appeal to that process. So I support it. The whole idea that somehow we’re living in a political environment of transparency is just blown up by this.”

Kitzman responded by saying citizens had the opportunity to express their concerns during the public comment period.

“That permitting process is part of the standard TCEQ policy. Public comment was available. We need to renew the permit on the power plant. We need every kilowatt we can get. And the impact of that power plant on not only taxes, but jobs in Fayette County, is humongous. One of the issues with these public hearings is the far left. The leftists like to hijack those meetings and the permitting process. Either it costs the power company – which means you – a huge amount of money, or at best deny the permit. And Texas needs every kilowatt it can get. TCEQ has the policies in place. We as citizens have the ability to comment on that, and that’s where it stands.”

After the forum, the Record asked Kitzman why he initially called for a public hearing but then withdrew it.

“The more I contemplated that, and I’ve seen it before, I know there’s honest intentions by the citizens, but the drive for that is put out in the community by these groups for them to try to get rid of the power plant,” Kitzman said. “I’ve seen it in Fort Bend County. I believe that to be true in Fayette County. Our intelligence on that was that it was not going to be a good meeting.”

As far as we can tell, the Record is the only media outlet reporting on LCRA’s permit amendment request. No one from any environmental group has contacted us about this story, nor have we reached out to any environmental groups. Kitzman described LCRA’s application to amend their wastewater permit as “a normal renewal.”

“The power plant has been there, and it may not have much life left in it,” he said. “Right now, Texas needs every kilowatt it can get.”

Earlier in the forum, the County Judge candidates were asked, if elected, what they would do to allow citizens’ concerns about the power plant to be heard. Mike Zweschper responded first.

“Last night, after reading the Fayette County Record, I actually drafted a letter to the TCEQ and I have it with me today. So anybody that feels inclined to sign the petition, please let me know.”

Zweschper’s petition asks the TCEQ to reopen the case for more public participation.

“The LCRA has been under permit for some time now,” Zweschper said. “They’ve been meeting the requirements. They have a right to ask for those requirements to be lessened or vacated. But as citizens, we have a right to understand why it has done so in layman’s terms.”

William Bernsen said he would organize a public meeting for citizens to voice their concerns and bring a resolution before Commissioners Court for consideration.

“And then you can apply political pressure to your state representatives,” he said.

Josh Homan said he would speak to leaders of the counties downstream from here.

“If the Fayette power plant is putting selenium or increased levels of chemicals into the Colorado River, it does affect Fayette county for a time,” Homan said. “But then it’s going to move down the river and follow the course of the river all the way to its ultimate end. So it’s really not just a Fayette County issue. It’s a regional issue.

“So with that in mind, that’s where not only do we need to go advocate in Austin, but we need to go advocate for the county with our neighbors,” he added. “And I believe that there would be ears that would probably be interested in listening if that was done.”

Josh Vandever had some strong words to say about the matter.

“I’ll start by saying that the silence from our state senator and state representative on this issue is deafening,” Vandever said He noted that TCEQ cited “a lack of significant public interest” as their reason for denying the public meeting.

“I think the fact that we heard of this in two of the county-wide candidate forums means that there’s significant public interest,” Vandever said. “I don’t buy it. I think there’s something bigger here. I think there’s something far more sinister. When our state representative filed a request for a public hearing and pulled it, someone talked to him. And it had to have been someone with some leverage of power.”

Last week, one of the property owners who lives along Cedar Creek called the Record. She said cattle drink out of the creek, and that the water normally appears clear and clean. But when the creek rises after heavy rains, the water sometimes turns black in color and other times cloudy. She wonders whether those changes are from coal pile or ash pile runoff at the plant. She said she understood Kitzman’s concern about far-left groups “hijacking” a public meeting about the power plant. However, she asked if TCEQ could hold a private meeting with property owners who live along the creek.

After the forum, the Record posed her question to Kitzman.

“It’s a little difficult for a state representative to get involved,” Kitzman said. “I can’t order TCEQ to do anything. I can’t make them go against what their normal regulations are. Their policies and procedures come from the executive branch and state law and regulations. They’re complying with those. The environmentalists would try to stop every permit. That’s their mission right now.”

The Record also asked Kitzman a broader question about the future of the power plant. Massive trains of coal from Wyoming travel through Fayette County to fuel the 1,615 megawatt power plant. Meanwhile, Texas, including Fayette County, sits on top of so much natural gas that it’s often burned off at oil well sites as a waste product. Natural gas doesn’t create a mountain of toxic ash when it burns. Is it time for old coal power plants like the Fayette Power Project to transition to gas?

“Engineering-wise, I don’t know if that’s practical,” Kitzman said. “Certainly, we need to be switching Texas to more natural gas. Building large power plants is very difficult. The average time now is over two years, with the federal permitting that’s involved. So bringing that online to that scale is hard. But building these small dispatchable natural gas plants and even nuclear, that is going to be very exciting.”