Circuit Court Rules Against Residents In Texas Landfill Case

Date: July 31, 2003

Source: News Room

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a preliminary injunction imposed against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality prohibiting the agency from acting on TSP Development's application to build a landfill in Beach City. Last year, residents sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over constitutional violations, claiming there were no rules governing the permitting process for non-hazardous industrial solid waste landfills and therefore no way to formally oppose the process. But in the recent ruling, the appeals court ruled that the dispute is "abstract and hypothetical" because the TCEQ's permitting process has not run its course. Kingwood-based TSP Development applied for a permit in 1996 to construct the landfill in Beach City. The landfill would have a capacity of 23.9 million cubic yards that could handle up to 811,760 tons of industrial waste annually.
More information: www.tceq.state.tx.us.

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