January 24, 2018
Texas

Air permit could signal arrival of more wind turbines

Shane Ersland | Jan 23, 2018 | www.mysoutex.com

GREGORY – Residents could see more wind turbines built in the area following a company’s recent request for an air permit.

Van Eaton Ready Mix – an Oklahoma company – submitted a request for an air permit for a temporary concrete batch plant to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Dec. 20, 2017. If the permit is granted, Van Eaton will install a mobile unit for a short-term project that would assist a company in building wind turbines.

Van Eaton’s site would be located on County Road 85, approximately 1.3 miles from the U.S. Highway 181 intersection. Van Eaton’s mobile units produce concrete for wind turbine bases, Haley Cox – who works in the company’s payroll department – said.

“The companies we work for tell us where they need us to be,” Cox said.

Units typically employ 10-18 workers, Cox said. Positions include drivers, batch managers, quality-control workers and safety employees.

Van Eaton would not be at the location long.

“It will be less than a year,” Cox said. “Maybe less than six months.”

The Van Eaton site is located outside city limits, so city officials have not been involved with any negotiations with the company, Gregory Mayor Celestino Zambrano said. The city’s involvement in any possible business relationship with the company would only arise if Van Eaton requested to use the city’s water, Zambrano said.

Andrew Keese – a media relations specialist for TCEQ – said the technical review of Van Eaton’s application is complete, and TCEQ sent a request for the applicant to publish a public notice Jan. 4.

“The applicant has 30 days upon receipt of the notice to publish,” Keese said. “TCEQ has not yet received verification that the publication has been completed.”

A 30-day notice period will begin on the first day the public notice is published. If no comments, contested case hearing requests or public meeting requests are received as a result of the public notice, the application will be recommended for issuance after the comment period has closed.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/01/24/air-permit-could-signal-arrival-of-more-wind-turbines/