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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Clean Sweep
Two months ago, Fort Worth Weekly reported on rock quarry pollution that’s rapidly choking the Brazos River, destroying the waterway celebrated by Texas literary giant John Graves in his classic narrative Goodbye to a River. Thanks to a dogged band of airborne seniors who recruited billionaire neighbor Alice Walton to their cause, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality finally stepped in to tackle the river pollution problem.
By June, TCEQ had conducted a whirlwind tour of more than 300 hard rock mining operations around the state. Based on those visits, the state’s attorney general, Greg Abbott, has filed lawsuits against five North Texas mines. Three of the mines — in Tarrant, Kaufman, and Wise counties — were placed under temporary restraining orders. The companies must come up with a plan to curb their stormwater runoff to the Brazos, Trinity, and Sabine watersheds before they can resume operations. To Static, this unprecedented enforcement initiative is as refreshing as a canoe ride on a hot summer’s day.
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