Sen. Kirk Watson and Rep. John Cyrier have joined the Bastrop County Commissioners Court and Bastrop school district in calling for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to deny a permit to locate a waste transfer station on Texas 21 near its intersection with FM 812 in Cedar Creek.

Lealco, a subsidiary of Waste Connections, is proposing to build a waste transfer station that will take up to 2,500 tons of trash per day from local garbage collection sites and reorganize it on larger trucks before taking it to the landfill.

It is estimated the facility could have about 300 garbage trucks coming through its doors daily, creating a dangerous intersection at Texas 21 and FM 812, which is a few hundred yards away, Bastrop commissioners said in a resolution approved earlier this month opposing the project.

Watson and Cyrier said in an Oct. 20 joint letter to TCEQ obtained by the Advertiser that Lealco’s proposed project raises many concerns, "including a potentially negative and dangerous impact on local traffic, an odor nuisance as the building is only partially enclosed, and particularly troubling is the location of the proposed facility being in the 100-year floodplain."

The 2017 Hazuz map provided by the Capital Area Council of Governments and the 2011 Bastrop County Interim Feasibility Study for Cedar Creek show much of Lealco’s property and part of the facility is located within the 100-year floodplain.

The 2006 Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate Map does not show the facility and access road within the 100-year floodplain, however, the state legislators are asking TCEQ to weigh the updated CAPCOG maps and Bastrop County study in its decision to deny or approve Lealco’s permit.

TCEQ typically uses FEMA maps when evaluation applications but the state agency has said it will consider other factors including the new Hazus data when evaluating Lealco’s application.

Bastrop County has suffered five federally-declared disasters caused by flooding since May 2015. During heavy rain events, Texas 21 and FM 812 have been closed due to high water. Officials have raised concerns about the potential of having the waste station property — which sits on Cedar Creek, a major tributary to the Colorado River – flood, causing trash debris to float into and pollute the creek.

CAPCOG’s Executive Committee on Oct. 11 approved sending TCEQ a statement of non-conformance with the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan and recommended denial of Lealco’s registration application.

Chris Ruane, Waste Connections’ representative for the waste transfer station, said Wednesday he would not comment on the project "based on the intensity of it and how it has evolved."

Future school site

The waste transfer station is being proposed across the street from a 100-acre lot owned by the Bastrop school district, which has proposed building a school on the site in the future to address growing enrollment.

"The possibility of that site being a possible future high school with student drivers is a concern," district spokeswoman Kristi Lee said at a school board meeting this month where trustees approved a resolution opposing Lealco’s project.

The resolution said the proposed facility’s commercial truck traffic creates an unnecessary safety hazard that could result in traffic-related injuries and deaths near a future school site.

"Our concern isn’t so much the type of business they want to run there but the traffic that will be generated," Superintendent Steve Murray said during the board meeting.

School board president Ashley Mutschink not only was traffic a concern but also the condition of the roadway and the odor that would be generated by the waste facility.

In a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation, Watson and Cyrier request the state traffic agency conduct a traffic impact analysis of the waste transfer station’s location.

Lealco has stated it’s working with TxDOT regarding potential road improvements to Texas 21 as it relates to the proposed entrance to the waste station. Lealco has said it has a traffic consultant preparing a traffic impact analysis to address TxDOT’s comments regarding a striping plan for Texas 21, a signal warrant study for the proposed entrance intersection at the waste station, and whether there is a need for turn lanes into the property.

The state legislators, however, want TxDOT to conduct its own study.

"Should a TIA (traffic impact analysis) be performed by anyone other than TxDOT, I strong urge that TxDOT scrutinize that analysis carefully as it would its own to ensure the results are not biased toward any particular party and provide the public with a report of that analysis," Watson and Cyrier said.

Homeowners in Cedar Creek have voiced strong opposition to the waste transfer station and in a public meeting held by TCEQ in September, more than 125 residents spoke for nearly three hours about their concerns with Lealco’s proposal, including increased traffic, odor pollution and potential environmental hazards.

"I attended the meeting at Cedar Creek High School and was proud of our citizens for focusing their comments on legitimate concerns of safety, flooding and traffic impacts," Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said. "I’ve met with property owners who are concerned about negative impacts on their health and real estate values. Almost everyone understands the need for waste transfer stations, but agrees that this is not an appropriate place for one."