EP comments deadline nears

Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District held a public information meeting on Electro Purification’s permit request at the Wimberley Community Center to a packed house of more than 500 people.

The district reviewed the aspects of the permit. The permit will be phased in over a period of time half a million gallons at a time. Electro Purification will have to prove that there are no negative impacts on surrounding wells before additional phases will be allowed.

The permit also requires a compliance monitoring plan, impact avoidance plan and a mitigation plan.

Public comments on the permit are required by June 25. To make a comment or request a contested case, email [email protected] or by mail at 1124 Regal Row, Austin, TX 78748.

There are three ways the permit can make it before the BSEACD Board of Directors. If the permit is not contested, it will go before the board as is. A representative of BSEACD said during the meeting “you can forget about that. We will have a contested case.”

There are two types of contested cases. If a person or entity requests a contested case in front of the State Office of Administrative Hearing, the board of directors is required to granted as long as the entity requesting can pay for the cost of the proceedings. A contested case at SOAH would be expected to start the process in September or October but could be an extended process from there.

If no SOAH request is made, a contested case could go before the Board of Directors. This version of a contested case would begin by August 23. The board will determine who is partied to the proceedings and then set a schedule.

“With the amount of interest in this, I presume that will take a little while,” a BSEACD representative said.

For more information on how to file a request for a contested case, visit www.bseacd.org/2017/07/ep_productionapp/