TCEQ dismisses mayor’s claim of fraud

Allegations from Wimberley Mayor Susan Jaggers that the city and or council members committed fraud have been looked into and dismissed by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality.

Jaggers recently alleged that the city had illegally submitted “fraudulent” information to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality in an application to extend a discharge permit for the wastewater treatment facility at Blue Hole. She noted multiple issues that she claimed were missing or misleading, and stated that she would be referring the issue to authorities for criminal prosecution.

On Monday, TCEQ said they had looked into the allegations and have closed the case.

“TCEQ was contacted by Wimberley’s mayor regarding her concerns about a fraudulent application,” Marty Otero, with TCEQ Media Relations, said. “However, TCEQ did not find a basis to investigate that claim further.”

Additionally, the TCEQ and a former longtime TCEQ employee have said that it is common for permit applications to be incomplete or need revisions when initially submitted, which is the reason applications go through a review process.

Robert Tinstman previously worked for 21 years with the TCEQ eventually rising to the title of Team Leader for water and wastewater operator licensing. His first year and a half at the TCEQ was spent reviewing permit applications, which is the process Wimberley’s application is currently going through. Tinstman now lives in the Wimberley Valley.

“It is common for there to be errors or omissions in these applications, and the agency is very slow to assume malicious intent unlike some folks here in Wimberley,” Tinstman said.

Jaggers has previously stated that the application was submitted without any pollutant analysis of treated effluent, that there was misleading information about the final phase of the project, that there was no closure plan for the existing plant in the plans as well as no information on grit disposal and grease and decant liquid disposal.

On Monday, the city received a letter from TCEQ stating that the application was under review and noted two issues that needed to be fixed. One issue was increasing the size of a map that was included. The other stated that the pollutant analysis needed to be more thorough.

According to Otero, with TCEQ Media Relations, “Applications for wastewater permits are divided into an Administrative Report and Technical Report. The administrative review is conducted on the Administrative Report that contains basic information primarily about the applicant and the facility that will be permitted. The application is considered administratively complete when all of the information in the Administrative Report is complete.”

When asked if the TCEQ felt that submitting inaccurate information on the application was a criminal offense or if applicants were allowed to correct any issues found with the permit, Otero stated, “Applicants are typically given the opportunity to correct the information.” She also said, “If the Administrative Report has deficiencies, TCEQ will contact the applicant and request that additional information be provided. It is common for TCEQ to contact the applicant to obtain additional information for the Administrative Report.”

Tinstman said, in his experience, it was very common.

“The applications often come in with items missing, and in fact it was very rare for an application to come in and be complete,” Tinstman said. “In almost all cases there were omissions or errors that had to be corrected. Usually the technical errors are found by the permit engineers (in the Technical Review) and they work with the applicant. The administrative review is done as a first pass to make sure the permit is in a form ready for the permit engineer.”

One of the entities Jaggers stated she would report the issue to was the Hays County District Attorney’s Office.

“I am aware of the allegation but my office does not typically investigate those type of things,” Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau said. “I know she has said that she has reported that to other (agencies)… I do not have personnel that are actively investigating that.”

Mau said that he had spoken to the mayor on the topic, but the District Attorney’s office does not investigate in this type of situation. He said if other agencies investigated the issue they would have to submit the investigation to him before he would be involved in the process.

Jaggers also said she would contact the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Water Development Board in addition to the TCEQ and District Attorney.

The TWDB said they were informed by Jaggers of the allegations but that “TCEQ, not the TWDB, would be the state agency to investigate allegations if they deemed it necessary,” according to Chief Communications Officer Merry Klonower.

The EPA did not respond by the time of press as to if they are investigating the allegations.