Crowd fills Waskom City Hall in opposition of waste disposal site permit renewal

"McBride has not been a good neighbor. McBride's Waskom facility has over 60 violations on record with the Texas Railroad Commission," said one speaker.

Air quality, stormwater collection and groundwater contamination were the main topics of concern. Geoscientist Craig Kissock was donated most speakers' time to be able to address the council on McBride's many violations.

"Since opening in February of 2020, the violations have been excessive and most have been repetitive. McBride also constructed additional waste handling structures without any permits," said Kissock. 

McBride Operating sales and safety compliance officer James Stietenroth represented the company at the meeting. He told residents that the people researching McBride's past offenses are using outdated information. He asserts since he assumed his position in November that McBride has passed all inspections with the Texas Railroad Commission and has brought salt and chemical levels in water samples down. 

"A lot of the compliance issues were with the stormwater. We have also fixed our concrete by patching it as part of compliance with the Texas Railroad Commission. We also passed the TEQ, Texas environmental quality. Our water samples are going down, it's just a consistent day to day effort for us to comply with the Texas Railroad Commission," said Stietenroth. 

Attorney Josh Maness revealed the Texas Railroad Commission withdrew opposition from McBride's permit renewal at a meeting in Austin which lasted minutes. 

McBride will appear at a pre-hearing scheduled for September. 

Maness says the City Council may want to rethink its opposition letter due to the cost of lawyers specializing in Railroad Commission laws, and since the facility operates outside the city limits.

The council voted to table the discussion for 30 days and bring it back up at the meeting in August.