Cement maker Texas Industries Inc which was playing beat-the-clock with new
air pollution rules, may have lost. However, Texas officials said they
aren’t sure, setting up a possible legal standoff with the US Environmental
Protection Agency.
The Dallas-based company wants to turn off some pollution controls on its
Midlothian plant for half of the year, arguing that they cost too much and
work poorly. But EPA officials say that could happen only if the company got
a permit change before June 15, when tougher rules take effect in Ellis
County. That deadline won’t be met, Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality spokeswoman Adria Dawidczik said Thursday. Work on the permit was
not finished in time to put the item on the agency commissioners’ agenda for
Wednesday, the last meeting before June 15.
TXI spokesman Randy Jones said earlier that the company would have to submit
another permit application if it didn’t get its new permit by June 15.
