When the owner applied for a state permit that could pave the way for a subdivision, neighbors and environmentalists rallied against it in the name of protecting the area’s rivers and the Edwards Aquifer.
A truck drives by Doug Harrisons property in Comal County. Harrisons application for a wastewater treatment plant on his 500-plus-acre ranch in Comal County stirred controversy as residents have raised environmental concerns., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
The permit would allow 600,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day to be discharged into the west fork of Dry Comal Creek, which connects to the Comal and Guadalupe rivers — the most popular tubing destinations in the state. A cow and a calf walk on farmland near the Harrison property in Comal County about halfway between New Braunfels and Bulverde.People float down the Comal River on tubes in New Braunfels. Kristopher Bolstad, owner of Comal Tubing, is among the residents who raised environmental concerns after Doug Harrison submitted an application for a wastewater treatment plant on his property near Dry Comal Creek, which feeds into the Comal River.
Residents packed the Smithson Valley High School cafeteria on June 8 and told representatives from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that they were concerned about possible pollution, flooding and harm to local tourism if the Harrisons’ application was approved. “We love it here, we built this house to grow old in. It would be a shame if we couldn’t age here,” said Guckian, 65.First came the quarry project. The same year that Guckian and her partner moved to Comal County, her neighbor sold his 1,500-acre ranch to a real estate investment group from Alabama. That summer, an 18-by-24-inch sign appeared on the fence announcing the land would be a quarry operated by Alabama-based Vulcan Material.
“This is something that everybody needs to take responsibility for,” Guckian added. “That includes developers, industry and citizens.” Ed Harris, a neighbor of Meyer Ranch who led the charge against the original subdivision plans and founded an organization called Friends of Dry Comal Creek, said the situation with the Harrisons’ ranch feels similar to the Meyer Ranch fight.
Jamie Miller, the wastewater engineer for Harrison’s project, said the technology to treat and reuse wastewater would be similar to what’s used at Meyer Ranch but would have even higher standards. “They’re like arteries and veins of the human body. If you dump things, it’s kind of like each sinkhole and cave is almost like an injection site.” Kuhn said in an interview with The Texas Tribune after the meeting.Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune
Peace said that because of state law, TCEQ does not have to consider geological features on the property until after a permit has been granted. “I don’t think developers are thinking about us. They don’t know how much they’re going to affect us,” said Bell, whose family bought the 34-acre ranch in 2012. “I’ve already started fencing my property to protect myself a little bit.”“He’s a businessman before he's anything else. Whenever we moved here, he said he had no intention of ever selling,” she said. “Later he said he was maybe going to sell it to someone who would keep it the way it is. And that keeps changing.
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