UNT opposes TNRCC permit for asphalt/concrete plant

Citing critical concerns about volatile organic chemical emissions and the threats posed to air and water quality in Denton County, UNT last month launched its formal opposition to an application by Martin Marietta Materials of Texas Inc. to build an asphalt concrete plant in the area.

The plant site currently considered is close to the UNT campus and to an important UNT water research site.

According to the permit application, the plant will release air and water contaminants including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and such volatile organic compounds as asphalt vapors, diesel vapors and kerosene vapors.

"UNT strongly believes that the interests of the institution, as well as the health and welfare of university employees, students, guests and the entire Denton community, will be adversely affected if the permit is granted. Air quality in Denton already is rated ‘poor' by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and contaminants from such a plant can only make the situation worse," says President Norval Pohl.

In addition, UNT is concerned that the plant could compromise vital research that depends on a clean environment. UNT's Water Research Station is located approximately two miles from the proposed plant site on Masch Branch Road between Denton and Krum. UNT's $3 million facility contains 52 experimental ponds and is used to assess the effects of pesticides and herbicides on plant and animal life in the ponds. It is involved in cooperative studies with the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Miss.

According to Tom LaPoint, director of the Institute of Applied Sciences, a clean environment and unpolluted water are critical to that research. If the asphalt plant contaminates the environment, UNT's research facility may no longer be suitable for its intended purpose and valuable research dollars would be lost.

UNT environmental scientists believe asphalt plant emissions have the potential to harm plant and animal life as they move into streams, lakes and ponds in Denton County.

In taking its stand against the proposed plant, UNT joins the Denton City Council and the Denton County Commissioner's Court, which have each voted unanimously to oppose the plant permit.

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• UNT debutes :CRQ™ technology at capital campaign gala
• THECB grants planning authority for UNT engineering program
• Women's History Month events at UNT
• Time set for Pohl inauguration
• UNT schedules events for International Week
• UNT professor serves as phone-a-friend lifeline for "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" contestant
• UNT Vision forums completed
• Regents approve building name change, raise tuition and fees
• UNT cosponsors 100-year commemoration of community colleges

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