Pescadito Environmental Resource Center
The Laredo Fight
They always come up with the nicest sounding names for a nasty tower of toxic trash.
The owner of the Pescadito Environmental Resource Center won’t even promise not to bring superfund waste to this beautiful stretch of ranch land east of Laredo – or the dreaded coal ash linked to so much misery for the residents of Uniontown, Alabama.
This eight-year long fight is highly personal.
Controversial businessman C.Y. Benavides and his family want to use some of their sprawling ranch to dump a wide range of waste that could threaten the land and water of families who are relatives, who shared close friendships with the Benavides family for decades. There is a fear the wind will carry the danger across the small ranchitos on colonias downwind.
The fight has torn those families and friendships apart.
The Laredo City Council and the Webb County Commissioners vehemently oppose the project, citing the fear flooding would spread waste all the way to Rio Grande. In Texas, that should be the end of the fight, but it never is. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality can simply choose to ignore the local political will.
In Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) can grant Pescadito a permit without knowing who will run the plant, without knowing who has the expertise to handle this waste, including waste from across the border in Mexico.
And that’s where Green Group rears its head. It was rumored for years Green Group was involved in the Pescadito plant, since there were plans to ship coal ash waste into Laredo from other states to the new dump.
C.Y. Benavides has now testified under oath, and the involvement of Green Group is a rumor no more.
THE FIGHT IN AUSTIN
In July, the fight over the Pescadito dump will unfold before the State Office of Administrative Hearings in Austin.
See the testimonies taken under oath.
Citizens Against Laredo Landfill
CALL, Inc. (Citizens Against Laredo Landfill), is a Texas not for profit corporation. They are a, “grassroots organization of citizens united to fight the impending disaster known as the Pescadito Environmental Resource Center.”
MEET THE PESCADITO LOBBYISTS
We are showing you their compensation…
Timeline
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This Is Garbage
June 15, 2019
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Another stall job
June 13, 2019
SOAH Administrative Law Judges Meitra Farhadi and Stephanie Frazee approved Rancho Viejo’s motion to delay the hearing on the merits that was scheduled to start July 8th. The case is delayed until after the appeal to FEMA is finished.
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We Warned You This Was No Place For A Dump
June 13, 2019
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The eight-year fight delayed again
June 11, 2019
The 90-day appeal period begins for Rancho Viejo Waste Management to argue against the new maps issued by FEMA.
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FEMA joins the Pescadito fight
May 24, 2019
FEMA issued new floodplain maps for Webb County that show the majority of the proposed dump site is in the 100-year floodplain, a potential death blow to the future of the site.
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Who is gonna run da dangerous dump?
May 8, 2019
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Green Group rears its ugly head in Laredo
April 5, 2019
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Benavides admits to entering into a joint venture with Green Group for the Landfill in June 2012 during a deposition for SOAH.
March 12, 2019
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Rancho Viejo’s lawsuit against Laredo is dismissed
March 11, 2019
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Did the dog eat the TCEQ’s homework?
February 13, 2019
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C’mon TCEQ…This is garbage January 11, 2019
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It’s nice to have powerful friends
December 17, 2018
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Webb County also asks FEMA to revise the floodplain maps to determine whether the dump is in a floodplain
October 15, 2018
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Lesson for Laredo
October 2, 2018
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The City of Laredo asks FEMA to revise the floodplain maps to determine whether the proposed dump is in the middle of a floodplain
September 14, 2018
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Formal complaint filed against Glenn Shankle, lobbyist for Rancho Viejo Waste Management, LLC, over unregistered lobbying
June 18, 2018
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Rancho Viejo sues Laredo because Laredo’s lack of support cost them a potential investor.
May 15, 2018
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Rancho Viejo Ventures, LLC shuts down
March 1, 2017
Webb County Commissioner’s Court votes on a resolution opposing the Landfill
May 16, 2016
Webb County Commissioner’s Court votes on a resolution opposing the Landfill
May 9, 2016
Benavides and Green Group provide notice of entering into a joint venture according to the March 12, 2019 deposition transcript.
June 10, 2012
Rancho Viejo Waste Management, LLC files parts 1 and 2 of their application to put a dump outside Laredo
March 28, 2011