The evacuation of Isbell Elementary, Patrick said, was a breaking point in a decade-long battle between members of the neighborhood and the Texas Materials Group’s hot mix asphalt plant.
The plant opened in 1982 in a mostly rural area that has seen fast development. Construction of Patrick’s neighborhood began in 2003, Isbell Elementary School opened in 2004, and nearby Vandeventer Middle School opened in 2012. A pediatrician’s office, a veterinarian’s office and a hotel have also joined the neighborhood. All are within one mile of the plant.
Patrick acknowledges that the plant predated the houses, but she said the city is to blame for allowing the area to be developed more than a decade ago.
About hot-mix asphalt
Hot mix asphalt is made by combining stone, sand or gravel with asphalt cement and heating the mixture, which is then laid for roads.
Neighbors complain of asthma, aggravated allergies, headaches and nausea from the smell when the plant is making asphalt, but they cite the community’s good schools, pleasant neighbors and parks and trails as reasons to stay.
“We’re just not able to appreciate our own property,” said Arun Ramasamy, who lives in one of the homes closest to the asphalt plant. “We’re not able to sit in the backyard and even have a barbecue.”
Patrick described the fumes from the plant as a combination of burning tar and gasoline.
“It’s thick. Even though you may not be able to see it when you’re standing there, it hits you in the face and burns everything,” Patrick said.
TCEQ classifies the odor from asphalt operations as unpleasant. But they have found no harmful health effects from the plant’s emissions.