A consent decree has been entered in a Clean Water Act citizen suit initiated by our firm in 2021 on behalf of Signal Hill Area Alliance, a non-profit alliance of neighbors in the Signal Hill neighborhood of Austin.
Signal Hill Area Alliance (SHAA) filed suit against Easy Mix Concrete Services, LLC in April of 2021 to correct the recurring, unauthorized discharges of polluted stormwater into area waterways from Easy Mix’s Signal Hill facility. Nearly a year and a half later, the matter has been settled by the parties. United States District Judge Robert Pitman entered the consent decree proposed by the parties on August 17, 2022, and issued his final judgment on August 18, 2022, bringing the case to a close.
The consent decree includes several remedial measures, including:
- Reduced Operations. By May 2023, Easy Mix will reduce its operations to 66% of its 2021 operations, and, by February 2024, it will reduce its operations to 33% of its 2021 operations. Easy Mix will also report its accounting of throughput demonstrating compliance with the operating reductions to SHAA while the facility remains in operation.
- Site Plan Implementation. Easy Mix will adhere to the “Sequence of Construction” approved by the City of Austin and complete it by mid-June 2023.
- Remediation of Past Discharges. Easy Mix will remediate areas affected by its past discharges. A Remediation Consultant, to be agreed upon by the parties, will select the Affected Areas to be remediated. The Remediation Consultant will provide a final report to the parties and the Court.
- Mitigation Projects. Easy Mix will pay $50,000 to the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes effective broad-based advocacy for the protection and preservation of the Edwards Aquifer. Easy Mix’s payment will help fund two of GEAA’s projects and programs:
- The San Antonio Soil Carbon Mapping Project – a joint project of the City of San Antonio, the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance; and,
- GEAA’s “Under Our Feet” campaign – an educational website and social media campaign about the geology of the Edwards Aquifer and how to avoid contamination of the Aquifer.
More details about the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance’s projects and programs can be found on its website: https://aquiferalliance.org/.
Signal Hill Area Alliance v. Easy Mix Concrete Services, LLC, No. 1:21-CV-00352 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 18, 2022). View the final Consent Decree here.