By Jim Tolbert
El Paso Group
CEMEX continues to carve out ever greater portions of our beautiful Franklin Mountains at the corporation’s McKelligon Canyon Quarry.
Not only is CEMEX’s quarrying doing irreparable damage to the mountain, but its operations continue to compromise the respiratory health of people living in nearby neighborhoods.
Sadly, the red rhyolite and limestones that they quarry are overused in El Paso landscapes, roadways and medians.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Attorney Laura Russell has admitted that the agency does not have a boundary survey between the Franklin Mountains State Park and the quarry. That boundary is merely described in the 1987 deed by sections included in the park.
Dr. Cesar Mendez, superintendent of Franklin Mountains State Park, has said the park does not know how close the CEMEX quarry may be to the park’s boundary or whether CEMEX may have already encroached. An official survey and monuments on the ground are needed.
Please contact Carter Smith, Texas Parks and Wildlife executive director directly at Carter.Smith@tpwd.texas.gov and Mendez at Cesar.Mendez@tpwd.texas.gov and ask them to do an official survey immediately. Or fill out the form here to send a standard message or create your own.
Watch for our action alert on this issue or go to elpasosierraclub.org.
Photo from El Paso Naturally.
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