Coastal residents urge TCEQ to require fence-line air monitoring and caution on plastics expansion

Residents and members of the Coastal Alliance to Protect Our Environment (CAPE) urged the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on June 6 to require fence-line air monitoring of plastics facilities, adopt best practices for microplastics control, and proceed cautiously with further plastics-industry expansion along the coast.

Annie Spade, a longtime Hays County resident and former Montessori educator active with CAPE, told the Commission she and the alliance's members want future generations to inherit "a healthy and prosperous Texas." Spade recounted CAPE's engagement with TCEQ matters over several years and said the agency has not yet required fence-line monitoring or microplastics controls. "We of CAPE urge you to proceed with the utmost wisdom and caution," she said.

Sheldon Wayne and other speakers connected with CAPE also addressed the Commission; Errol Summerlin, a CAPE co-founder participating virtually, described southern coastal tours and contrasting scenes where large piles of petroleum coke sit adjacent to marshes used by shorebirds. Summerlin said CAPE remains interested in structured dialogue and requested Commission engagement or a site tour so commissioners could see coastal industrial impacts firsthand.

Commission members thanked the public speakers for their service and asked staff to follow up. The Commission did not take regulatory action based on public comment at the meeting; the transcript records the comments and commissioners' appreciation but not immediate policy changes.

Speakers represented CAPE and local residents; their statements were appeals for expanded air monitoring (including fence-line monitoring), attention to microplastics, and careful review of industry proposals on the coast.