Cedar Creek waste station plans scrapped after backlash

Brandon Mulder
Waste Connections has withdrawn plans to build a waste transfer station in Cedar Creek on Jenkins Road that will take up to 2,500 tons of trash per day from local garbage collection sites and reorganize it on larger trucks before taking it to a landfill.

A waste management company with designs to build a controversial waste transfer station in Cedar Creek has backed out of its proposal after receiving backlash from neighbors and the county.

It’s the second time the company, Waste Management, has scrapped its plans for a waste transfer station in Cedar Creek after community opposition. The company has not indicated how or if it will proceed with alternate plans.

On July 30, Waste Management formally requested withdrawal of its building permit application that was being considered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Its request came about two weeks after the TCEQ held a public hearing in which it heard from more than 30 people that opposed the location of the transfer station being proposed near the intersection of Jenkins Road and FM 535.

Neighboring residents said the facility would dangerously exacerbate traffic, create unwanted odors and potentially harm the area’s environment and wildlife.

“This is a family community,” said Beverly Hubbard, who has lived in the area for over 25 years. “Had we known years ago that there was going to be this type of waste facility, we probably wouldn’t have bought property out in this area.”

The proposed facility would have taken up to 2,500 tons of trash per day from local garbage collection sites and reorganized it on larger trucks before hauling it to a landfill.

The facility was originally planned at the intersection of Texas 21 near FM 812 in 2018. That location also encountered strong opposition from several residents during its bid to obtain a building permit from the TCEQ. Residents argued that it was being proposed within the Cedar Creek’s 100-year flood plain, near land slated to become a future Bastrop school district campus, and near a subdivision with about 50 homes.

Although the TCEQ awarded Waste Connections a building permit for its initial location, the company backed off in the face of strident opposition. The Bastrop County Commissioners Court also voted to oppose both the company’s initial and secondary proposed locations.

The company did not respond to questions asking if it would use the building permit previously awarded by the TCEQ or if it would seek a third site.

Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape, who once described the TCEQ’s permit issuance as a “betrayal” of the county, said he was pleased to learn of the withdrawal.

“We all generate trash in our homes and businesses that must be handled and disposed of properly,” Pape said. “If the already permitted site at the SH 21 location is used as a transfer station, I’m confident that necessary precautions will be taken on flooding, debris, and traffic issues. Would I like them to keep looking? Yes, but only they know their timeline and the pressures to get a facility built.”