Texas Materials Group Inc. has proposed a 26.9-mile railroad to haul aggregate from Burnet County quarries to Lampasas County. The project under review by the Surface Transportation Board has stoked concern among area landowners.
Texas Materials plans to reconstruct 12.5 miles of line on the right of way of a former railway and develop 14.4 miles of new rail line.
Kristen Cannon is a fourthgeneration descendent of the Alexander-Snell families who have owned land in Lampasas and Burnet counties since 1849. She said the project would affect three of her family’s four properties.
She believes landowners have been left in the dark about the plan.
“We learned on Saturday night, which is pretty concerning how much in the works this was already going,” Cannon said. “Our family and none of the other landowners received any kind of notification or anything from Texas Materials or any of the companies that are associated with that plan.”
A letter from the STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis was sent to “agency representatives” on March 4, which included local government entities such as the city of Lampasas, Lampasas Independent School District and Lampasas County Commissioners Court.
The letter notes Texas Materials’ proposed 26.9-mile line would connect the Austin Western Railroad near the city of Burnet and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe in Lampasas. It states the purpose of the route is to provide four quarries in the Burnet area with the opportunity to transport aggregates by rail due to an expected increase in product volume over the next decade.
Texas Materials is a subsidiary of CRH Americas Materials, which is a part of CRH – a global building materials firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company employs 75,000 people across 160 operating locations in 29 counties.
Cannon said she found out about the rail line project through the internet and social media. She believes Texas Materials failed to do its due diligence and notify landowners early on in the process.
“All this information we are finding is online or through social media, which is upsetting for people like my grandfather [Marion Snell] who don’t utilize social media,” Cannon said. “He has gotten on it now and is getting the gist of things, but I know a lot of the other landowners are older and might not utilize Facebook.”
Although the proposed rail line in Lampasas County would run through County Precinct 4, Precinct 1 Commissioner Bobby Carroll said he has received some complaints from residents regarding the project. Like Cannon, he only recently learned about the project.
“Come to find out, they have been working on this for over a year, but they never broadcasted it or told it to the public,” Carroll said. “Now, they are saying if we have any complaints or anything, we have to do it by April 3.”
The tight deadline for public comments puts a strain on landowners. Cannon has a list of concerns including environmental and economic impacts, property rights, safety and quality of life that Texas Materials is yet to address with landowners, she said.
Cannon noted the proposed railway would run directly over Sulphur Creek and potentially disrupt the natural breeding habitat for the Guadalupe bass – the state fish. Also, the line would run close to the historic Scott Hollow and through the 124-year-old Thornal Cemetery.
“It would cut one of our Bermuda fields by about a third,” she said. “Another thing I don’t understand is, if they put this track in, looking at the map the left side of our property is useless because how are we to access the left side of our land if they don’t put a roadway or something to get on the other part of our land. A lot of people are having problems with that.”
Joe Abel is another Lampasas resident unhappy with the proposed project. He purchased about two miles of right of way from the decommissioned rail line in Burnet County that Texas Materials now is looking to revive.
“As far as I’m concerned, it would affect me negatively,” Abel said of the proposal.
Abel believes he could be forced to sell that right of way he purchased in 1983 from Southern Pacific if Texas Materials utilizes eminent domain proceedings to construct the line. In Texas, private entities such as railroads may qualify for eminent domain by proving they are moving goods for public use and not just private gain.
“That’s a very strong possibility,” Abel said regarding whether Texas Materials would seek to take the property through eminent domain.
Landowners Abel and Cannon are not alone in voicing concerns. An online petition at Change.org titled “Stop the Burnet/Lampasas County Quarry Train from Operating On/ Near Our Properties” already has garnered 846 signatures.
Residents with concerns can submit comments by visiting STB’s website at stb.gov and clicking the “File an Environmental Comment” tab.