SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - In 2021, a more than 600-acre cement plant was proposed for Dorchester, a sleepy farm town in south central Grayson County.
Mayor of Dorchester, David Smith, said the plans initially led to pushback from Dorchester and Grayson County officials as well as residents but went quiet for a few years. Ground Calcium Carbonate
“About a year and a half ago, the EPA stepped in and looked at a few details, shut it down,” Smith said, “Then probably three months or so ago, we found out that it had rekindled.”
Leading those opposed to the plant to rally together once again to voice their concerns.
Zach Polling is the pastor of First Baptist Church Dorchester. The Black Mountain cement plant would sit just feet away from his church.
“It’s not going to be a batch plant,” Polling said, “They’re going to dig a quarry back there, they’re going to be blasting limestone.”
For Polling and Smith, the pollution the plant could produce is a major concern.
“It’s going to cause lung problems for everybody,” Smith said, “That on top of the drinking water and it getting into our water is inevitable.”
Smith said the plant would have a smokestack over 350 feet tall.
“If you can see the cranes from T.I. you’ll for sure be able to see this,” Smith said.
He added that the plant’s air quality permit application states it would release over 600 tons of dust and nearly 60 tons of sulphuric acid into the air each year.
“They consider affected lands either 50 miles or 100km,” Smith said.
This means much of the pollution would spread far past Dorchester city limits and into surrounding areas.
Sherman and Grayson County have joined Dorchester in opposition.
On March 25, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will review the plant’s application in a public meeting.
It will be held at the Texoma Event Center at Hilton Garden Inn in Denison at 7 p.m.
If the Black Mountain cement plant application is approved, the plant can be built.
“If you’re going to be a good steward of the earth and you want to be there, and if you’re going to love your neighbor as yourself, then you need to be there,” Polling said.
News 12 reached out to Black Mountain for comment but did not receive a response.
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