Neighbors near Rendon aren’t letting up fight against a proposed concrete batch plant
Brandon McElroy was vacationing in Italy last month when he started getting calls and messages from his neighbors who told him that a company wanting to build a concrete batch plant near their homes got initial approval from the state.
“I went back to my hotel and downloaded the letter,” McLeroy said.
Jay7 Ready Mix in Alvarado received preliminary approval of its application in March, almost two years after it was submitted in May of 2023, but McElroy said he and his neighbors are gearing up for a legal fight against the plant locating near their homes.
McElroy said he and his neighbors requested a contested hearing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The hearing is similar to a court trial. Three appointed TCEQ commissioners can also make a final decision on the Ready Mix application during a public meeting.
McElroy said that he and his neighbors are ratcheting up their opposition and raising money for their legal expenses to oppose the concrete plant in unincorporated Tarrant County.
J7 Ready Mix of Alvarado has applied for an air quality permit to build a concrete batch plant at 5428 East FM 1187, between Burleson and Mansfield.
A representative from the company did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The location is 600 feet from a future intermediate school and 2,600 feet from a future high school in the Mansfield school district.
The district told the Star-Telegram previously that “MISD believes manufacturing concrete this close to campuses poses an unnecessary risk to public school students in the community.”
McElroy, who founded the nonprofit Green Air Solutions to help in the community’s efforts to oppose the concrete batch plant, said he is concerned about the health impacts from dust and other pollutants from the plant along with increased traffic.
McElroy lives on a quiet culdesac across from the proposed plant site
According to information from the Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association, Concrete batch plants play a key role in the region’s growth. They combine the cement, water, sand and rocks to create the concrete used for roads and buildings. Because the mixture hardens quickly, the plants must be close to construction projects.
McElroy first expressed his opposition in September of 2023 when he saw the plant under construction near his home.
He worried about how the concrete plant would affect his family’s quality of life.
IN December, Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, organized a public meeting about the proposed concrete plant where many spoke against it locating in their neighborhood.
Since then, McElroy said the community has grown with new people moving in.
McElroy vowed to continue the fight to oppose the plant.
“We have all of our arsenals ready “We are definitely in line and ready to go,” he said.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM.