Local advocates pitch sterile screw‑worm production hub at Chase Field; congresswoman outlines federal support

Frank Massey, a rancher and board director with the South Texas Property Rights Association, urged Bee County commissioners to support developing a sterile new‑world screw‑worm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) production facility at local sites such as Chase Field or a vacant Pioneer plant. "We have land, we have water, we have buildings, we have a willing county," Massey said, outlining prior outreach to construction firms and Texas A&M and describing an estimate and site surveys already completed.

Why it matters: Sterile‑insect programs are used to suppress invasive livestock pests; placing a U.S. production facility closer to the Texas–Mexico border would shorten flight times for shipments and, supporters said, reduce response time and transport costs and create local jobs.

Massey described two site options: a hangar at Chase Field that had been under option to an electric‑vehicle builder and a plan‑B site at a decommissioned Pioneer/ConocoPhillips facility near Pawnee. He said construction partner Vaughn Construction (which built Panama’s COPEG facility) and Texas A&M have prepared cost estimates and feasibility work and that the group believes a production center could employ roughly 500 people based on the Panama plant model. "We believe we can be producing 125,000,000 sterile blowflies in under a year here in Bee County," Massey told the court.

Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, who introduced herself as the future representative for the newly redrawn district, described federal work on screw‑worm control and recent investments. "That was an $8,500,000 investment that we worked exceptionally hard to get," she said of an earlier facility effort, and noted a separate $750,000,000 investment tied to Moore Air Base that she said improves regional capacity. De La Cruz said USDA and the secretary of agriculture are working to keep populations away from the Texas border and that in recent weeks the agency had not observed the screw‑worm approaching the border.

County response and next steps: Commissioners thanked presenters and offered to help connect the group with state and federal grant resources, including putting organizers in touch with the governor’s office and regional leaders. No formal commitment of county funding or land transfer was made at the meeting; Massey said the group will continue grant work and follow up with county staff.

Provenance: Frank Massey public comment beginning at 00:36:28; Monica De La Cruz remarks at 00:29:49. "We have land, we have water, we have buildings, we have a willing county," Massey said (public comment).