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TCEQ approves Quadvest wastewater permit after protests over discharge-route mapping
Summary
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted to issue a new wastewater discharge permit to Quadvest LP, despite protests that the application relies on outdated USGS mapping and lacks an on-site hydrological field study to confirm whether the discharge route is a jurisdictional water.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted to adopt the administrative law judge’s proposed order and issue a wastewater discharge permit to Quadvest LP for permit number WQ0016247001 after considering competing arguments over the application’s description of the discharge route.
Quadvest’s counsel, Curran Walker, told commissioners the proposal for decision (PFD) was correctly issued and supported by commission staff. Protestants, represented by Lisa Sellers, urged denial or deferral, saying the application relies on outdated U.S. Geological Survey maps that label an on‑site drainage feature as an intermittent stream when, Sellers said, it is an ephemeral erosion path that does not have a defined bed and banks and would therefore not be jurisdictional waters without a hydrological field study.
The Executive Director’s attorney, Colin Malley, told the commission the ED’s witnesses had testified that the draft permit complies with applicable Texas surface water quality standards (30 TAC) and that participants in the contested case failed to rebut the presumption that the permit met statutory and regulatory requirements. The Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC), represented in this matter by Sheldon Wayne, recommended denial or remand in light of concerns about the discharge route but described the protestants’ evidence as persuasive on the route characterization.
After brief rebuttal from applicant counsel, Chairwoman Poe proposed adopting the ALJ’s order with clerical modifications and additional ordering provisions to clarify issuance of the permit; the motion was seconded and passed. The commission’s order includes edits to findings of fact and clarifying ordering provisions while directing issuance of the permit in the form recommended by the Executive Director.
The commission did not adopt protesters’ request for an on‑the‑ground hydrological study at the hearing, instead relying on the ALJ’s factual findings and the ED’s review. The order includes specified corrections to the administrative record and permit language outlined during the meeting.
The matter is closed for the commission’s open‑session record; further procedural or compliance steps will follow per the permitting schedule.
