Cemex Has Much More Mountain to Destroy

Click on image to enlarge.

This past Monday I posted KTSM's outstanding news story from last Friday about the destruction of the eastern face of the Franklin Mountains by CEMEX. The big question that the story raised was just how much of the mountain can Cemex eat up. What is the limit?

If you look at the 2014 aerial above with the superimposed map, it looks like CEMEX has much more mountain that they can destroy. 

Here's a look at the damage that they have already done:

Click on image to enlarge.

I asked Dr. Cesar Mendez, the Superintendent of the Franklin Mountains State Park, about the boundaries between the park and CEMEX and whether there had been any encroachment that he was aware of. He replied that he is concerned about "any potential encroachment, as well as the changes in the landscape. But there is not much we can do if they are working legally and within their boundaries."  He added that "for now we are neighbors and respect each other." He and his team keep their focus on protecting the land within the State Park as well as potential land that they might annex.

CEMEX pays a royalty to the State of Texas General Land Office because the land that they own is "Mineral classified land" sometimes referred to as Relinquishment Act Land. Although the landowner may do whatever they like with the land, since the State owns the mineral rights, the landowner must pay a royalty to the GLO if they extract minerals such as sand, gravel, rock, oil, gas, etc. All of this is to say that no one should expect the State to buy back the land to give to the State Park. 

Cemex posts this statement about themselves: "CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high-quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries throughout the world, and we maintain trade relationships in over 100 nations. We work hard to develop and deliver the best solutions in cement, ready-mix, and aggregates...so we can transform ideas into reality."