Unscientific, but still concerning

Click on image to enlarge.

I've written several times about the encroachment on state park land by GCC (previously Cemex). HERE is the most recent blog post. After the last post, Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition member, Steve Tures, emailed the map above. He said: "I did a rough and unscientific (read, not official or maybe wrong) attempt to see how close they [the park and quarry] are, and seems like they're really close or maybe over their line." He said that he fudged an overlay on what's publicly available on GM.

Tures seems to confirm what many others have also seen.

Of course, whether the quarry has encroached state land or not, they are quickly destroying this portion of the Franklin Mountains and could mine all the way to the ridge. 

Why does the City of El Paso and others do business with them?

Survey the Quarry Now!

Recently elpasonaturally posted about the obscene destruction of our mountain by GCC, the new owners of former Cemex properties. GCC doesn't even dynamite just at night or early morning. They are blasting even during the day. They have no shame.

elpasonaturally has also pointed out the failure of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Franklin Mountains State Park to do a survey. They complain that it costs too much and do not respond to calls asking them to do so.

Now another expert has said that undoubtedly GCC is encroaching on State Park land. Also, according to this expert, surveys are now done by drones for two or three thousand dollars. Hardly a big price tag.

Survey the quarry now. Stop buying from them. Shut them down forever. They are destroying our mountain.

TPWD Won't Survey Quarry; Gives away Responsibility to Cemex

Elpasonaturally has previously noted that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has no idea whether Cemex has encroached on state land at their quarry at McKelligon Canyon. TPWD as well as the Franklin Mountains State Park were urged to do a boundary survey.

We have now learned that neither TPWD nor FMSP are willing to go to the expense of a survey and will defer to Cemex. In other words, as one astute environmentalist points out: citizens and TPWD have abrogated their responsibility. 

Efforts have begun to determine whether the State will buy the land and close the quarry and end the destruction of the Franklins once and for all. The hitch may be that the General Land Office probably will fight any such efforts because it wants the royalties from mining (and destroying) the Franklins. 

It had previously been thought that the new FMSP headquarters might hold up efforts to get the quarried land from Cemex. There was some fear that the $3Million for the headquarters might vanish. However, new efforts to re-locate the headquarters to Tom Mays from the proposed site at Wilderness Park next to the Archaeological Museum may have saved the day. Although Tom Mays has neither water nor electricity, it seems that both John Balliew of El Paso Water and officials at EPEC are willing to make the new plan work.

Breaking News: CEMEX Sells McKelligon Canyon Quarry

This doesn't sound like good news. GCC will just continue to operate the quarry without the baggage that CEMEX had. I doubt that the new owner will sell to the State for preservation as part of the Franklin Mountains State Park. I don't know any more details. For now, go HERE to read the press release from Business Wire.

Time to Buy CEMEX?

Aerial view of CEMEX McKelligon Canyon Quarry.
Photo by Scott Cutler

Not the stock - the McKelligon Canyon quarry. Here's why:

There is no way to close down the quarry. That was tried several years ago when Caballero was Mayor. The effort failed and it helped lead to the political demise of Ray Caballero and the election of Joe Wardy. 

There is one fact in Texas law that no one can get around unless there is a huge sea change in Texas politics leading to a re-writing of its Constitution. In Texas private property is sacrosanct. It trumps all other considerations. CEMEX owns the land at the quarry to the ridge of the mountain. Although at a certain point it may become logistically impossible to do any further quarrying, CEMEX can continue to scar the Franklin Mountains for the foreseeable future and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Nor can the City easily boycott that quarry and not allow them to bid on city projects. It’s very hard to blacklist a vendor.  They have to have a really bad record with the city (or the state or the feds) such as an inability to perform. A construction industry insider said this to me: "I bet the city won’t even blacklist Basic IDIQ even after all the drama at San Jacinto.  It can be challenged legally too. You can’t blacklist CEMEX simply because they own a quarry and are destroying the mountain.  Won’t work."

The City can reduce the amount of rock and screenings used in landscaping. Although that may impact other quarry businesses, if the City ever gets serious about really fixing our streets and sidewalks, that should be a big plus for that industry that would easily offset any loss of landscaping business.

Finally, CEMEX as a corporation is in trouble. The Street, a financial media company, gives CEMEX a rating of D+. Their recommendation to stock traders:

"We rate CEMEX SAB DE CV (CX) a SELL. This is driven by a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and poor profit margins."

You can download the Street's full report and get more information about CEMEX by going HERE.

Simply put, CEMEX needs cash. Their selling the quarry would be advantageous to their corporate survival.

Who should buy? Certainly not the General Land Office of Texas that owns the mineral rights. That would make no sense. The GLO would simply want to find someone else to quarry the rock so that royalties can be paid to the Texas Permanent School Fund. 

The City of El Paso can't afford it, so . . .

That leaves the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that runs the Franklin Mountains State Park. 

The deal could be structured over a period of three or four years. Once part of the TPWD, the face of the Franklins can be conserved. Now that El Paso is beginning to realize the huge economic value of eco-tourism, working in concert with others to buy and shut-down the quarry, and preserve the face of the Franklins from any further unsightly damage will only mean economic gain for the City. 

It's time to consider that option.

Just How Far Can CEMEX Go?

Click image to enlarge.

Answer: All the way to the ridge of our mountains! In addition they can stretch almost to the parking lot of Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park. 

It's just not right. 

Consumers should stop buying materials from this quarry. All of us should not patronize companies that get materials from this quarry. The City of El Paso should stop purchasing from this quarry. The State of Texas should buy this quarry and give it to the Franklin Mountains State Park. 

This destruction of our mountains must stop now.

City of El Paso Promotes the Destruction of the Franklin Mountains

If you have ever walked on a desert path, this is nothing like it. The path that Parks and Recreation has devised at the Archaeology Museum is unnatural and is the result of the UGLY gouging at the CEMEX McKelligon Canyon quarry.

I have published about the eradication of the Franklin Mountains by CEMEX at their McKelligon Canyon quarry. I've also pointed out that the city's Parks and Recreation Department has created unnatural paths using red rock screenings from the same quarry on the grounds of the Archaeological Museum. 

Click on image to enlarge.
Read it and weep.

Take a good look at the June 17, 2015 Purchase Order above. Apparently Parks and Rec buys a huge amount of materials from the CEMEX quarry and stores it at their Land Management Warehouse on Delta. Notice the tonnage of the Franklin Red, Mesa Red, Red Top Soil, screenings and sand. Notice the bottom line: $39,692! In other words, Parks and Recreation promotes the destruction of our mountains.

But it not just the Parks and Recreation Department. Every month our Streets and Maintenance Department buys tons of materials from the quarry. 

Aerial photo of CEMEX McKelligon Canyon quarry by Scott Cutler

Bottom line: the City of El Paso is complicit in the destruction of the Franklin Mountains by CEMEX at its McKelligon Canyon quarry.

If we love our mountains, it is time to tell the City to stop. We don't need all the rock and screenings used on park paths and medians. Besides, the placement of rocks in medians must follow the plans of a graduate from the University of Ugly Design. 

Currently the El Paso Group Sierra Club has an action petition asking Franklin Mountains State Park and Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife to do a survey to determine whether CEMEX has encroached on park land. In a comment to one of my posts, Dan Knapp says that they have indeed encroached. 

Look soon for an action petition telling Parks and Recreation and Streets and Maintenance officials to stop buying materials from CEMEX.