Texas signed off on the restoration of this old mine. Now a leaky landfill is contaminating

[TexasTowelie]

Texas signed off on the restoration of this old mine. Now a leaky landfill is contaminating groundwater.


ROCKDALE — It seems like everyone in Rockdale is talking about Sandow Lakes Ranch. That’s because so many residents of this old mining hub in Central Texas believe that the fate of the 32,000-acre tract is crucial to the future of their town.

For years, the ranch’s owner has been trying to sell the property, and for years, Rockdale residents have been buzzing about potential buyers, from a longshot bid for Amazon’s HQ2 to news that a Bitcoin-mining company might soon set up shop. Amazon, of course, didn’t pick Rockdale, and the Bitcoin company scaled back its plans.

For more than half a century, Rockdale was largely a company town, and as many as 2,000 people worked on that property, where a sprawling coal mine fed a power plant that in turn powered an energy-hungry aluminum smelter.

The mine and smelter were owned by Pittsburgh-based Alcoa, and the generations of Rockdale residents who worked there proudly called themselves Alcoans. At one point, the company accounted for 40% of the county’s tax base and 65% of the local school district’s budget.

Read more: https://www.theeagle.com/news/state-and-regional/texas-signed-off-on-the-restoration-of-this-old-mine/article_dda80d98-32de-5fa7-bc8b-044f876334bc.html
(Bryan-College Station Eagle)