Something is happening deep in the heart of Texas that could set a terrible precedent for the rest of the country. And it would make a mockery of not only the Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with protecting human health and the environment, but also of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which Congress passed in 1972 to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”
In the next few weeks, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will make a historic decision that will either protect or jeopardize the lives of millions of Texans. And at the center of this drama is Miami, Florida-based Lennar Homes, the second largest home builder in America.
At issue is the future of the Edwards Aquifer, one of the most prolific and pristine artesian aquifers in the world. It runs beneath a dozen counties in south central Texas and is the primary source of clean, sustainable drinking water for nearly 2 million Texans, including residents of San Antonio, America’s seventh-largest city.
But all that can change overnight if the three TCEQ commissioners allow flawed regulations to overrule their better judgment, and, more importantly, their responsibility to safeguard the public.
In coming weeks, TCEQ commissioners must decide whether to grant Lennar Homes and its partner, Municipal Operations LLC, a permit to construct a sewage treatment plant that will dump between 1 million and 4 million gallons of treated effluent each day onto the surface of the Guajolote Ranch in Northwest Bexar County. This tainted water will seep into the extremely porous karst limestone beneath the Guajolote surface, enter the Trinity Glen Rose Aquifer and arrive in the Edwards Aquifer in a matter of days
Wastewater from the Lennar development is expected to contain hazardous pollutants, including E. coli, pharmaceuticals, microplastics and a group of chemicals known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” along with other emerging contaminants. Neither Municipal Operations LLC nor any other wastewater treatment facility — including the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) — has technology that has been proven to adequately remove PFAS or other harmful substances that may lead to injury or death.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton realizes the dangers that “forever chemicals” pose to Texans, so much so that he is suing their manufacturers for harming Texas lands and waters.
Strangely, TCEQ is disinclined to share Mr. Paxton’s concerns, as evidenced by two separate claims — one by TCEQ’s executive director and another by administrative law judges — determining that the permit application filed by Lennar’s wastewater treatment partner falls within TCEQ rules.
In other words, despite the fact that its own Office of Public Interest Counsel officially recommended denying this wastewater permit due to serious safety concerns and contrary to the EPA’s purpose and the CWA’s mandate, TCEQ is on the verge of allowing this giant Florida-based developer to poison the drinking water of nearly 2 million men, women and children in Texas based on a legal technicality.
But just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. Slavery was legal in America for 246 years, but it was never right. Likewise, TCEQ commissioners must recognize their ethical duty to do the right thing — in spite of the agency’s own defective bureaucratic rules.
The late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said it best: “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”
Lennar’s stockholders should be concerned about the PR disaster the company is about to trigger. The potential large-scale harm to countless lives is enough to make a personal injury lawyer drool. The right thing for the company to do is walk away from the Guajolote Ranch project.
If not, then TCEQ needs to do the right thing and avoid its own “Wastewatergate” scandal by sending a powerful message to Lennar Homes and Municipal Operations LLC: Don’t mess with Texas.
Michael Wm. Schick lives in Northwest San Antonio. A former spokesman for the president pro tempore of the United States Senate, he’s made a career of educating the public about consequential government policy issues. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jul/7/wastewatergate-scandal-florida-company-messing-texas/
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
