BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A group of concerned citizens got together to protest a local company they said is polluting their neighborhood and posing a health hazard from dust created from grinding rocks.
The protest was held Wednesday morning in front of the Cameron County Courthouse in Brownsville, just before a hearing on a temporary injunction filed by the City of Brownsville was to start in the 444th State District Court.
The city wants Milwhite, Inc., to comply with certain requirements and to allow them to conduct inspection of the 90-plus year company that has been in operation since the early 1930s and has been cited more than 900 times for codes and other violations.
The protesters held a number of signs calling for the company to be shut down so they can continue living their lives under a safer environment.
“No mas polvo?” they yelled in Spanish. “No mas polvo?”
Polvo is Spanish for dust.
The protest started at 9 a.m. and within minutes the group got a helping hand from District Attorney Luis Saenz who held a sign in solidarity.
“I am supporting them,” he said before going into the courthouse. “It’s horrible what they have been going through.”
The protesters said the dust created by the grinding has been unbearable and some of them have been experiencing breathing problems.
Milwhite is a company founded in 1923 which bills itself as an industry leader in high tech specialty minerals and products for animals; health products, oil and gas exploration and other things.
The company employs about 30 people at its plant along South Padre Highway.
But recently, neighbors from a nearby subdivision said the dust has been damaging the roofs of their homes and covering their vehicles, among other things.
During the hearing, an attorney for Milwhite wanted the court to grant them a continuance so they can be better prepared to answer the city’s temporary injunction.
Denis Sanchez said he wasn’t aware of the injunction until the day before the hearing and wanted to get some depositions.
But Lina Muñoz, a city attorney, said the company just wanted to preserve the status quo.
Sanchez said he needs at least a week but after conferring with Armando De Leon, from the company board of directors, the hearing went on.
De Leon, who took the witness stand, repeatedly said Milwhite has been in compliance following a string of citations.
Will Treviño, also a city attorney, said they are not trying to shut down Milwhite but to stop the company from storing some materials they are not allowed to have and to have them conduct building and electrical inspections.
Judge David Sanchez said he was concerned about the public safety more than anything else and suggested both parties to try to reach an amicable solution.
The hearing could last one more day in Sanchez’s court.
