VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas — In a normally quiet part of East Texas, residents in Van Zandt County are now having to deal with construction going on in their backyards.
Some Van Zandt County residents are taking legal action after a Finnish-based company, the Armador Energy Storage Project, started the construction of a lithium battery facility.
"The goal is to stop them, but not stop them from doing it elsewhere. They can do this anywhere, just not Van Zandt County and not 1056 feet from somebody's home," Neatherly Waltz, a landowner and plaintiff, said.
Waltz is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She says this is not something she was expecting when they moved to the area just a couple of years ago.
"This community is rural. We did not move out here to have an industrial facility that's $90 million moving into our backyard to disrupt our livelihood," she added.
The $90 million project just got underway this month, which was quickly countered by a lawsuit. The company plans to be open by this time next year. Residents say the facility will have significant consequences for their way of life and will cause environmental hazards once operational.
"Our concerns are the fire risks that are associated with these facilities," Waltz noted.
Thomas Gould, a resident and Waltz's husband, expressed his concerns as well.
"It's just a combination of a disaster looking to happen," Gould said.
Gould and other residents point out that this area experiences its fair share of severe weather. With the facility being directly next to a gas pipeline, he believes it poses a significant risk.
"You're putting all the elements for a disaster to happen in the crock pot and then saying, well, tornado might not happen, but you're in an area that could happen, and you're not even putting them far apart from each other," Gould explained.
Ranchers in the area are also concerned about the environmental impact this project could have on their cattle and land.
"They're stripping the land of anything that is going to grow. Anything that's not their objective. They want everything to die," Shane Lane, a petitioner and cattle rancher, stated.
Lane owns land in the area and can see the construction directly from his property. He fears that if something catastrophic were to happen, he would lose everything.
"Most of these cows right here would stand right here and die due to what they would inhale," Lane said. "I just don't think anyone has the right to ruin someone else's cows like that and their property."
In an uphill battle, petitioners hope to unite the community to fight against the construction of the facility.
"We're not going anywhere. I mean, this is our home; this is my ranch," Lane said. "I worked all my life to put it together, and they need to find a better-suited spot for their project."
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