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TCEQ Cites Hallett Mine for Five Violations But Issues No Fines

During late February, 2025, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) investigated the Hallett Sand Mine on the West Fork San Jacinto and cited it for five violations. The violations included failure to: However, the TCEQ report mentions no fines or financial penalties. The Commission simply closed the case after the violations were resolved, even […]

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West Fork Pit Captures Still Not Addressed After a Year

6/23/25 – Two West Fork pit captures caused by floods in early 2024 are now more than a year old and untouched. “Pit capture” is when a river punches through the dikes of a sand mine and starts flowing through it. Photographs taken on 6/22/25 from a rented helicopter show that the San Jacinto West […]

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West Fork Sand-Mining Problems Persist Despite Legislative Efforts

3/19/25 – San Jacinto West Fork sand-mining problems persisted this morning, even as the House Natural Resources Committee met to discuss legislation intended to deal with them. With one exception, the miners seemed blissfully unaware of the problems they were causing. And at least one committee member seemed to be a ringer for the sand-mining […]

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Hallett Finally Plugs Year-Long Leak in Sand Mine

2/27/25 – Hallett Materials has finally plugged a year-long leak in its Porter sand mine on the San Jacinto West Fork. According to residents who live near the leak, an investigator from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) visited the mine yesterday. For more than six hours, he sampled water leaking from the mine. […]

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The High Cost of Living Downstream from Sand Mines

2/24/25 – Yesterday, I posted pictures and video of a river of muck hundreds of feet wide that has poured out of Hallett Materials 170-acre settling pond into the San Jacinto West Fork…for a full year. Today, I’ll talk about the high cost of living downstream from that situation. But Hallett has even more environmental […]

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New TCEQ Sand Mining BMPs Ignore Pit Captures

12/13/24 – Proposed new Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Best Management Practices (BMPs) for sand mines ignore what miners are supposed to do in the case of pit captures. “Pit capture” happens when a river breaks through the dikes of a sand mine. It can have serious consequences including, but not limited to: Identifying […]

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All River Levels Falling, Flood Danger Over, But…

May 21, 2024 – After a second round of May floods (and the third this year), all river levels are falling today. The East Fork, West Fork and main stem of the San Jacinto River are finally falling this morning. So are the water levels in Lake Conroe and Lake Houston. But sedimentation will likely […]

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West and East Forks of San Jacinto Flooding Again

May 19, 2024 – For the second time this month, the West and East Forks of the San Jacinto River are flooding. The East Fork crested last night about 1.5 below the prediction. However, the West Fork is now cresting at US59. Parts of River Grove Park and the turnaround under US59 are already flooded. […]

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West Fork Sand Mine Sending Sediment Downstream from Settling Pond

5/17/2024 – The Hallett sand mine on the San Jacinto West Fork appears to have dug a trench across the maintenance road of its settling pond to lower the pond’s level. Murky wastewater is draining into the West Fork while the SJRA is currently releasing 10,875 cubic feet per second (CFS) from Lake Conroe in […]

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Video of Mile-Long Sand Pit Leaking Into West Fork

Last week, the West Fork San Jacinto rerouted itself through a mile-long sand pit at the five-square mile Hallett Mine in Porter. Some people reported problems understanding how all the images in that post related to each other and where the mine was. To help eliminate confusion, I returned to the site this morning show […]

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