Rally in Longview against proposed biomining

LONGVIEW – Our news partners at KETK report the City of Longview has tabled a vote on a nearly $20 million investment for a proposed biomining facility. If passed, the facility would be built at 2120 E. Loop 281 and used to recover precious metals from broken computers and outdated tech devices. Residents who oppose the proposed location of the facility held a rally on Thursday ahead of next weeks vote by city council. More than 50 people showed up to the rally held just feet away from the property in question, to take a stand against the proposed location. Some residents said they don’t like the idea that chemicals involved would be used so closely to their neighborhoods.

“There are two chemicals that are used, hydrogen peroxide, which is used in everybody’s house. I’m sure everybody has hydrogen peroxide at home and a two mol sulfuric acid,” Wayne Mansfield, Longview Economic Development Corporation (LEDCO) President/CEO, said

LEDCO said the biomining facility would not be a danger to the community.

“It’s actually beneficial to the environment because it’s removing computer waste that would have been gone to a landfill with those materials leaching into the soil,” Mansfield said.

Woodland Hills Baptist Church, where Pastor Charles Hunt resides, sits directly across the street from the proposed facility.

Hunt said he believes the business could be harmful to children in the area.

“Hallsville Independent School District West Campus is just three blocks down the road from here and then we have probably 50 to 60 homes within just a short distance of here, just a few blocks,” Hunt said.

LEDCO also said there would be no health dangers.

“There’s no chance of any leakage or anything out, no emissions. The water used in the process is pretreated internally self contained within the industry and recycled back within their process. There’s no discharge into the city sewer system,” Mansfield said.

Hunt said there is always room for error when it comes to chemicals.