Save Burnet installs air monitors near quarry sites to track pollution risk

Some Highland Lakes residents have taken pollution monitoring into their own hands. The nonprofit Save Burnet recently installed several air-quality monitors around a proposed rock quarry site near Burnet and one near an active rock crusher in Spicewood.

Save Burnet formed last year in response to plans by Austin-based Asphalt Inc. to build a rock-crushing facility at 3221 FM 3509, also called Hoover Valley Road, just southwest of the city of Burnet and near two state parks and a youth summer camp. The aggregate company, which also owns the Spicewood quarry, has applied for permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Lower Colorado River Authority for the Burnet-area operation.

Randy Printz, chairman of the nonprofit group, said the citizen-based air-monitoring project is due to a lack of local data from the government.

“At a December 20 TCEQ public meeting, we were told the closest monitor was 40 miles away in Cedar Park—and it had been inoperable for over six months,” Printz told DailyTrib.com. “Seeing firsthand how unorganized, inept, or incompetent TCEQ was, we decided to research and purchase our own air-quality monitors.”

To date, Save Burnet has installed six PurpleAir-brand monitors: five encircling the proposed quarry site and a sixth adjacent to an active Asphalt Inc. facility in Spicewood. The group plans to install 14 more. 

The monitors use laser counters to measure particulate matter (PM) in the air. While they can’t differentiate between particle types, they do provide readings every 10 minutes. The information is uploaded to a digital cloud database and made publicly available via SaveBurnet.com and PurpleAir’s EPA-adjusted national map. The monitors’ measurements are based on the Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality Index.

“Five monitors have actively been collecting data,” Printz said. “It is important to have documented baseline air-quality readings before any rock quarries are built in the area.”

Printz noted the sixth monitor, in Spicewood, is currently only updating manually but expects data from all monitors to be shared publicly by the end of April.

He also pointed to trends the monitors are highlighting. Recent data shows particle levels spiked when the wind came from Marble Falls and Fairland toward Burnet, reaching PM readings in the 90s, just shy of the “unhealthy” threshold.

“We’re already seeing significant changes when the wind blows in from the southwest,” Printz said. 

Asphalt Inc.’s proposed quarry would be built near Inks Lake State Park, Longhorn Cavern State Park, and Camp Longhorn and has drawn criticism from local officials and state lawmakers due to its proximity to these outdoor destinations.

Save Burnet’s origins go back to Aug. 31, 2024, when resident Jay Folta spotted a TCEQ air permit notice regarding the quarry on a fence line.

“Jay contacted me and hundreds of neighbors,” Printz said. “The following day, we had over 175 concerned citizens show up at our first town hall meeting. That was the beginning of the SaveBurnet.com movement, which today has over 3,000 loyal followers.”

Printz emphasized the broader impact of quarry dust on neighboring communities and natural landmarks.

“I live exactly across the street from the proposed rock-crushing location,” he said. “This harmful dust travels for miles. We have to protect our Texas Hill Country, our state parks like Inks Lake and Longhorn Caverns, and treasures like Park Road 4 and Camp Longhorn.”

For more information about the Save Burnet air monitors or to view real-time air quality readings, go to saveburnet.com/air-quality-map.

elizabeth@thepicayune.com