Travis County sued by Texas over landfill
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis County is being sued by the state of Texas over 148-acre landfill off Highway 290.
The lawsuit alleges Travis County violated multiple environmental laws since the site closed down in 1982. The accusations reference an investigative report done by the Texas Commission of Environmental Health Quality (TCEQ) in 2024.
TCEQ’s report details “erosion on the property” and “leachate leaks” across several parts of the landfill. Leachate is a liquid that is often hazardous and comes from several substances of trash.
Environmental lawyer Bill Gammon said responsibilities to maintain a landfill are very clear.
“These are strict statutory violations,” Gammon said. “They’re one of the few statutes that actually has good enforcement ability, because it is so possible to measure exactly what’s going on.”
Jeffrey Jacoby, the acting co-director at the Texas Campaign for the Environment, said he’s been familiar with concerns around the area for years.
“You have issues with vectors—the birds and rodents who are attracted to open trash pits. You have leachate—trash juice escaping a landfill,” Jacoby said. “This can grow to be to have really, really profound negative impacts on people’s quality of life.”
KXAN has reached out to Travis County for comment and have not heard back yet. We will update this story if a response is given.
