Water District Board Member Responds To Ethical Accusations Over Fort Worth Sewage Plant

Arlington TX

15 February, 2022

7:30 PM

Description

By Haley Samsel, Fort Worth Report February 15, 2022 In her first public comments about the matter, Tarrant Regional Water District board member Marty Leonard denied that her legal challenge to a proposed Fort Worth wastewater treatment plant near her property was a conflict of interest with her position on the board. "There is no corruption. There is no conflict of interest," Leonard said during the board's Feb. 15 public meeting. "I'm not putting my interest … above the interests of the community. My interest is in the best water quality for Mary's Creek and the entire community." Last year, both Leonard and the water district separately requested a contested case hearing from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to protest the city of Fort Worth's plans to construct a sewage treatment facility near Aledo. Contested case hearings are similar to civil trials in state district court and can take months, if not more than a year, to resolve. In her appeals to the commission, Leonard said she was concerned that the treated sewage could hurt water quality and cause high concentrations of chemicals near the dams on the property. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.