They do seem more interested in avoiding getting slapped by the state of Texas after Texas gets slapped by the EPA than on what might be the right thing. I wonder if they'll just open up the operation farther from the Metroplex.

That's good news. My folks live (and I grew up) about a crow-flying mile from there. There's a great view of the kilns from the living room. Fortunately, the prevailing winds usually carry *most* of the dust away from them. (Cement kiln dust, or CKD, is a substance registered as 'hazardous' with the EPA. I've always wondered if it contributed/contributes at all to my mom's lung disease.)

The Downwinders at Risk group has been fighting them for at least 15 years, with very little success. Of course TXI is mostly reacting to the downturn in construction -- and thus their business -- but they make it out to be an environmentally conscientious move. Their PR department is totally shady and always has been.

but they make it out to be an environmentally conscientious move

Or not. I misread that part.

Man, they're so sleazy.

Yeah... that was the whole reason I posted it.

NO, WE'RE NOT DOING THIS BECAUSE OF THE ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WE HATE THE ENVIRONMENT.

That's how it read to me.

If the corporation does something that reduces shareholder value in order to accommodate the concerns of environmentalists, they are breaking SEC regulations, which can be a Federal felony, and worse, can subject them to a lawsuit from shareholders. So they have to be very clear that what they're doing, they're doing in the name of increasing shareholder value. It's like those disclaimers on shampoo bottles that contents are not suitable for laving your eye. We already knew that but they keep saying it anyway.