Bullard officials are preparing to “move ahead” with building a new waste- water treatment plant after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality removed the last legal hurdle blocking construction.

“This has been a long, drawn-out process,” city manager Larry Morgan said. “It appears that we are about to bring this chapter to a conclusion. We will be moving ahead with the design and conclusion very rapidly.”

Legal maneuvering among Bullard officials, TCEQ and landowners who claim the new plant could have an adverse environmental impact on nearby streams or rivers has lingered for at least a year.

The state agency, however, has declined to conduct a second hearing on the issue, allowing Bullard to advance on the project.

TCEQ ruled previously in favor of the city on a request from landowners to consider the effect of effluent water possibly produced from the plant that could flow into nearby waters.

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