Ingleside Community Rallies to Fight “Project Yaren” Ammonia Plant
Ingleside area residents are rising up to stop a new industrial “neighbor” they say would threaten their health, safety, and environment. Nearly 70 people packed a recent Saturday morning town hall meeting at a local church to organize opposition to “Project YaREN,” a massive ammonia production facility proposed by Enbridge and Yara. The plant would sit less than two miles from Ingleside Primary School.
For two hours, concerned but determined locals and environmental advocates outlined the project’s dangers — from toxic emissions and explosion risks to threats to the bay — and discussed ways to stop it.
Safety Fears and Health Hazards
Ammonia is a highly toxic and flammable chemical. “Just a few breaths can be fatal,” warned one organizer. A former police officer in attendance urged the community to consider a worst-case scenario: Ingleside has no hazmat unit, no hospital, and emergency responders would be “inside the blast zone.” Despite this, the developers have yet to present a detailed emergency response plan, raising doubts about how Ingleside would be protected if disaster strikes.
For residents like Hector Gonzales, the threat is personal. A native of Ingleside who worked in local refineries, Gonzales recalled evacuating during a prior ammonia leak — an experience so harrowing it led him to move away. Now back with his family, Gonzales is alarmed. “This plant is going to impact the waters where I grew up, where I fish, where my kids swim,” he said. “I’m going to do everything I can to protect this community.”
Pollution, Water Worries, and “Greenwashing”
Beyond accident risk, residents expressed fear about the plant’s daily emissions. According to the companies’ filings, Project YaREN would release over 500 tons of pollutants each year, including nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and 66 tons of ammonia itself. These contaminants are linked to asthma, heart disease, and cancer. Yet there are no air monitors in Ingleside to track or warn residents.
“There are so many facilities here emitting toxic pollution — and getting public money through tax giveaways,” said Chloe Torres of Texas Campaign for the Environment. “We want to live in a place that reflects our needs. We all need clean air, clean water, and safe communities.”
Water pollution was another major concern. To meet its water needs, the plant would use a desalination facility that pulls millions of gallons from the bay, then discharges concentrated brine back into it. “That can wreak havoc on the ecosystem,” said Payton Campbell of the Coastal Watch Association. The discharge could kill fish, oysters, and seagrass beds essential to marine life and storm protection. The facility could also release nitrogen-rich wastewater, fueling algae blooms and creating oxygen-deprived dead zones. Campbell cited Yara’s Trinidad facility, which has been blamed for nitrogen pollution in coastal waters, as a warning sign. “Losing our bay cannot be an option,” he said.
Attendees also criticized the project’s branding as a “blue ammonia” climate solution. Though the developers claim they’ll capture 95% of the plant’s carbon emissions, their permit reveals plans to vent all carbon into the air during the first year. “This is corporate greenwashing, pure and simple” one speaker said. Industrial carbon capture at this scale has never succeeded. If it fails to meet its stated goals, emissions could be 20 times higher than claimed, yet the companies could still collect millions in taxpayer subsidies for a “clean energy” project.
Challenging Industry and Organizing Resistance
Residents expressed deep skepticism about the developers’ safety records. Event facilitator Jennie Birkholz reminded the audience that Enbridge was responsible for the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history and has faced hundreds of violations at its Ingleside terminal. Yara, too, has been cited for repeated leaks and accidents at its global facilities.
Birkholz displayed a glossy flyer mailed to residents, which she and others dismissed as misleading propaganda. Attendees scoffed at the companies’ vague promises of jobs, citing past experience with automated plants and out-of-town hiring.
Despite their frustration, residents left the meeting energized and ready to act. Rodney Brown of Earthworks led a “power mapping” exercise that had neighbors place sticky notes on a map to show just how close they live to the proposed site. “We’re all in this together. Sometimes community members feel industry is too big and powerful,” he said. “But we’re going to stand up to them. We have the power to challenge their power.”
Organizers passed out information packets and urged attendees to keep the momentum going. Marie Lucio, who is organizing against a similar project in Robstown and Calallen, told residents to “reignite the fire” in their neighbors who may feel jaded. She encouraged door knocking, attending city council meetings, submitting public comments, and taking peaceful direct action if necessary.
By the end of the meeting, attendees had coalesced into a unified front. Their message was clear: “Project YaREN” may be backed by big corporations, but Ingleside is ready to fight back.