Harlingen blocks ethanol project over safety, traffic concerns

Plans for an ethanol transloading project in Harlingen are on hold after city commissioners voted against a special use permit last week. 

During the first reading of the project’s zoning permit, it passed 4-2 in mid-March. But the April 1 vote was solidly against the project, 5-1, led by Mayor Norma Sepulveda, while District 3 commissioner Michael Mezmar supported the project. 

It’s the second location that Freedom Fuels and Commodities has considered for a project that plans to transfer 27 million gallons of ethanol from freight rail cars to tractor-trailers each year, on a 23-acre lot owned by Rio Valley Switching Company. The plan was for 300 trucks per month, each with a 7,500-gallon tank, to be part of the operation, according to a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit on file. 

The Austin-based company previously proposed the transloading project at 227 Madison Avenue, closer to the intersection of Jackson Avenue and North Commerce Street, through a Brownsville consultant, Saint Claire Group Inc. The companies declined to be interviewed for this news story, and there were no representatives at the city commission meetings. 

The company can apply for a special use permit again in six months, in October 2026. 

“I do have a lot of concerns,” Sepulveda said. “The proximity of neighborhoods. I know it’s not within the section of notification, but it’s still concerning. Ethanol seems okay, but how are we going to monitor what’s being unloaded? This is probably something more designated for the Port of Harlingen.” 

The most recent proposal would have been further north, near the Wilson Road and North Commerce Street location at 2201 North Commerce Street. Saint Claire Group official Frank Cunningham told Harlingen’s Planning and Zoning Commission that the ethanol would be used in alcohol production in Mexico, records show. 

“We’ve seen similar operations, but it’s usually from the port, and it’s fuel,” said Daniel Lopez, commissioner for District 2, who represents the community where the projects have been proposed. “Originally, they wanted to do it behind the old Olympus Gym in that neighborhood, and then they moved it over to this area. The issue you have is the weight of these vehicles.” 

Lopez said that in his experience, he’s seen transloading fuel operations move bulk liquids into Mexico, and there’s an incentive to overfill the trucks. When overweight trucks regularly drive on roadways not rated for such capacity, it can damage infrastructure, he said. 

U.S. exports of ethanol to Mexico through the Port of Brownsville have increased in recent years as gasoline manufacturers look to blend ethanol into fuel. In 2023, $13 million worth of ethanol was imported into Mexico from Brownsville; by 2024, $26 million; and in 2025, $63 million. There was an uptick in ethanol imports into Mexico from the port of Hidalgo, too. It was $77,856 in 2023, $217,015 in 2024, and $2.7 million in 2025. 

But unpermitted transloading projects in the Rio Grande Valley have been used to smuggle fuel into Mexico and evade taxes in recent years, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. State Sen. Juan Chuy Hinojosa sought to close loopholes and increase penalties for such activity, and the measure took effect in September 2025. 

In Harlingen, Freedom Fuels is expected to use Wilson Road to Interstate 2 frontage road for its route to minimize use of local roadways, but commissioners said that Wilson is already heavily traveled. The Harlingen Police Department is considering establishing its own overweight vehicle violation unit, similar to the framework used in Brownsville, which also addresses heavy trucks on local roadways. 

While both sites are already zoned light industrial, the city plans to change the zoning as part of its comprehensive plan to mixed-use for new development. Harlingen plans to redesign 3.4 miles of Commerce Street, parallel to U.S. Highway 77, from Marjory to Taft Avenue, to include walking trails and a protected bicycle lane, increasing pedestrian traffic in its downtown district. The redevelopment effort is funded by the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program through the Federal Highway Administration. 

The pedestrian infrastructure would be located near the proposed transloading project, according to maps. 

City commissioners questioned why such a project would not be located within the Port of Harlingen, which has rail access. The port has about 3,700 feet of rail that’s in need of rehabilitation, and there’s no rail storage or space for transloading petroleum products, according to port officials. 

“Although we do work with tenants on building infrastructure for transloading/operations, with our current rail, these projects are not possible, yet,” said Amy Lynch, spokesperson for the Port of Harlingen. “Rail is a short-term goal for the port and [we] are in the process of planning to build a railyard and expanding our rail. We hope to utilize grant funding for this project in the near future.”