The Denton City Council unanimously agreed to invoke the power it has always had — to spend 5 percent more to buy “green,” including cement.

Council member Joe Mulroy pledged during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday that the resolution was only the city’s first pass at making environmentally conscious purchases.

Joe Mulroy

“This is not the end,” Mulroy said. “This is the first step.”

Denton resident and environmental activist Ed Soph told the council that he was disappointed in the resolution, which he felt had been watered down from the original proposal.

A concerted campaign by environmental group Downwinders at Risk, which is trying to reduce air pollution by cement plants in Midlothian, has inspired several North Texas cities, counties and school districts to adopt “green” cement purchase policies.

However, one of the three cement manufacturers in that Ellis County city, Ash Grove LP, still uses the air-polluting, wet-kiln process to make its cement. Ash Grove sued the governmental entities late last month, alleging that the policies violated state purchasing laws.

The Denton City Council postponed a vote on the original resolution Dec. 2, after learning of the lawsuit.

Downwinders representative Jim Schernbeck said he trusted the city’s diligence and why it did not want to pass the original resolution.

“We can understand why you don’t want to jump into a federal lawsuit,” Schernbeck said.

He said Ash Grove’s move was disproportionate, likening it to a villain in a silent film.

But if the city’s measured response was like Monty Python, “if it’s a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, and we get the same effect, then it’s right,” Schernbeck said.

“This is the end game of one of the dirtiest smokestacks in the region.”

Several council members pledged that Denton would work with Downwinders as well as other cities to get a legislative solution to the problem in the upcoming session.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .