The community got the chance to hear from representatives with the electronic car giant Tesla for the first time Monday night about the proposed lithium site.
The public hearing was held by Nueces County Commissioners Court in response to the proposed county tax abatement agreement with Tesla.
The agreement could pave the way for the company to bring a planned lithium battery refining facility to Nueces County.
The proposed plant has not been solidified. In fact, Tesla officials said they are also considering other sites outside the country. While 3NEWS learned a few more details regarding Tesla's plans -- a few people who raised environmental concerns feel they left with unanswered questions.
Robstown Mayor Gilbert Gomez was one of many city leaders who attended Tesla's presentation. He's in support of the multi-million dollar Tesla plant. He said the proposed plant will bring continued job growth to the area.
"It's what it does for our regional area because this will bring other companies, it will bring other people who want to establish other companies here," he said.
Tesla representatives said the plant is a critical step in sustainable energy. They add that it would also eliminate the typical process of creating a lithium battery in an effort to limit the amount of waste or pollution.
"How can we make it cleaner, how can we make it less water intensive, how can we use less acid, use less electricity," said Rohan Patel a Tesla representative.
Even with the plants proposed benefits, environmental groups at the hearing still had questions.
"Will you require water from the city of Corpus Christi to operate the facility? What is the volume of water you require?" asked Errol Summerlin from the Coastal Alliance to Protect our Environment.
"For this facility, the needs are fairly small, compared to an industrial facility, many industrial facilities that exist here, so what we've been told from the water authority, now I don't have the facts and figures of what exactly is needed but we're happy to get that to you," said Patel.
One resident who spoke asked the company to keep its word on the number of workers and proposed average pay, asking the company to hire local.
According to the Tesla representative, the average salary is $82,000 a year in addition to benefits.
By the end of the two hour meeting, one of the biggest concerns is that some folks still felt like they were missing information the representatives were unable to answer. Details, county leaders hope they can bring back.
"What I liked is that they are willing to bring forth more details specifically about the chemical process. One of the things Tesla said that really interested me and others is that the byproduct would not be something typical it would reusable. It also interested me that their water could be reused," said Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales.
County Judge-elect Connie Scott was also in attendance at the hearing. She'll oversee the next hearing set for Jan. 4 at Nueces County Commissioners Court.