West and South Dallas residents are a step closer to getting an answer on the future of industrial facilities in their neighborhoods after the Dallas City Council voted to hire a consultant to conduct research on the GAF and TAMKO factories on Wednesday.
Residents near both of the facilities have long raised concerns about air pollution and related health concerns.
The vote does not shut down either facility. Instead the council is hiring a consultant to bring research back to council about the cost of potentially shutting down the facilities. It will cost the city up to $200,000 from the city's contingency fund.
The information will be brought to the Government Efficiency Committee once it is ready.
The item was put on the agenda by a five signature memo signed by Council Members Laura Cadena, Adam Bazaldua, Chad West, Zarin Gracey, and Paula Blackmon.
Bazaldua said, despite public comment on shutting down the facilities, the vote was purely informational.
"And quite frankly, there is no other conversation that can even be had if we don't have necessary information to have it," Bazaldua said.
It's a move toward a decision that residents in West and South Dallas say is long overdue.
Members with environmental advocacy groups Singleton United/Unidos and Downwinders at Risk were at Wednesday's meeting.
Caleb Roberts, Executive Director of Downwinders at Risk, was one of the 45 people who signed up to speak about the agenda item.
"People have spent five and six years of their lives trying to get you all to hold these polluters accountable," Roberts told the council. "But also just getting you to deliberate the health and safety of their neighborhoods."
Dozens of TAMKO employees were also present, filling rows inside the City Council Chambers.
Jason White, the general manager of the Dallas TAMKO location, said this was not an abstract policy decision but one that would impact nearly a hundred employees who are also residents of the city.
"So closing this plant would put nearly 100 well-paying jobs at risk, eliminate tens of millions in economic activity, and cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars," White said.
He added that TAMKO has supported local community events, contributing more than $250,000 to Joppa specific programs.
In a statement released ahead of Wednesday's decision, a TAMKO spokesperson alleged that winds blow toward the north and northwest, away from Joppa, nearly 90% of the time, so shutting it down would not impact the area's air quality. The company also claims a forced shut down could cost the city more than $500 million, citing analysis by commercial real estate firm Nicholas Co.
But residents in Joppa, like Pauline Logan, say otherwise.
Logan, who has been a Joppa resident "on and off" over 69 years said that TAMKO's presence presents a hazard to the community's well being.
"Their operation is incompatible with safety and environmental standards necessary for a healthy community," she said.
Joppa and West Dallas residents have pushed for the closures for more than five years citing air pollution and health concerns.
West Dallas resident Delores Burns lives across from the GAF facility in West Dallas. She was diagnosed two years ago with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. COPD is an irreversible lung condition that makes it hard to breathe and can be caused by airborne toxins.
"It's not a good environment. We can't even sit outside long," Burns said. "I stay right across the field from GAF. When my grandkids come over, I don't let them stay outside long."
GAF did not respond to KERA's request for comment.
Council Member Maxie Johnson said that while council was still exploring their options, he wanted residents to know that he heard their voices.
"And I speak truth to power and I don't care who gets offended about it because we've been in the neighborhoods that we've lived in and we've had to deal with issues that a lot of people have not had to deal with on the other side of town," Johnson said. "So I understand the environmental racism, I understand what you're advocating for."
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