When
Worlds Collide:
Midlothian Pollution Meets Suburban Development
The Huge
Scale of Operations: Midlothian hosts three cement plants and a steel
mill -the largest concentration of heavy industry in north Texas. TXI is the
largest cement plant in Texas. Chaparral Steel is the 10th largest steel
plant in the nation.
The Huge Volumes of Pollution: According to state documents, all
four Midlothian heavy industries are among the top air polluters in north
Texas, with TXI ranking as the largest single source of air pollution in
D/FW. Holnam
ranked second and North Texas Cement 3rd. Chaparral Steel was 6th.
Combined, they released over 48 million pounds of pollution into the Best
Southwest Skies in 1995.
The Huge Volumes of Ozone-Producing Pollution: TXI’s nitrogen
oxide pollution alone is equivalent to the emissions of over 275,000 cars.
Hazardous Waste is Usually Not a Selling Point for Homeowners:
TXI’s Midlothian cement plant is the largest incinerator of hazardous waste
in the state. It is also one of the largest in the nation. It is in
on-going hearings over a new permit that would give it the practical ability
to burn twice as much hazardous waste. Waste is transported from across the
country and burned for profit by TXI’s cement kilns while they manufacture
cement. According to state environmental agency inspectors, there is not
another facility in the area that is the subject of as many complaints as
TXI.
Location, Location, Location: Midlothian’s industrial complex is
directly south of Joe Pool Lake, starting at only 2 1/2 miles.
Depending on wind direction, emissions can find their way into
Arlington, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville,
Mansfield and the rest of growing southern Tarrant and Dallas County.
TXI’s own experts now say that the highest off-site concentrations for
both sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution emitted from Midlothian
industries are now located in Cedar Hill in Dallas County. During the large
1995 fire at the “Safe Tire” tire-chipping plant in Midlothian, black smoke
traveled to Downtown Dallas and beyond.
At Odds with the Most Attractive Features of the Area: Why do
people move to this area? In part, because of its natural beauty. We have
hills and trees and a lake. Would the same people who come here for those
features be more likely or less likely to be concerned about living directly
downwind of the region’s largest air polluters and
hazardous waste operations?
On a Collision Course with Development of Joe Pool Lake: Something
has got to give. On the one hand you have hopes for continuing to develop
high-scale neighborhoods surrounding the lake. On the other, you have the
north Texas equivalent of the Houston Ship Channel just over the hill. Will
folks really want to keep investing in half-a-million dollar homes downwind
of that much pollution?
At Odds with Southern Migration of the Metroplex in General: As
population density increases, there will be more confrontations between
homeowners and the Midlothian plants. These plants were built at a time when
they had de-facto buffer zones because of surrounding land use. Midlothian
was still in the country. Now it’s another bedroom suburb. Friction can only
increase.
High Profile Opposition: To date, the American Lung Association,
the Texas State PTA, over two dozen local physicians, Republican and
Democratic elected officials and every statewide environmental and public
health group in Texas have opposed TXI’s hazardous waste burning. This fight
has brought the kind of national news coverage to the area that isn’t going
to end up on any Chamber brochure - with no sign of abating.
Plans for Expansion: North Texas Cement has applied for a permit
to build a new cement plant in Whitewright, north of McKinney. What does
this mean for the future of its 30 year old plant in Midlothian? Holnam has
applied for a permit to build a new plant next to its existing facility in
Midlothian. TXI has also applied for a permit to build a entirely new plant
at its Midlothian site.
Make Any Sense? Every other business in the Best Southwest has a
short and long-term self-interest in advocating a reduction in pollution
from the Midlothian industrial complex. Whether it’s because of the fallout
if ozone pollution is not decreased, or the toxic smudge it leaves on the
image of the area - you have a bottom-line reason to be involved. Not an
environmental reason. Not a public health reason. Strictly an economic
reason.
The Huge Scale of Operations: Midlothian hosts three cement plants
and a steel mill -the largest concentration of heavy industry in north
Texas. TXI is the largest cement plant in Texas. Chaparral Steel is the 10th
largest steel
plant in the nation.
The Huge Volumes of Pollution: According to state documents, all
four Midlothian heavy industries are among the top air polluters in north
Texas, with TXI ranking as the largest single source of air pollution in
D/FW. Holnam
ranked second and North Texas Cement 3rd. Chaparral Steel was 6th.
Combined, they released over 48 million pounds of pollution into the Best
Southwest Skies in 1995.
The Huge Volumes of Ozone-Producing Pollution: TXI’s nitrogen
oxide pollution alone is equivalent to the emissions of over 275,000 cars.
Hazardous Waste is Usually Not a Selling Point for Homeowners:
TXI’s Midlothian cement plant is the largest incinerator of hazardous waste
in the state. It is also one of the largest in the nation. It is in
on-going hearings over a new permit that would give it the practical ability
to burn twice as much hazardous waste. Waste is transported from across the
country and burned for profit by TXI’s cement kilns while they manufacture
cement. According to state environmental agency inspectors, there is not
another facility in the area that is the subject of as many complaints as
TXI.
Location, Location, Location: Midlothian’s industrial complex is
directly south of Joe Pool Lake, starting at only 2 1/2 miles.
Depending on wind direction, emissions can find their way into
Arlington, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville,
Mansfield and the rest of growing southern Tarrant and Dallas County.
TXI’s own experts now say that the highest off-site concentrations for
both sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution emitted from Midlothian
industries are now located in Cedar Hill in Dallas County. During the large
1995 fire at the “Safe Tire” tire-chipping plant in Midlothian, black smoke
traveled to Downtown Dallas and beyond.
At Odds with the Most Attractive Features of the Area: Why do
people move to this area? In part, because of its natural beauty. We have
hills and trees and a lake. Would the same people who come here for those
features be more likely or less likely to be concerned about living directly
downwind of the region’s largest air polluters and
hazardous waste operations?
On a Collision Course with Development of Joe Pool Lake: Something
has got to give. On the one hand you have hopes for continuing to develop
high-scale neighborhoods surrounding the lake. On the other, you have the
north Texas equivalent of the Houston Ship Channel just over the hill. Will
folks really want to keep investing in half-a-million dollar homes downwind
of that much pollution?
At Odds with Southern Migration of the Metroplex in General: As
population density increases, there will be more confrontations between
homeowners and the Midlothian plants. These plants were built at a time when
they had de-facto buffer zones because of surrounding land use. Midlothian
was still in the country. Now it’s another bedroom suburb. Friction can only
increase.
High Profile Opposition: To date, the American Lung Association,
the Texas State PTA, over two dozen local physicians, Republican and
Democratic elected officials and every statewide environmental and public
health group in Texas have opposed TXI’s hazardous waste burning. This fight
has brought the kind of national news coverage to the area that isn’t going
to end up on any Chamber brochure - with no sign of abating.
Plans for Expansion: North Texas Cement has applied for a permit
to build a new cement plant in Whitewright, north of McKinney. What does
this mean for the future of its 30 year old plant in Midlothian? Holnam has
applied for a permit to build a new plant next to its existing facility in
Midlothian. TXI has also applied for a permit to build a entirely new plant
at its Midlothian site.
Make Any Sense? Every other business in the Best Southwest has a
short and long-term self-interest in advocating a reduction in pollution
from the Midlothian industrial complex. Whether it’s because of the fallout
if ozone pollution is not decreased, or the toxic smudge it leaves on the
image of the area - you have a bottom-line reason to be involved. Not an
environmental reason. Not a public health reason. Strictly an economic
reason.
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