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Air quality in
North Texas has been deemed unfit for breathing by the Environmental
Protection Agency. While the state environmental agency (TCEQ) has
asked for citizens to do their part to help clear the air, the state has
been negligent in asking the smoggiest North Texas contributors to do their
fair share.
The largest
industrial polluters lie just south of Dallas in Midlothian, Texas.
While the state has given the impression that the air stops at the Ellis and
Dallas County line we know this just ain't so.
Downwinders at Risk
has actively worked toward cleaning up these industrial sources, to improve
regional air quality, and to help write the Citizen's Implementation Plan.
All North Texas residents are "downwind" of the Midlothian Industrial
Complex, hence the organization's name Downwinders at Risk
Throughout this
site is a slew of information on cement kilns and North Texas Air Pollution
Problems. Enjoy. |
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“Cementing a Toxic Legacy? How EPA Has Failed to
Control Mercury Pollution From Cement Kilns,"
Special
Report: Dangerous Mercury Pollution from Unregulated
Cement Kilns in US about Twice as High As Levels
Previously Projected by EPA
EPA Ignored
Problem For 10+ Years Even Though Some Kilns
Emit More Mercury Than Power Plants; Report
Focuses on Cement Kilns in AL, CA, IA, IL, MD,
MI, MT, NY, OR, SC, TX and WA.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 23, 2008 –
For more than a decade after Congress told it to
curb dangerous mercury pollution from cement
kilns across the nation, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) refused to take action.
Now, a new study from
Earthjustice and the Environmental
Integrity Project (EIP) documents the
consequences of the EPA’s failure: Cement
kilns emit mercury pollution – a threat to the
health of pregnant women and children – at more
than twice the level estimated as recently as
2006 by the EPA, which only started to collect
data on the problem in 2007.
The unregulated
pollution from cement kilns is emitted in or
nearby many major U.S. urban areas and also
within a few miles of such major bodies of water
as the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Huron and the San
Francisco Bay. Mercury pollution already has
impaired rivers, lakes, and streams throughout
the United States, making certain fish unsafe to
eat. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 8 percent of women of
childbearing age in America already have mercury
in their bodies at levels high enough to put
their babies at risk of birth defects, loss of
IQ, learning disabilities and developmental
problems.
- Cementing a Toxic Legacy? How EPA Has
Failed to Control Mercury Pollution From
Cement Kilns," Press Release
click here >>
Download the Report
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Local Environmentalists Build
Float Featuring
Larger Than Life Rick Perry Kissing Smoke Stack,
Vow to Shadow Perry Across State Until Election Day
Trying to draw statewide attention to
what they say is Governor Rick Perry’s unwavering
favoritism toward obsolete toxic-waste burning
cement plants and other polluters, DFW-based
Downwinders At Risk showed up outside the
Gubernatorial debate in Dallas tonight with an
8-foot tall Rick Perry kissing an equally large
smoke stack, mounted on a 16 foot hay trailer from
Midlothian.
donate
here >> |
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Keep the Float Afloat ...
donate
here >>
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Erin
Brockovich visits Midlothian, Texas to visit with
residents about air pollution.
click here >>
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Historic Settlement Puts
Dallas-Fort Worth On Faster Track for Clean Air
After months of negotiations, environmental and public
health groups announced today that they have reached an
historic accord with local, state and federal government
to end the first lawsuit ever filed over dirty air in
Dallas-Fort Worth.
click here >>
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Dallas-Fort Worth Cement
Kiln Study
On January 11, 2006, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality released its draft report on the
technical and economic feasibility of adding modern
pollution controls for Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) to the 10
cement kilns in Midlothian, Texas, just south of
Dallas-Ft. Worth.
click here >>
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Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
Latest TRI Data Released for 2004 -
The
latest Toxic Release Inventory for 2004 was released in
April 2006. Nearly 400 tons of various kinds of toxic
pollution were released into the Midlothian's air, land
and water in 2004, including over 1000 pounds of
Mercury, 25,000 pounds of Lead, 58,000
pounds of Benzene, 89,000 pounds of Toluene,
and 600 pounds each of Styrene and Naphthalene.
click here >>
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- Activists
from Across County Travel to Testify
Against Cement Kiln Pollution - EPA continues to allow
mercury, other pollutants from cement production industry
click here >>
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- Becky Bornhorst:
EPA, Clean up our air! North Texas homemaker will attend
today's hearing on kilns, but many Americans can't
click here >>
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- 2005 Environmental Groups and Citizens Protect Public Health
and North Texas Air Quality Again with TXI Settlement
click here >>
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