DALLAS — A certificate of occupancy has been revoked against a recycling company that’s allowed a large mound of roofing shingles to tower over neighboring homes.
Inspectors with the City of Dallas visited Blue Star Recycling in the 9700 block of South Central Expressway this week, and the City Attorney’s office has filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the site after neighbor and community complaints about the presence of the large mound of recycled shingles which neighbors are calling “shingle mountain.”
The city’s handling of the community’s concerns over pollution and hazards the large pile of shingles allegedly poses has some residents fired up.
“Shame on Dallas!” a crowd chanted during a press conference at Dallas City Hall on Wednesday. “Shame on Dallas!”
A group called Southern Sector Rising held the press conference. Its members are demanding the City of Dallas take swift action against Blue Star Recycling. The group claims the city has subjected families living around the company’s property to environmental discrimination, for allegedly allowing the business to pollute the air, a creek, and allowing toxic dust to spread around nearby homes.
Fruitdale resident Justina Walford said, “Dallas claims to be green, but it is not. Dallas is greed. Dallas is complacency. And Dallas is abuse.”
Neighbors complain it’s taken the city and its leaders too long to address their concerns.
Marsha Jackson lives just a few feet away from the large shingle pile. She says she’s been complaining to the city and state agencies for months.
”I’m not a big hell raiser,” Jackson said. “I’m a fighter. I’m a community supporter. But when it starts messing with my health, and my kids' health, and my neighbors..."
Families living near the recycling company have been complaining of sickness. They say children are often so ill from symptoms, parents don’t allow them to go outside.
”We’re steady coughing. It’s going in our throat like that. And our neighbors, they don’t even care about what we are going through over there," Jackson said.
District 8 Councilman Tennell Atkins says he first learned about the neighbors’ complaints about Blue Star Recycling last December. He says zoning has allowed the company to grind shingles at the site. Atkins says the process was put in place to investigate the issue when he began looking into it. He questions why the process takes so long.
Neighbors also wonder why the city’s intervention is taking so long. They believe the only reason the City of Dallas revoked a certificate of occupancy and filed a temporary restraining order is because of the mounting pressure from neighbors and community members.
“I told Tennell, when he got a phone call in December that I tried to call him. He say he didn’t hear it. But you hear my voice today! It is time for something to be done. I’m not playing. I can’t play this no more," Jackson said.
Environmentalists and their engineers say air monitors they’ve placed in the area are covered in black dust. They also question why it took a non-profit to put air monitors in that area before the city took notice.
Southern Sector Rising says it is sending a strong message to city leaders: The problem must stop.
”It’s a new day in Dallas, and we are coming with a fight!" Olinka Green said.
Blue Star Recycling has not responded to requests for comment.
Members of Southern Sector Rising are threatening to protest outside the recycling company every Saturday until the mound of roofing shingles is removed.