Joppa air pollution levels 2-3 times higher than the rest of Dallas, new study shows
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — The results from a new air pollution study conducted in the underserved community of Joppa found pollution levels two-to-three times higher than the rest of Dallas.
Joppa resident Ageda Alvarado described the air around her home to CBS News Texas. "You can actually see it, it's like white sometimes...we barely wash our cars and then the following day, there's like this little type of dirt, film, or something on top of it."
The small Southeast Dallas community is made up of mostly low-income families and small wood frame houses. Alvarado's neighborhood is adjacent to a long row of factories that residents have always worried are the cause of their health issues.
"We started thinking it was probably a cold that we had," Alvarado explained.
On Thursday, she and other residents gathered at a church to learn the results of the study, which was conducted by environmental groups and Texas A&M scientists.
"The air pollution survey found that residents are exposed to up to two, maybe three times as much particulate matter air pollution as the rest of Dallas County," said Jim Schermbeck with Downwinders at Risk.
The study also included a health survey of 200 residents that found 18% have been diagnosed with asthma.
Seventeen percent have experienced symptoms of respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), over the past year.
Temeckia Derrough, a longtime Joppa resident who represents the area on the city's environmental commission, says she stays in Joppa because she's a homeowner there. "This is my culture."
She plans to use the study to force the city to take action and protect the health of residents.
"I have the opportunity to own a home here with the help of Habitat for Humanity, which has revitalized this community," Derrough said.
One of the ways she and others hope to remove the industrial plants is to get the area rezoned and legally drive them out; however, that process would likely take years.