West Dallas residents say a shingle factory is pushing back on shutdown date
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - City officials call it the number one polluter in Dallas.
But residents who live around a long standing shingle factory west of downtown are accusing the operators tonight of trying to back out of a promise to shutdown.
One moment from a meeting last night says all you need to know about how negotiations are going between West Dallas residents and GAF Materials over when the controversial shingle factory should shutdown permanently.
Delores Burns lives near the 76-year-old factory on Singleton Boulevard that critics say has been environmentally non-compliant for more than 30 years.
"If they could leave tomorrow, it would be fine with me," he said.
A 2020 Paul Quinn College emissions report named GAF as the number one air polluter in Dallas County.
Years of public pressure from mostly low income families of color who live around it finally got GAF's operators this summer to agree the plant should move away from the neighborhood.
But residents say GAF is refusing to budge on a timeline to continue operating for at least another seven years.
"I stay across from GAF," said Delores Burns, who lives by the factory. "You can smell the stuff is terrible. I have asthma, I'm a diabetic and other health problems. And it's not safe for our kids, what are they going to do, several years is too long."
Wednesday night's meeting was over GAF's request for a zoning change that its representatives say will not affect its plans to close.
But residents aren't buying it and believe it's a legal move to back out of its promise.
"We were supposedly going to have conversations to negotiate an exit plan, but that didn't pan out," said Janie Cisneros, who also lives by the factory.
The city councilmember over the district says he can't get involved until the zoning request makes its way out of the Dallas Plan Commission.
But he says he agrees with residents GAF needs to go.
"Hopefully we get to a place where we can all have an amicable positive decision that benefits the community, and at the same time does what GAF has promised, which is they will leave West Dallas," said Dallas City Councilmember, District 6, Omar Narvaez.
CBS 11 was unable to reach anyone from GAF for comment, but in a previous statement the company has said:
"For more than 80 years, GAF has been an important part of the growth and evolution of West Dallas. We look forward to continuing down this collaborative path with the City and the community to move our plan."
The resident's who spoke believe the plant should be able to wind down operations within three years at most and expect city leaders to be on their side if negotiations with GAF continue to go nowhere.
