Activity 5.2 Shingle Mountain Case Study

1. Defining the Problem

Shingle mountain is a 60 foot tall man-made mountain of discarded roofing shingles which stretches "more than a city block" according to the Washington post article, Shingle Mountain: How a pile of toxic pollution was dumped in a community of color (Fears, 2020).

1.1 Immediate Issues

The most immediate issue concerning the Shingle Mountain is the detrimental health effects it has on the surrounding community. As the article illustrates, the Dallas city officials have been extremely reluctant to acknowledge it as an issue, despite the fact that it was an illegal toxic waste dump directly outside a neighborhood. Residents like Marsha Jackson had to fight tooth and nail for justice; a fight which took several years. Even now that the mountain has been removed, the men responsible for it, Christopher Ganter and Cabe Chadick, have yet to receive any type of punishment.

1.2 Context: Environmental Justice and Historical Issues.

In a broader scope, this is not an uncommon issue. In fact Dallas, in particular has a long history of shunting unwanted power plants, factories, and industrial sites onto communities and neighborhoods of color, which dates back the the city's creation. Practices such as redlining or "a discriminatory practice that puts services (financial and otherwise) out of reach for residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity," are still very much impacting communities of color today (Hayes, 2023). 

"Black and Latino residents in the United States are far more likely than White people to live near landfills, power plants, concrete mixing facilities and other sources of emissions that foul the air" (Fears, 2020)

Because of this, the life expectancy of minority communities is significantly lower than their white counterparts. For example, the life expectancy in district 8 is 76.5 for women and 66.3 for men: not even reaching retirement age. Throughout the history of the united states there has been an undeniable correlation between race, poverty, and pollution. As Chris Dowdy claims in the article, "you can draw a straight line from where Black folks gathered after emancipation to the redlining maps, to where you’re more likely to be poisoned because of zoning, and where people die earlier” (Fears, 2020).

It would be wrong to view Shingle Mountain as an isolated anomaly, when in fact it is just one manifestation of institutionalized racism in Dallas. As stated in A Musical Sendoff Celebrates Shingle Mountain’s Removal, the issue of Shingle Mountain was "a poster child for what environmental racism looks like" (Zeeble, 2021).

Map depicting permitted polluters in Dallas  

Source: “Poisoned by Zip Code,” Paul Quinn College (2020)
 

1.3 From the Perspective of an Individual

From an individual's perspective, Shingle Mountain can be not just a nuisance, but a death sentence. In the case of Martha Jackson, she developed a severe cough. Her pulmonologist even warned her that if neither her nor the mountain moved, she would die. When you have to spend years fighting your own city for the sake of your health, citizens receive the message that the city and its government do not care about them.

 1.4 Recognizing the Responsibilities of Authority.

First and foremost, The city of Dallas is responsible for protecting its citizen's health. Although city council member Tennell Atkins claims he had no idea about the dump in the first place, Kevin Felder, another former city council member suspects that is not the truth, saying, "There's no way he didn't know. As a council person, nothing happens in that district that you don’t know about" (Fears, 2020). Not only did the city of Dallas not aid Jackson's community, they also "granted the men a certificate to operate" and actively argued about the legality of the operation for months (Fears, 2020).

Resolving this issue at its roots however, goes beyond one city council member of one recycling company; In order to enact real progress, there needs to be systems level changes. Dallas was built on a foundation of racial and class prejudice, so it is necessary to look critically at the city's laws and practices in order to rebuild the system in a way that benefits all of its citizens.

2. Conducting an Inquiry

An illegal dump for toxic shingle waste was created immediately outside a residential area by two men: Cabe Chadick and Christopher Ganter and his recycling company, Blue Star Recycling. This dump accumulated over 70,000 tons of toxic waste which released fiberglass and formaldehyde into the air, having detrimental health effects on the neighboring community. Despite not receiving any permits for this operation, Dallas defended it as legal until under threat of legal action. 

As of September of 2019, Shingle Mountain itself was only about 90 yards, or 0.05 miles from the nearest house. Additionally, as Schermbeck says, "They had absolutely no pollution controls, and they were doing this next to her with only a barbed wire fence" (Fears, 2020). At this distance and with such lack of safety precautions, is was easy for toxins and particulate matter to waft over to the residents in the neighboring community of about 100. In addition to polluting the air, the Blue Star asphalt shingle recycling was also undoubtedly contributing to runoff pollution which can be detrimental to plant and aquatic life, especially with trinity river being just over a mile away.

 Image retrieved from Google Earth Pro depicting the distance from Shingle Mountain the the nearest home (Google Earth Pro, n.d.).

Dallas is in the 80-90th percentile of particulate matter pollution, and according to city council member Atkins, illegal dumping is a big issue in his district, (EPA, 2023) (Fears, 2020). As previously stated, Dallas has an extremely racist history, and the zoning and pollution patterns we see now are simply a byproduct of that. Zoning has long been known to be a form of racism and this is one example of that. This area, being so close to a residential area, should never have been zoned for industry, an act that would put so many community members at risk. In the future, Dallas needs to take more accountability for its citizens and be proactive in protecting their health, and the health of their environment. Citizens should not have to fight their own city year after year simply to protect their own health.

3. Identifying and Evaluating Alternative Solutions

As stated above, resolving this issue will require the efforts of individual city council members as well as the city as a whole: government, citizens, corporations and all. This means stricter regulations on pollution and rezoning many areas that were zoned with racial prejudice. Even enforcing current environmental regulations would be a start, as they are all too often ignored. In the case of shingle Mountain, although the dump has since been removed, much damage has already been done.

3.1 Solution 1

 The first solution would be to advocate and apply for the rezoning of the area, to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. Shingle Mountain may have been removed but that's not stopping other industries from acquiring the land and using it for a similar purpose that could harm the community. Rezoning the area could prevent further pollution and health risks.

3.2 Solution 2

 The second solution would be to implement policies that would require companies such as Blue Star Recycling to be help accountable and responsible for their actions. This would hopefully motivate companies to be more mindful of the communities they are effecting in the future. In this case, Blue Star Recycling received little to no punishment and were not required to financially compensate anyone in the community or even clean up their own dump. When there are no real consequences, there is nothing stopping these companies from doing the same thing over again for a profit, and communities of color are suffering for it.

4. Conclusions

Shingle Mountain is just one example of a rampant environmental and social issue in the U.S. While that community was successful in the removal of a toxic dump, there are still many others like Martha Jackson, being poisoned by racially prejudice zoning and having to fight nonstop for their health. While we have made undeniable progress in the fight for environmental justice, the inherent racism of the system is still present, influencing government decisions and actions. Real change is possible, but we need to start looking at environmental issues in conjunction with social issues in order to be more effective, and preserve our environment for future generations.

 References:

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/

Fears, D. (2020, November 16). Shingle mountain: How a pile of toxic waste was dumped in a community of color. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/16/environmental-racism-dallas-shingle-mountain/?arc404=true 

Google Earth Pro. (n.d.). Google earth pro: A 3D interface to the planet. map.

Hayes, A. (2023, January 12). What is redlining? definition, legality, and effects. Investopedia. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redlining.asp

Zeeble, B. (2021, March 1). A musical sendoff celebrates Shingle Mountain's removal. Art&Seek. Retrieved May 1, 2023, from https://artandseek.org/2021/03/01/a-musical-sendoff-celebrates-shingle-mountains-removal/