DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – For almost three years, Marsha Jackson and her neighbors in Dallas stared at a giant pile of roofing debris known as “Shingle Mountain.” Now, removal of the toxic waste from the Flora Farms site is almost complete.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Jackson said. “I’m glad it’s finally moved.”
READ MORE: 6 People Hospitalized Following Plano House Explosion
To get to this point, multiple lawsuits were filed including one by the City of Dallas. Last December, a settlement was reached which in part allowed the City of Dallas to acquire the site.
“As of today, the city of Dallas owns that site,” congressman Tennell Atkins said. “It’s not an environmental issue as of today.”
Atkins represents District 8, where the site is located.
READ MORE: As ‘Unruly’ Passenger Behavior Soars, Will Airlines Still Require Masks After September 13?
“I’m thrilled to death that we had the money to clean it up,” he said. “I’m so happy that we have something in place that this will never happen again. It took a long time, but as you know it takes time to get stuff done.”
“Now we need to do remediation because it has a lot of lead and some arsenic on there,” Jackson said.
These findings were documented in the city’s recent environmental site assessment.
“We need to get that lead and get it cleaned out,” Jackson said. “We want to get this re-zoned so our community won’t continue going through this. We’re hoping that the city will listen to the neighborhood and we want a park there.”
MORE NEWS: Stock Market Plummets Amidst Growing Fears Of COVID’s Delta Variant
“My first obligation is to clean it up,” Atkins said. “Once we clean it up, we’re going to make sure everything is in code compliance. We are monitoring that site every day.”