USA Today did a ranking, and Eva-Marie Ayala at the Star-Telegram dug through it:
USA Today found Midlothian’s Peak and Vitovsky elementary schools at the worst level for exposure to cancer-causing toxins and other chemicals (the first percentile. The lower the percentile higher the exposure to such toxins). The city has three cement plants.
But the cement makers aren’t fazed.
4 comments
In a world where everything is more complicated than it seems, I salute the Ash Grove cement plant for being unambiguous villains — truly evil bastards. Bravo!
Just a guess, Wick, but I don’t imagine the cement company’s execs have their kids in those schools. Their employees? Sorry, Charlie.
Say it ain’t so Joe (Barton).
It was D Magazine, back in 2005, that went out on a limb and published a story about the pollution problem in Midlothian. Thank you for being willing to bring attention to the issue when no one else would. At the time, my daughter was attending Mountain Peak Elementary and I was concerned about her health, as well as the health of my two sons.
Six weeks after the D Magazine story came out in 2005, I was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly after finishing my cancer treatments, our family left Midlothian. Living near the polluting industries simply wasn’t worth the risk.
My only regret is that there are still many families in Midlothian who are oblivious to the problems there. Many hold to the belief that it’s just steam coming from the smokestacks.