39,1 18/i

THE DISTRIBUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS:

A SOCIO-HISTORICAL STUDY OF SELECTED

NEIGHBORHOODS IN DALLAS

COUNTY, TEXAS

DISSERTATION

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

University of North Texas in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

By

Jennifer G. Cutrer, B.A., M.A.

Denton, Texas

December, 1997

Cutrer, Jennifer G., The Distribution of Environmental Contaminants: A Socio-

Historical Study of Selected Neighborhoods in Dallas County, Texas.

Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology), December, 1997, 158 pp., 11 tables, 1 chart, 4

appendices, references, 133 titles.

This research expands on recent sociological studies which maintain that

environmental contaminants in America are disproportionately placed in neighborhoods

inhabited by minorities and the poor. Prior studies have focused on the predictor

variables which identify areas of contamination near residential neighborhoods, yet fail

to explore the socio-political and historical factors which contribute to these phenomena.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory 1990 database, the

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's Annual Report of the Hazardous

and Solid Waste Program for 1992, and the U.S. Census Bureau's 1990 Census Data for

Dallas County were utilized in pinpointing industries violating toxic release standards.

Socio-historical data was obtained from government and historical records and reports,

books, and newspaper clippings on Dallas County. Maps and data were obtained from

the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the cities of Dallas and Garland.

Chapter I discusses the synergetic forces of capitalism, urban growth, uneven

development, and settlement patterns resulting in the distribution of environmental

contaminants. Chapter II reviews the literature and presents evidence that race and class

are strong predictors of where environmental contaminants are located. Chapter III

outlines the data and methods employed. Chapter IV traces the historical development

of Dallas County. Chapter V details those political, economic, and social factors

contributing to the convergence of people and contaminants within three selected

neighborhoods. The forces which historically relegate minorities, particularly Blacks and

Hispanics, and the poor to less desirable jobs, cheaper housing, and land costs are also

explored. Cheap land and labor attract industry which, in turn, attracts more laborers.

Chapter VI, the summary and conclusions, utilizes the socio-spatial approach in

examining urban infrastructure development (i.e. roads and railways) which also reduces

adjacent land costs making housing more affordable for minorities and the poor. This

study concludes that because of historical development and capitalism's exploitation of

labor, these populations become entrenched in neighborhoods located adjacent to those

industries where contaminants are emitted.

Copyright by

Jennifer G. Cutrer

1997

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to my chair, Dan Rodeheaver, whose

meticulous editorial style and consistently high standards greatly influenced thisdissertation. The other members of the committee each contributed their own special

expertise and strengths to this endeavor. Samantha Durst, Jim Williams, Rudy Seward,John Todd challenged me to create a work that I would be proud to publish, and I thankthem for their guidance, insight and persistence.

To those who walked this path with me, I gratefully extend my heartfelt thanksfor your patience, support, and belief in my abilities. My daughter, Heather Cutrer, has

been consistently understanding of a mom who always had another mountain to climb.

Thank you for your love and support which has kept me going throughout this process.My mentor and role model, Diana Benitez, has persevered with me through the rough

times and has always showed faith in me. Thank you both for your love, encouragement,and support.

To my friends, Floy Barrett and Pat Morrow, thanks for serving as my barometer.

You knew when to encourage me to finish another chapter and when to give myself abreak and literally head for the mountains.

To my dear friends in spirit, Irving Goldaber, Raymond Kuchling, and DebbieChandler, you were my inspiration throughout this process. Your tenacity and strength in

accepting your difficult challenges serve as my beacon. To my grandmother, formerMayor Jannie C. Sciortino, thank you for teaching me so much about courage and

endurance. To my mom and dad, Jack and Josie Goudeau, your faithfulness and love forme, along with your strong belief in God and all that is right, are instilled in me. Foreach of you, I am eternally grateful. I wish you were here to share in thisaccomplishment for you served as my guardian angels during this arduous feat.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

L ist o f M aps.......................................................................................................................vii

L ist o f T ab les....................................................................................................................v iii

Chapter

I. IN TR O D U C TIO N ................................................................................................ I

Problem StatementThe Grassroots and the Claims of "Environmental Racism"Environmental Justice, Equity, and Racism DefinedThe Case of West DallasCapitalism and Its ConsequencesThe New Urban Sociology

II. LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................11

Race and EthnicityEconomic Class and Poverty

III. D ATA AN D M ETHOD S....................................................................................27

Quantitative DataThe U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyTexas Natural Resource Conservation CommissionNorth Central Texas Council of GovernmentsU.S. Bureau of the CensusMajor Violators and Their Census TractsHistorical DataData Limitations

IV. A SOCIO-HISTORICAL REVIEW OF AREAS OFCONTAMINATION IN DALLAS COUNTY.....................................................35

V

Area 1: Stemmons Industrial/Love Field CorridorTaming the TrinityGeorge Kessler and The Zoning PlanHow Dallas Became the "Can-Do" CityThe Stemmons Industrial CorridorLove FieldArea 2: West DallasWest Dallas and Its Criminal ElementWest Dallas: A Superfund SiteWest Dallas DemographicsArea 3: Southwest GarlandSummary and Conclusions

V. DALLAS COUNTY HISTORY........ ...........................-. 80

Dallas--North and SouthDallas in Black and BrownA Peculiar Housing ProblemLittle Mexico and La BajuraDallas' Formal and Informal Power StructureDallas Under the MicroscopeThe Five Separate Cities TheorySuccession in South DallasThe Pattern Remains

VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...................................................................106

The Historical AnalysisConclusionsImplications for Future Research

APPENDIX

A. Prior Studies on Environmental Equity.........................................................120B. Matrix of TNRCC and EPA Violations for

Dallas County by Census Tract...............................................................125C. Maps of Dallas County, Major Contamination Sites

and R ailroad Lines.....................................................................................133D. U.S. Census Population--1950-1990

Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor, West Dallas, andSouthw est G arland.....................................................................................143

B IB L IO G R A PH Y ............................................................................................................. 149

vi

LIST OF MAPS

Map page

Map 1 The First Six African Communities in Dallas County........................................88

M ap 2 D allas C ounty.........................................................................................134

Map 3 Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor-West Dallas-Southwest Garland in Proximity to the Entire County.................................135

Map 4 City of Dallas Standard Statistical Communitiesoverlaid on 1990 Census Tracts.....................................................................136

Map 5 Dallas County Census Map with City of Dallas Inset......................................137

Map 6 Dallas County Railroad Corridors....................................................................138

Map 7 Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor EPA andTNRCC Violations 1990 Data by Census Tract(Tracts 140.04 and 99)..................................................................................139

Map 8 Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor EPA andTNRCC Violations 1990 Data by Census Tract(Tracts 4.03 and 100) .................................................................................. 140

Map 9 West Dallas EPA and TNRCC Violations 1990 Databy C ensus T ract.............................................................................................14 1

Map 10 Southwest Garland EPA and TNRCC Violations 1990 Databy C ensus T ract..............................................................................................142

LIST OF TABLES

Table page

TABLE 1. Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Demographics 1990...............................47

TABLE 2. West Dallas Public Schools Located Within or......................61

Adjacent to the Housing Projects

TABLE 3. West Dallas Demographics 1990.........................................................68

TABLE 4. Southwest Garland Demographics 1990....................................................73

TABLE 5. Dallas County Population and Income Characteristics.................85

TABLE 6A. Southern Dallas County Neighborhood Demographics...........................104

TABLE 6B. Northern Dallas County Neighborhood Demographics...........................105

TABLE 7. Prior Studies on Environmental Equity...................................................121

TABLE 8. Dallas County Census Tracts with Highest Numbers of TNRCCOutstanding Substantive Hazardous/Solid Waste Violations andEPA Toxic Release Inventory Chemical Release Violations...............126

TABLE 9 Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor U.S. CensusPopulation Trends.................................................................................144

TABLE 10. West Dallas U.S. Census Population Trends......................145

TABLE 11. Southwest Garland U.S. Census Population Trends................................147

" " a

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This research evaluates claims that the distribution of environmental

contaminants in America falls disproportionately in city neighborhoods inhabited by

minorities and the poor. Utilizing a socio-historical analysis of the placement of

environmental contaminants in urban areas, this study contributes a more comprehensive

and systematic understanding into the intrusion of negative externalities associated with

industrial land use near residential neighborhoods. In contrast to purely statistical

applications, this analysis assesses the impact of the economic, political, and cultural

factors which shape the contours of urban areas.

Previous sociological studies have taken a quantitative analytical approach to this

issue with only one study (Krieg, 1995) attempting to analyze the socio-historical factors

which contribute to this phenomenon. These prior studies have been directed at

determining whether race or class is a more accurate predictor of the location of

contaminants. Given the complex intertwining of race and class, there is no definitive

consensus as to the more accurate predictor of the presence of pollution (Napton and

Day, 1992).

2

Problem Statement

Environmental pollution patterns in the United States are consistent with world-

wide patterns: approximately 80% of hazardous waste sites and pollution emitting

facilities are in or near communities of color, and 65% of Americans of color live in

polluted communities (Fisher, 1993). Those who claim that the distribution of

environmental contaminants disproportionately affects minorities and the poor have

support because the statistics on the location of pollution are plentiful. There are over

22,000 hazardous waste sites in the United States (Unger, Wandersman, and Hallman,

1993). "Two million tons of radioactive uranium tailings have been dumped on Native

American lands" (Adams, 1992, p. 25). "Uranium contaminated Navajo land and water

are believed to contribute to the high incidence of organ cancer in Navajo teenagers--

seventeen times the national average" (Mohai and Bryant, 1992, p. 2).

A study of toxic waste sites in the United States reported that the very young and

older persons are most vulnerable to toxic wastes. "The percentages of the population

under five years old and over 65 years of age and older show significantly higher

exposure rates in the highly contaminated areas" (Gould, 1986, p. 5). Lead poisoning of

children is considered by many to be a national epidemic. An above normal lead level in

bones is linked to more aggressive and delinquent behavior in males (Flournoy and

Loftis, 1994). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 15% of the

children in the United States have elevated blood lead levels. "The U.S. Public Health

Service has said that poor, minority children in inner cities, who are already

3

disadvantaged by inadequate nutrition and other factors, are particularly vulnerable to

lead poisoning" (Mohai and Bryant, 1992, p. 6). Among the many forms of contaminant

exposure facing the poor and minorities is above-average air pollution. "The chances of

being exposed to poor air quality in urban areas are greatest for persons in poverty, in

occupations below the management or professional level, in low-rent districts, and in the

Black population" (McCaully, 1976, p. 27).

Whether the issue involves high rates of birth deformities in the Rio Grande

Valley of South Texas or the more than 300,000 farm workers nationwide who are

estimated at being exposed to pesticides each year, the statistics are not confined to any

one region or any one minority. "Migrant workers, for instance, face the toxic triple

threat of pesticides, dump sites, and contaminated drinking water" (Ferris, 1992, p. 28).

Poor people bear the brunt of environmental dangers--from pesticides to air pollution to

toxins to occupational hazards--and their negative effects on human health and safety.

"At the same time, poor people have the fewest resources to cope with these dangers

legally, medically, or politically" (Cole, 1992, p. 621).

The problem of environmental equity also extends to enforcement. A 1992

investigation reported in the National Law Journal noted a growing racial disparity in the

enforcement of environmental law by the EPA. The report stated that violators of the

federal hazardous waste law taken to court by the EPA between 1985 and 1991 received

fines that were 500% higher for polluting White communities than for polluting minority

communities. Fines averaged $333,556 in largely White communities but only $53,318

4

in areas with the greatest minority populations (Vig and Kraft, 1994). The study also

reported that it took 20% longer for abandoned toxic waste sites to be placed on the

Superfund priority cleanup list if they were in minority rather than in White communities

(Lavelle, 1992). Not only are people of color differentially affected by industrial

pollution but they can expect different treatment when it comes to the enforcement of

laws and cleanup procedures (Gelobter, 1992).

The Grassroots and the Claim of Environmental Racism

Beginning in the early 1980s, there has been considerable interest generated by

political figures and civil rights activists regarding the exposure of African Americans to

environmental harms. The term, environmental racism, was coined in response to the

activities of the 1980s when grassroots organizations began the first major public protests

against the environmental degradation of their communities. In 1987 the United Church

of Christ's Commission on Racial Justice (UCC)issued a national report on the

characteristics of communities with hazardous waste sites. The following is a definition

of racism as proposed by this study:

Racism is racial prejudice plus power. Racism is the intentional orunintentional use of power to isolate, separate and exploit others. Thisuse of power is based on a belief in superior racial origin, identity orsupposed racial characteristics. Racism confers certain privileges on anddefends the dominant group, which in turn sustains and perpetuatesracism. Both consciously, and unconsciously, racism is enforced andmaintained by the legal, cultural, religious, educational, economic,political, environmental and military institutions of societies. Racism ismore than just a personal attitude; it is the institutionalized form of thatattitude (p. ix).

5

The concept of environmental racism, comes out of a tradition of civil rights

rather than environmental advocacy. The term was created to describe racial

discrimination in the siting of polluting industries and factories, in the enforcement of

environmental laws, and in governmental environmental policy making. It implies racial

discrimination in the enforcement of regulations and laws. It claims that racial

discrimination is the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste disposal

and the location of polluting industries. It is racial discrimination in the official

sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in communities of

color. This concept also addresses racial discrimination in the history of excluding

people of color from the mainstream environmental groups, decision-making boards,

commissions, and regulatory bodies. As a response to the charge of environmental

racism, the EPA published its position on this issue. William K. Reilly (1990),

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote:

At its core, environmental equity means fairness. It speaks to theimpartiality that should guide the application of laws designed to protectthe health of human beings... It is emerging as an issue because studies areshowing that certain groups of Americans may disproportionately sufferthe burdens of pollution. And it is emerging because across Americapeople of color are forging a constituency to put this issue squarely on thenational agenda (p. 18).

While the scientific objectivity and methodology of the UCC report is somewhat

questionable, it is important to note that this study served as an important catalyst in

pushing the environmental equity agenda to the forefront of the concern for

environmentalism in the United States. This resulted in the EPA's creation of an

6

Environmental Equity Work Group and the issuance of Executive Order No. 12898,

authorized by President Clinton in 1994, both designed to address the issue of

environmental justice in minority and low-income populations.

Environmental Justice, Equity, and Racism Defined

In 1993 The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), issued

a task force report which defined environmental racism as the inequitable distribution of

environmental hazards and other undesirable conditions based on race or ethnicity" (p.

5). However, the TNRCC stated that it prefers to concentrate on the issues of

environmental justice and equity "in order to avoid unfounded reactions to racism" (p. 6).

The report also stated that "racism is a serious charge, not to be alleged without sound

basis" (p. 5). The report also posited that it is important to emphasize that the problem is

also directed to those who are disadvantaged, regardless of color.

There is a relationship between environmental racism and environmental justice

which poses a particular challenge to sociologists in that both definitions have a tendency

to become value-laden and "loaded." Also used in the same context of the term,

environmental justice, is the concept of environmental equity. Pollock and Vittas (1995)

defined environmental equity as "the extent to which the physical and economic burdens

of pollution are evenly distributed across society" (p. 294). In order to provide a frame of

reference for this paradigm, the convergence between environmental justice and equity

must be noted. The following definition as developed by the Environmental Protection

Agency clarifies the relationship between both justice and equity:

7

Environmental justice or equity is the fair treatment of people of all races,cultures, and income with respect to the development, implementation andenforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fairtreatment means that no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic group should beara disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequencesresulting from the operation of industrial, municipal, and commercialenterprises and from the execution of federal, state and local, and tribalprograms and policies. Environmental justice seeks to ensure that thecommunities, private industry, local governments, states, tribes, federalgovernment, grassroots organizations, and individuals act responsibly andensure environmental protection to all communities (Ferris, 1992, p. 28).

The Case of West Dallas

While the environmental justice movement was gaining momentum in other parts

of the county, citizens in the minority neighborhood of West Dallas had been fighting

their own battles with the EPA, the City of Dallas, and the Dallas Housing Authority over

the effects of a lead smelter which had been polluting minority neighborhoods for

approximately fifty years. The West Dallas Coalition has been very vocal in securing

public support for its cause which has led to the area being declared a Superfund site

with millions of federal dollars devoted to its clean-up (Rodeheaver and Cutrer, 1995).

In 1994 the Coalition filed a $500 billion lawsuit against the smelter's previous and

current owners (Everbach, 1994). This suit is still pending. In August 1995, a $16.1

million lawsuit was settled against the smelter ownership requiring payment to 584

children for damages suffered to their health (Loftis and Fluornoy, 1995). While this

particular area of Dallas County has received considerable attention, the area as a whole

has not been studied inclusive of issues involving pollutants in relationship to

neighborhoods.

8

Capitalism and Its Consequences

Within the last decade, sociological research has begun to examine the concerns

that environmental pollutants and contaminants disproportionately affect minorities and

lower income Americans. While this inequality also extends to the concern about access

to environmental amenities (e.g. clean water, air, parks, and recreational facilities), the

focus of this study will be restricted to concerns regarding environmental hazardous and

solid waste sites and point-of-origin pollution sites, or what economists refer to as

"disamenities," found in communities throughout Dallas County. This begins with the

assumption that historical patterns of urban development are the results of the

convergence of capitalistic forces that are intrinsic in the progress and expansion of

urban areas.

A key political and economic force in urban development patterns is capitalism.

Urban sociology has had a long tradition in the study of capitalism and the development

of the city. A common definition of a city includes aspects of capitalism and many other

components. Feagin (1988) stated, "A city is many things: an arena for capitalistic

investment and location decisions, a set of complex labor markets, a complicated natural

and built environment, a political milieu in which various classes contend for control of

the state, and neighborhoods where individuals and households live" (p. 3). The

interaction between government, corporate structure, business and industry, along with

financial and real estate institutions provide a powerful force in deciding how urban

space is distributed--its use value and surplus value. In the words of Logan and Molotch

9it

(1987): "The city is a growth machine which begs the question, 'Who governs and who

rules...and for what?'" (p. 50). While the more powerful have been very successful in

utilizing space for a profit, those less empowered have had to struggle with this

institutional dominance.

The New Urban Sociology

Over the past two decades, two major developments in the field of urban

sociology have surfaced almost simultaneously: the sociological study of the distribution

of urban pollution, and the schism between traditional urban ecologists and the new

urban sociologists. The study of urban environmental issues has escalated over the last

fifteen years with recent studies focusing on how minorities and the poor are affected by

the placement of polluting industry and waste disposal.

Meanwhile, the proponents of the new urban sociology have challenged the once

dominant urban ecology perspective. This paradigm shift has created a cleavage among

urban sociologists who are confronted with a challenge from the new urban sociologists

who emphasize the shift to a more comprehensive theory linked systematically to

empirical research with an analysis of those cultural, economic, and political forces

shaping the contours of the city. Traditional urban ecology emphasizes the process of

economic competition, technological change, and population dynamics along with the

functionalist image of society's tendency toward collective adaptation. The new urban

sociology, on the other hand, focuses on how political systems work and how elite groups

tend to monopolize power at the expense of those less powerful. The new urban

10

sociology stresses that cities are the outcome of decision-making processes influenced or

directed by dominant classes and the state (Gottdiener, 1994).

Utilizing the new urban sociology paradigm, this dissertation examines the

distribution of certain types of environmental pollutants with respect to socio-

demographic characteristics in Dallas County, Texas. This study employs descriptive

statistics which highlight these characteristics and present a current picture of Dallas

County and the distribution of these contaminants. In order to successfully accomplish

this task, it is also important to examine the history of the contaminated areas in

comparison to those areas which are uncontaminated. This research provides a

methodological framework for a better understanding of the political economy of urban

space and the social relations which emerge along with decisions that result in the

placement of historically and potentially environmentally degrading industries near

neighborhoods.

CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

In assessing the location of environmental contaminants in or near neighborhoods

within Dallas County, this dissertation addresses the interaction of racism and social

stratification within an urban capitalist economy. This sociological perspective, also

known as the new urban sociology paradigm, "views structural racism in terms of the

weak economic and political position of certain minorities which renders them

vulnerable to racial categorization and 'scape-goating.' This process serves to legitimize

their exploitation and disadvantage in the dominant society" (Outhwaite and Bottomore,

1994, p. 540). Wellman (1977) asserts that "racism can be seen to systematically provide

economic, political, psychological, and social advantages for Whites at the expense of

Blacks and other people of color" (p. 175).

When looking at the specifics of the placement of environmental contaminants it

is important to emphasize the use of an environmental equity frame within this paradigm.

This, according to Capek (1993, p. 8), "not only includes race and ethnicity, but also

considers sex, income, and class in its concept of minorities." In other words,

environmental equity is merely another dimension of social stratification. Scholars

maintain that racism occurs when the group in power structures its social institutions so

as to maintain its dominance over other groups (Boyle, 1993). This is known as

11

12

institutional racism and has been found to greatly influence the quality of life in America.

Bullard and Feagin (1991) state that "institutionalized discrimination refers to

organizationally prescribed actions carried out routinely by numerous White people

against Blacks in various organizational settings, such as manufacturing corporations and

real estate business" (p. 60). This practice is guided by informal norms and expectations

such as real estate agencies routinely steering Blacks away from White residential

neighborhoods. In addition to steering practices, the process of redlining, whereby

financial institutions refuse to finance home loans to minorities in certain neighborhoods,

makes it difficult for Black families to get loans in White neighborhoods. Negative

externalities, such as pollution discharges to the air, water, and ground, noise vibrations,

landfills, garbage dumps, toxic waste sites, and aesthetic disamenities are often

segregated from White residential areas which attract "public goods, and are more likely

found in Black neighborhoods and are commonly known as public bads" (Bullard and

Hendrix-Wright, 1986, p. 72). Numerous incidents of direct harm to human health,

ground and surface water contamination, fires, explosions, and property damages have

occurred across the nation. This is not surprising since between 80 and 90% of all

hazardous wastes are disposed of in an unsafe manner (U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, 1994).

There is another side to this issue which is frequently ignored by environmental

justice activists and social scientists. In determining how environmental pollution is

distributed, it is important to distinguish between permanent environmental discards as in

13

the case of landfills and abandoned toxic waste sites, and that of on-site point-of-origin

toxic releases by industry. In analyzing abandoned waste sites and landfills located in

and near residential neighborhoods, it is important to study the chronology and historical

evolution of the designated area which lead to a better understanding of the processes

leading to the mix of people and pollution. Historical patterns of zoning and land uses

provide considerable insight into the invasion and succession patterns of neighborhoods.

This provides insight into the understanding of which came first--the pollutants or the

people, and what kinds of ethnic/racial and demographic shifts have occurred throughout

the process.

While there are numerous studies which assess the relationship between

environmental pollutants and population characteristics, there is a dearth of information

linking the historical factors leading to such phenomena. In Appendix A, Table 7, a

summary of these studies and their findings are listed. Between 1983 and 1996 there

were 10 ten studies that looked at the relationship between the location of environmental

contaminants and race and socioeconomic status. The following is a description of these

studies and their findings.

Race and Ethnicity

In 1983 and 1984 Robert Bullard published a study of facility locations and race

in Houston, Texas. He concluded that a long-term-pattern of siting waste facilities in

Black neighborhoods existed (Bullard, 1983). Bullard also noted that the first major

empirical study that linked municipal solid waste siting with the race of surrounding

14

residents was conducted in 1979. From the early 1920s to the late 1970s, all four of the

Houston municipal landfills and six of the eight garbage incinerators were located in

African American neighborhoods. Of the two remaining sites, one was located in a

predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, while the other, in a White neighborhood

(Bullard, 1983). Bullard (1994) argued that "Houston's lack of zoning is a major

contributing factor resulting in the disproportionate location of environmental

disamenities in nonwhite communities" (Bullard, p. 98). The conclusion that a lack of

zoning led to discriminatory facility location is surprising since it is often argued that

zoning institutionalizes discriminatory patterns by placing decision-making power in

zoning boards on which nonwhites have been underrepresented (Nelson, 1977; Fischel,

1992). Bullard's study, however, did not account for any factors other than race in the

analysis, such as class as measured by income or home values, nor did he attempt to trace

the historical elements leading to the mix of people and pollution.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) (1983) investigated the location of Toxic

Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs). Utilizing census tract data for Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) Region IV, the GAO concluded "that three of the four facilities

located in that region were in areas which were majority Black" (p. 4).

Economic Class and Poverty

Gould (1986) confirmed that the national pattern of geographic distribution of

toxic emissions duplicated roughly that of solid and liquid toxic waste generation. He

also added the factor of class in his study by reporting the level of neighborhood

15

affluence as defined by household income, home ownership, mean rents and mean home

values. He found that mean rents and mean home values were the more accurate

predictors in the location of toxic emissions. Heaviest concentrations of emissions were

in Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, and New York. Gould also

provided a list of the number of toxic waste sites in the nation by zip code. The West

Dallas area (zip code 75212) which had over 95% minority population was listed as

having nine toxic waste sites; one of the largest number of any zip codes area within

Dallas County. The mean number of toxic waste sites for the 139 Dallas County zip

codes was 1.16. Only one other zip code (75050) which was over 70% minority and

located in Grand Prairie had more. Its northern boundary is formed by Interstate 30, a

major east-west highway, where industrial development has been concentrated

(Rodeheaver and Cutrer, 1995, p. 207). This Grand Prairie zip code abuts the West

Dallas neighborhood and reportedly had ten toxic waste sites (Gould, 1986). These data

were obtained by the EPA on a self-reporting basis in 1980 and did not indicate the level

of violations, but are only an indication of the magnitude of waste generation during that

time period. The City of Garland, which will be discussed later in this dissertation as

having a high rate of violations, recorded 14 toxic waste sites spanning three zip code

tracts (75040, 75041, and 75042) in 1980.

Bullard (1994) argued for taking a more historical approach to understanding the

relationship between American racism and the location of pollution. However, he

posited that race is the driving force in the development and use of land. While his

16

research started with the premise that the federal government is the "proximate and

essential cause of urban apartheid in the United States" (p. 6), he seemed determined to

present his data in an effort to both inspire and fire social activists in a direction devoid

of the rational economics of the exchange and use values of land. There is no doubt that

race and class are strong variables in understanding urban development, zoning patterns,

industrial and manufacturing locations, but Bullard apparently forgot that the driving

force of this system is profit, not racism. While the race and class stratification patterns

in America indicate that there is a strong covariance, it is the historical and institutional

policies and decision making which maintain the status quo. His book amounts to little

more than a handbook for activists, and while it is enlightening and inspiring, it lacks the

objectivity and scientific methods which would make it a profound analysis of the

economic and political forces which affect race relations in the United States.

Three major studies, (United Church of Christ, 1987; Mohai and Bryant, 1992;

and Anderton, Anderson, Oakes and Fraser, 1994), each has methodological problem

areas which result in the inconsistencies in empirical evidence. A review of these studies

suggests a more thorough refinement of methodology and data analyses should be

developed in addressing this problem.

The first study with claims of environmental racism was spurred by a grassroots-

led movement to prevent the dumping of polycholorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Warren

County, North Carolina. As a result, the United Church of Christ's Commission on

Racial Justice issued a report in 1987 examining the relationship between the social and

17

economic characteristics of communities bounded by five-digit level zip codes, and the

presence of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs). The

study found the following:

(1) three out of five African Americans (15 million) and Hispanics (8million) lived in communities with one or more uncontrolled toxic waste

sites; (2) three of the five largest commercial hazardous waste landfillswere located in predominately African American or Latino communitiesand accounted for 40 percent of the nation's total estimated landfillcapacity in 1986; and (3) African Americans were heavily over-represented in the population of cities with the largest number ofabandoned toxic waste sites, which included Memphis, St. Louis,

Houston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Atlanta (p. xiv).

This study looked at three demographic variables: race, mean household income,

and value of owner-occupied homes. With its emphasis on racism, this study is not as

scientifically sound as those presented by the researchers who conducted their studies

within the confines of academic and governmental settings without a preset agenda. The

methodology employed has been questioned in later studies for attempting to confirm

through the use of multivariate analysis that there is a causal relationship between race

and the presence of contaminants. While it lacks scientific rigor, this research does play

an important role in serving as a triggering mechanism in catapulting the issue of

environmental equity into a more prominent role in the American environmental agenda.

Mohai and Bryant (1992) conducted a study in the Detroit area by interviewing a

sample of 793 residents in an attempt to look at the relationship between proximity of

commercial hazardous waste facilities and race and income. Race was found to be the

best predictor in this study. Race in this study was measured using the following

18

categories: White, Black, and nonwhite. Blacks and nonwhites were combined in the

category "Minority."

Anderton, Anderson, Oakes and Fraser (1994) suggested that methodological

flaws were evident in both the UCC and Mohai and Bryant studies. The UCC (1987)

study utilized the percent of population for each zip code, which combined African

Americans and persons of Hispanic origin. These data also made no distinctions among

different racial groups, such as Asians and Native Americans (p. 63). Mohai and Bryant

(1992) used regression models which specified proximity as a function of only two

variables, race and income. According to the researchers, "These models, however, left a

great deal of unexplained variance with adjusted R-squares at .06 in one model and .04

in another, which raised questions about the completeness of the model specification" (p.

175).

Anderton et al. (1994) utilized census tract data in isolating three demographic

variables: race, and two proxy variables--socioeconomic status (SES) and nature of area.

The dependent variable was presence of TSDFs. Their variables included percentage of

Blacks and Hispanics; SES ( families below poverty line, households receiving public

assistance, employment of males in labor force, number employed in manufacturing and

industry); and mean value of housing stock. Comparisons were made between census

tracts which had TSDFs and those which did not. Data were collected at the census tract

level for all ten EPA regions. They concluded that "there was no support for the general

claim of environmental inequity based on race" (p. 243). Housing values were lower and

19

number of population employed in manufacturing were higher in tracts with TSDFs.

This may be due to availability of work force and preference for living near employment.

The Anderton et al. study (1994), however, utilized 1980 census data along with data

locating TSDFs that existed before 1990 which had not ceased operation. "This temporal

mismatch meant they had to drop 82 TSDFs from the analysis in areas not tracked in

1980--a large number considering their working sample had at best about 400 cases" (p.

232).

Anderton et al. (1994) also noted that equity/inequity itself is not a concept which

is sufficiently well specified to determine an appropriate unit of analysis. Factors

influencing site selection for TSDFs may vary by location with such considerations as

access to transportation facilities or proximity to customers and other industry. This

indicates that quantitative data alone are insufficient in explaining patterns of location,

and that an historical analysis of development patterns may shed more information on the

process and correlation.

Mohai and Bryant (1992) also did a meta-analysis in an attempt to determine

whether the distribution of environmental hazards was simply a function of poverty or

race/ethnicity. They analyzed the results of 15 studies which detailed systematic and

objective information about the social distribution of environmental hazards. Publication

dates of these studies ranged from 1971 through 1992. The distribution of pollution was

found to be inequitable by income, and with only one exception, inequitable by race. In

20

five out of eight cases where the relative importance of each was evaluated, race was

more strongly related than income.

Pollock and Vittas (1995) interjected a more complex model of understanding

pollution exposure while stating that the roots of environmental equity lie in the

understanding of a more comprehensive social and economic mode. Their study

analyzed two data sources: (1) information from EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) on

point-of-generation releases of regulated chemicals by reporting facilities; and (2) socio-

demographic data measured at the census block group level for the State of Florida. The

variables utilized were race and ethnicity, housing indicators (rents and housing values),

and occupational patterns, specifically manufacturing and wholesale employment. The

measure of pollution was analyzed by determining the proximity of point-of-generation

releases measured in miles along with a logarithmic model of exposure as some function

of distance. The researchers concluded "that although occupational and housing patterns

account for much of the variation in the proximity to pollution, there is persistent

inequity in potential exposure across racial groups" (p. 294). The researchers, however,

noted that there exist other empirical questions which must not be ignored and that "the

nature of environmental equity must be viewed in the context of understanding other

'exogenous variables' that shape potential exposure and share 'unanalyzed' covariance

with race" (p. 308). There are other factors that are powerfully shaped by race which

must be considered in causal analysis. Location of factories, and cheap labor and

housing near employment are also influenced by political decisions (e.g. infrastructure

21

investments), zoning practices, annexation measures, and the placement, realignment,

and condition of transportation corridors. Understanding these influences on social

inequity would lead to a more complete understanding of environmental equity.

In a study utilizing Texas cities, Napton and Day (1992) compared the

socioeconomic composition of 40 neighborhoods most severely affected by air pollution

to 40 randomly selected metropolitan neighborhoods in the state. Utilizing Texas Air

Control Board data, El Paso, parts of Texas City, Houston, and Port Neches were

determined to have major air pollution hazard zones. Utilizing census tract areas within

one mile of each neighborhood, the concentration of polluting industries was delineated.

The dependent variables were classified under two major headings: those which

described people and those which described places. Characteristics of persons and

families included: age, race, education, employment, income, and family make-up.

Characteristics of places included: "home ownership, age of housing unit median value,

and stability (number of years occupied by renters or owners)" (p. 519). Their results

showed that the most discriminating independent variable was mean rent. Contrary to

expectations, the mean rent paid in the study (or polluted area) was higher that that of the

control area. The second most discriminating variable was years occupied by renters,

while the third most discriminating variable was the percentage of population over 64

years of age. "Compared to the population of the control area, the population of the

study area is younger, families are larger, and fewer families are headed by women. The

residents were more likely to be White and have more schooling" (p. 521). Napton and

22

Day (1992) suggested that as job opportunities arise near polluting industries, people are

willing to pay more for housing and tolerate the airborne pollutants in order to be near

jobs.

Utilizing the greater Boston area, Krieg (1995) attempted a socio-historical

interpretation of toxic waste sites. He concluded that his study "empirically documents

the existence of environmental racism" (p. 2). Krieg actually presented a stronger case

for refuting the argument that this exists, because he demonstrates that the determinants

of pollutants are much more complex and are a result of land use patterns, transportation

routes, and the historical development of urban and suburban areas. Krieg also made a

strong case for the use of the historical perspective in the use and development of urban

space. Utilizing state and federal Superfund sites as his dependent variable, he compared

areas with a long history of industrial development with those having a more recent

history. His independent variables included race (nonwhite, both Black and Hispanic)

and what he defined as a class variable (percent of population with a bachelor's degree

and median household income). He found that towns with a history of industrial activity

had the greatest number of waste sites, and that many were located near a major roadway.

Krieg concluded that the relationship between race and location of waste sites is

significant; however, his definition of class does not capture a composite picture of the

population. An analysis of occupational categories, employment rates of those working

in manufacturing and industry, along with home values and rents would present a more

complete picture. While advising that his statistics are associations and not causally

23

linked, he noted "that the spatio-temporal relations are complex and that the sociological

approach must emphasize utilization of the historical paradigm" (p. 10).

The following studies seem to raise more challenges in the study of the placement

of environmental contaminants. Anderton et al. (1994), for instance, stated that "inequity

in itself is not a concept which is sufficiently well specified to determine an appropriate

geographic unit of analysis" (p. 243). Some factors influencing site selection may be

localized (e.g., the value of a specific potential site location or access to a transportation

facility) whereas others may be global (such as proximity to customers or to other

regional industrial operations). Pollock and Vittas (1995) also noted that "while

exogenous variables, such as race, education, and income are important in the model,

endogenous variables such as patterns of urbanization, population density, and housing

values must also be analyzed" (p. 307). Napton and Day (1992) noted "that in many

instances people move into areas because of job opportunities in industry and lower land

and housing costs" (p. 524). The researchers posed a very simple, yet insightful,

question: "How aware are these people of the hazardous environment in which they

live?"

Yandle and Burton (1996) presented a statistical analysis of historical hazardous

waste landfill siting patterns in metropolitan Texas. Their findings suggested that there

was no positive correlation between the proximity of nonwhite populations and the siting

of hazardous waste landfills at the time of landfill siting. Instead, relative to the

metropolitan area as a whole, these facilities were located more often in White than

24

nonwhite neighborhoods. They, however, disputed the racial relationship as presented in

prior studies, and reaffirmed the past findings that hazardous waste landfills are

overwhelmingly located in poor communities. Yandle and Burton (1996) stated that

since "it is generally accepted that poverty and nonwhite communities appear together,

thus one would anticipate a positive relationship between race, low income, and the

siting of hazardous landfills" (p. 489). While not providing any supporting data, the

researchers proposed that population density might be a contributing factor in the siting

of hazardous waste landfills. Their model suggested a negative relationship between

high population density and hazardous waste landfills. This study also demonstrated that

the environmental justice issue is considerably more complex than many studies to date

have represented.

Bullard (1996) accused Yandle and Burton (1996) of "reducing environmental

justice to hazardous waste facility siting" (p. 493). Bullard proposed what he considers a

clear definition of environmental justice: "Environmental justice embraces the principle

that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and

public health laws and regulation" (p. 464). He warned the researchers that

environmental justice and environmental racism are not the same thing. He defined

environmental racism as "any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or

disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities

based on race or color" (p. 497). He also accused the researchers of failing to provide an

accurate socio-historical context in their reexamination of hazardous waste sitings. In his

25

critique of the Yandle and Burton research, Bullard listed explicit governmental and

business processes which preceded the call for environmental justice. He stated:

As with other social movements (i.e., antiwar, civil rights, women rights,etc.), the environmental justice movement emerged as a response toindustry and government practices, policies, and conditions that manypeople judged to be unjust, unfair, and illegal. Some of these practices,policies, and conditions include (1) unequal enforcement ofenvironmental, civil rights, and public health laws, (2) differentialexposure of some populations to harmful chemicals, pesticides, and othertoxins in the home, school, neighborhood and workplace, (3) faultyassumptions in calculating and assessing risks, (4) discriminatory zoningand land-use practices, and (5) exclusionary policies and practices thatlimit some individuals and groups from participation in decision making(Bryant and Mohai, 1992; Bullard, 1987, 1994, 1996; Hurley, 1995) (p.489).

Mohai (1996) and Anderton (1996) also posed challenges to the Yandle and

Burton study. Mohai challenged the Yandle and Burton study by fueling the debate

regarding the appropriate unit of analysis: zip code areas versus census tracts. Mohai

also challenged accuracy of the researchers' mathematical calculations and the selection

of their statistical procedures. While these arguments might contribute to the rigor of

methodological applications, they do little to broaden the scope of understanding as to

how people and pollutants became interconnected as a result of the historical use of

urban space and neighborhood development. The data merely strengthens the argument

that expanding the knowledge of this historical process will provide considerable insight

into how people and contaminants are enjoined. Different types of industries and sites

each has their own dynamics as to how land use (issues of annexation, zoning and costs

26

of the land), labor force pull factors, and economic and social demographics resulted in

the placement of contaminating industries and landfills. As Anderton (1996) stated,

that while Yandle and Burton's study is one of very few empiricallongitudinal studies, all such studies of environmental equity are questionsof prevalent practices within jurisdictions. No local area within apopulation can be presumed to have a pattern of equity equivalent to thewhole. No one study is likely to determine whether any specificenvironmental inequities are prevalent, spurious, or sporadic across allenvironmental burdens and jurisdictions (p. 509).

In summation, the major accomplishments of the past research have been three-

fold: (1) that the identification of environmental equity and its companion terms

environmental racism and justice are extremely difficult concepts to study in that no

substantive, quantifiable measures have been developed to measure such concepts; (2)

recognition that significant differences in the findings exist between the different

geographic units of analysis, and among different polluting variables (TSDFs, point-of-

origin pollutants, and landfills), and (3) that environmental racism appears to be a "by-

product" of other larger social and institutional forces at work. Only by expanding the

socio-historical model to include an explanation of the interaction among the political,

economic, institutional, and social forces and decision-making processes can we better

understand the causal links between the spatial distribution of minorities and the poor in

our nation's urban areas.

CHAPTER I11

DATA AND METHODS

This research examines the relationship between the distribution of

environmental contaminants and the social, economic, and demographic characteristics

of Dallas County. This research matches location of environmental contaminants with

census tract neighborhoods in order to provide a better understanding of how

contaminants become located with people. The census tract was chosen as the unit of

analysis because when they were first delineated by the Census Bureau, they were

designed to be homogeneous with respect to population characteristics, economic status,

and living conditions. Also, census tracts do not cross county boundaries (Bureau of the

Census, 1993).

The primary intent of this dissertation is to identify those neighborhoods in which

there are high levels of contaminants and to conduct a social and historical analysis of

those factors which led to this particular mix of people and pollutants. This research

traces the patterns of urban development by identifying those factors, decisions, and

dynamics leading to the pollution of these neighborhoods. This study addresses the

question: Which came first--the pollution or the people? In order to do this, the social,

economic, and demographic characteristics of Dallas County neighborhoods are

examined over a time period from 1940 to 1990. Furthermore, in order to understand

27

28

these changes in characteristics, data and historical analyses are presented which trace

the patterns of decision making by policy makers, industries and residents.

Quantitative Data

In this research, the statistical data was drawn from the following four sources:

(1) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2) The Texas Natural Resource

Conservation Commission (TNRCC), (3) The North Central Texas Council of

Governments (NCTCOG), and (4) The U.S. Bureau of the Census. These data sources

are all available to the public and are the most comprehensive data in existence which

can describe social and environmental characteristics within census tract neighborhoods.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

Data for Dallas County were obtained from the 1990 Toxic Release Inventory

(TRI) which provides information on the release and transfer of over 300 chemicals. The

EPA's annual information on the TRI is authorized under section 313 of the Emergency

Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986. The TRI contains data on

industries which release and transfer over 300 chemicals and categories of chemicals

from facilities with 10 or more full time employees. The Right-to-Know Act also

requires facilities that process or manufacture more than 25,000 pounds per year of

certain types of chemicals to submit reports on the quantity of each chemical which enter

each medium-air, land and water-on an annual basis. Although this data is self-

reporting, it is the most comprehensive listing of chemical releases, and the accuracy of

these reports are monitored by the EPA. Of those reports sampled and reviewed each

29

year, the EPA reports a 90 to 95% accuracy. These data are found in Appendix B, Table

8.

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

The TNRCC data for FY' 92 on the location of hazardous and solid waste sites in

Dallas County were obtained from The Annual Report of the Hazardous and Solid Waste

Program- 1992. This is the first comprehensive public report issued by the TNRCC on

the status of waste handlers in Texas. Since this research is concerned with the location

of violators, the categories reported in this study include: (1) Significant Violators

(Alleged) adjudicated from FY-89-FY-91; and (2) Facilities with Outstanding

Substantive Violations since FY-89 through FY-91. The data is also located in Appendix

B, Table 8. This report is authorized by the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act of the Texas

Health and Safety Code and identifies those facilities which have been inspected in 1992

with information for substantive violations for the preceding three years.

North Central Texas Council of Governments

Data utilized for this study came from the NCTCOG's Wasteline, Computerized

Directory of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Facilities--I991 report on the

location of solid waste management facilities in Dallas County. This report gives the

location and size of all active landfills and transfer stations which are located in the

county. This information is utilized for planning purposes by the member cities in the

North Central Texas area which includes Dallas County. This is the most current report

of the solid and hazardous waste management sites within the county. A review of this

30

data has found that of the landfills and transfer stations found within the county only one

is located in an area where high numbers of EPA and TNRCC violators are located.

Since these sites are monitored by the respective cities, the EPA, and the TNRCC, there

are no reported violations within the areas of this research which are identified with high

rates of pollution.

U.S. Bureau of the Census

Data for the years 1950 through 1990 for Dallas County were collected on race

and income at the census tract level for those five decennial years for all the census tracts

in Dallas County. Descriptive demographic data for each of the 24 cities in Dallas

County are provided in Table 5, Chapter V. Census data is also provided in Appendix B,

Table 8 for all 35 census tracts listing violations by both the EPA and TNRCC agencies.

The population demographics for those areas which are being analyzed in this study are

found in Appendix D, Tables 9 through 11.

Major Violators and Their Census Tracts

The tracts analyzed in this dissertation and found in Appendix B, Table 8 were

selected in the following manner. A list of violators as detailed in the TNRCC 1992

Annual Report of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Program was compiled. Of the 415

census tracts located in Dallas County, 35 were found to have a least one violator. This

list was then cross referenced with the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory for 1990. The

information provided in this table details the number of people located in each tract, the

percent minority (Blacks and Hispanics), and the median family income. Of the 35

31

census tracts presented, 15 were selected for study because each reported a total of seven

or more total violations--almost double the highest amount reported in each of the

remaining tracts. Those 15 tracts appear shaded in the table.

The 15 identified tracts were coincidentally located in three major geographical

areas of Dallas County as shown in Appendix C, Map 3: (1) Stemmons Industrial/Love

Field Corridor (four tracts), (2) West Dallas (four tracts), and (3) Southwest Garland

(seven tracts). Only one site in Dallas County (Tract 104) is designated a Federal

Superfund Site. This is the location of a former battery recycling plant, RSR Lead

Smelter, which began operations in the early 1930s and closed in 1984. Its history and

demise is detailed in Chapter IV.

Next, census data for the 15 tracts were obtained for the five decennial census

periods between 1950 and 1990. These data are reported in Appendix D. The data

include total population, race, and income for each track. Race is categorized into three

class: White, Black or African American, and Hispanic, which are the three dominant

racial and ethnic groups in Dallas County. Median family income is the variable utilized

to report the income characteristics for each tract.

The remaining census tracts presented in Appendix B had violations recorded at

four or less. These are not analyzed in this study, although demographic data are

reported in the matrix. Of the remaining 380 census tracts not reported in Appendix B,

only 54 or 14.1% have violators numbering between one and four and only one tract has

32

a total of five violators. This means that 85.5% of all census tracts in Dallas County have

no violators currently listed by the EPA and TNRCC.

Only one census tract in Dallas County had a site designated as a State Superfund

Site during the study time frame. It is located in the southwestern portion of Dallas

County in the City of Hutchins (Census Tract 169.02). This tract contains 2,928 residents

of which 52.4% are minority and have a median income of $28,799, and is the location

of the Bestplate Metal Fabrication and Plating Company which is considered a low-

ranking waste site with a hazard ranking score of 3.2. The TNRCC ranks hazardous

waste sites on a scale from 1 to 28. If a site is ranked higher than 28, it becomes a

Federal Site and is turned over to the EPA for enforcement (TNRCC, 1996). As of 1993,

this site is in the final stages of remediation.

Another area in the county, however, is being evaluated by TNRCC at this

writing for consideration as a state Superfund site. This site is located within the city of

Dallas (Census Tract 89) and was identified as a major area of concern in the early 1980s

when the West Dallas problem surfaced. The site contains two plants which also

recycled batteries--Dixie Metals and NL Industries. "These two plants are situated

directly across the street from one another and are now closed. This location lies in the

southeastern portion of Oak Cliff' (Real, 1990, p. 3A). The tract is a primarily low-

income Black and Hispanic community known as Cadillac Heights. It has a median

income of $12,344 and is the home to 4,696 residents of which 99% are minority (U.S.

Bureau of the Census, 1990). It has not yet been added to the TNRCC list of significant

33

violators because some cleanup has been done by the owners and the site is still being

evaluated.

Historical Data

After having identified the Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor, West

Dallas, and Southwest Garland areas as appropriate for analysis, research data on the

economic, social, and political factors and population demographics were gathered.

Appendix C, Map 3 shows in detail the exact locations of each area in relationship to the

rest of the county. Secondary sources such as public library records, governmental

technical reports, historical documents, newspaper articles, and memoranda and letters

were utilized. Throughout this process it became evident that the forces which created

these neighborhoods as they exist today are very complex and extend over a very long

period of time. Considerable research remains undone because some of the more dated

official city documents pertaining to the development are not readily available and not

readily accessible. This research, however, does provide the foundation for a more

extensive review of urban development in Dallas County.

Data Limitations

The primary limitations of this study involve the use of secondary data. Census

data is the only source of demographic data for Dallas County over the span of the 50

year time frame used for this study. The data, however, have been inconsistently

gathered over the years as racial categories have changed over time. Hispanics, for

instance, have been included as Whites until 1970. After that time, they have been

34

counted under the category of "Hispanic Surname," which means they are also counted as

being either White or Black. This makes it difficult to get precise numbers on each racial

category reported.

The EPA data also has limitations in that chemical release and remission rates are

gathered on a self-reporting basis, meaning the exact numbers are not verifiable. Only

about 5% of the total industries reporting are sampled and verified each year. Second, a

number of industries, including plastics, are exempt from reporting. Third, unless a

certain amount of waste is produced annually by an industry, it does not have to be

reported. This prohibits analysis of the cumulative effects of pollution from industries

that emit levels below reporting levels.

TNRCC data is also self-reporting. Although the agency does monitor violators

who are identified in their violator programs, the monitoring program consists of random

surveys of only about 15% of industries in the county. In addition the agency is

responsible for the supervision of remediation programs in progress. While neither the

EPA nor the TNRCC provides estimates on the accuracy of the self-reporting data

acquired from industries, the data do provide considerable insight into the extent of the

known locations of environmental pollutants in Dallas County.

CHAPTER IV

A SOCIO-HISTORICAL REVIEW OF AREAS OF CONTAMINATION

IN DALLAS COUNTY

This chapter discusses the history and development of the three areas of Dallas

County with the highest numbers of both EPA and TNRCC violators. Those areas are: (1)

the Stemmons Industrial /Love Field Corridor; (2) West Dallas; and (3) Southwest

Garland. These areas are shown outlined in Appendix C, Map 3 which indicates each

area in relationship to the rest of the county. Maps corresponding to the contaminated

census tracts are found in Appendix C, Maps 7-10. The actual locations of the violators

are marked by "E" for the Environmental Protection Agency which reports the release of

hazardous chemicals, and "T" for the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

which reports the location of hazardous and solid waste sites. Names of violators by

census tract are found in Appendix B, Table 8. Only one census tract (4.03) which has

evidence of both EPA and TNRCC violations has a municipal landfill located within its

boundaries. This landfill is marked by "M."

Area 1;:temmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor

The Stemmons Industrial area, also known as the Trinity Industrial District, is

detailed by census tracts in Appendix C, Maps 7 and 8. The Industrial District consists of

35

36

four census tracts--140.02, 99, and 100. Adjacent and east of Tract 100 is another key

tract, 4.03, which is the location of Dallas Love Field. The western boundary of these

first three census tracts is formed by the Trinity River, which winds into downtown

Dallas as it veers east at the southern boundary of Tract 100. The first tract, 140.02,

forms the western boundaries of the cities of Carrollton and Farmers Branch. The second

and third tracts (99 and 100), adjacent and south of Tract 140.02, form the western

boundary of the City of Dallas.

Understanding the relationship between structure and agency is key to the

explanation of the growth dynamics in the formation of the Trinity Industrial District as

local visionaries and agencies (both public and private) came together to turn this area

into Dallas' first major industrial area. The three key actors in the development of this

area were R.L. Thornton, John W. Carpenter, and Leslie A. Stemmons--the men whose

names are on the three major freeways which intersect the City of Dallas.

Taming the Trinity

The development of Trinity River Corridor in Dallas County began with Leslie A.

Stemmons. At the age of thirteen, he assumed the responsibility for support of his family

after the death of his father in 1890. His father, a distinguished Confederate colonel, had

moved his family to a farm in the Oak Cliff area after the Civil War. Leslie began

operating a gravel pit and a lime kiln adjacent to the Trinity flood plain and north of Oak

Cliff. After the business was able to sustain the family, he turned it over to a partner so

that he could resume his education. After high school and a brief enrollment in

37

ministerial college, he transferred to the University of Chicago where "he undertook

special studies and investigations in municipal government, political economy, and

commercial law" (Baker, 1988: 45). His goal was to return to Dallas and "harness the

Trinity River." He began that quest after having made an extended trip to the Panama

Canal in 1902 and witnessing a devastating flood in Dallas in 1908 that separated Dallas

and Oak Cliff. In 1910, Leslie Stemmons was introduced to George Kessler, a noted city

planner, who helped lay out the ground for the State Fair of Texas and later the city's first

comprehensive plan. Kessler and his vision were to have a profound effect on Stemmons

and his contributions to the growth of Dallas.

George Kessler and The Zoning Plan

In the interim, the City of Dallas acquired its Home Rule Charter in 1915 and

enacted its first zoning charter amendment aimed at protecting neighborhoods from

business encroachment (Warner, 1972; Toll, 1969). Racial, as well as commercial

segregation, played a role in the early ordinance as the City Council also approved a

second zoning charter amendment that provided for racial segregation by blocks (City of

Dallas, 1915). The ordinance limited the "colored race" to "all persons of African

descent" and classified all others as members of the White race." This ordinance,

however, specifically exempted servants' quarters (Black, 1992: 127). Even though the

Black population in Dallas was locked into a few major concentrations, the racial

tensions sweeping the country convinced civic leaders that the city should codify its

existing de facto policies of residential segregation (City of Dallas, 1916; Wade, 1964).

38

"It is also important to note that in 1927, the State of Texas enacted a law authorizing all

its municipalities to provide separate residential districts based on race. By that time the

City of Dallas' racial zoning ordinance had been in place for 12 years" (Dubin, 1993, p.

47). The Texas State law remained on the books until it was repealed in 1969. Dallas

removed its amendment from the charter in the same year.

In 1918, through the sponsorship of George B. Dealey and his newspaper, the

Dallas Morning News, Kessler returned to Dallas to develop the city's first

comprehensive plan. He recommended the creation of a planning commission and the

development of a comprehensive zoning ordinance. In 1919 the City formed its first

planning commission, which appointed a zoning review committee headed by Leslie

Stemmons (Black, 1982, p. 127). Meanwhile, the highly charged issue of comprehensive

zoning was to have a very stormy and lengthy negotiating period.

In 1925, the City of Dallas appointed a committee to implement the Kessler Plan-

-the Ulrickson Committee. It was named after Charles Ulrickson, the head of the Trinity

Portland Cement Company. Its members also included Harry Olmsted, who ran

Olmsted-Kirk Paper Company, and Leslie Stemmons, who was by then a successful

residential developer who stimulated residential growth in the Oak Cliff area. The

committee recommended that the city, county, and property owners enter into a

cooperative effort in constructing levees and flood control projects for the protection of

10,500 acres of land from flood waters. A three man Board of Supervisors for the Trinity

39

Levee District was appointed to manage the construction project--one of whom already

had major land holdings in the area--Leslie Stemmons.

At this time, Stemmons united with a Tulsa oilman, E.P. Harwell, who had

invested a large sum of his fortune in several farms along the Trinity River in

northwestern Dallas County, and whose organization had built levees around the farms to

create profitable agricultural districts. Stemmons and Harwell formed the Industrial

Properties Corporation in 1928 for the purpose of developing about 1,500 acres of river

bottom adjacent to downtown Dallas. Many of the other landowners in the vicinity had

little faith in the new land speculation project, and the corporation took that opportunity

to buy them out.

It was not until 1929, that city officials finally passed the first comprehensive

zoning ordinance (City of Dallas, 1929). "Given the make up of the planning

commission and the zoning committee (businessmen, land developers, and industrialists),

it is no surprise that the final plan for Dallas 'over-zoned' by 12% for the amount of land

needed for industrial and commercial zoning over the next 15 years" (Black, 1982, p.

159). The intent was to lock industry into the plentiful land near the river levees and in

West Dallas. The recommendation by Kessler was that a wind survey indicated Dallas

winds blew southwesterly 82% of the time, and that nuisance industries should be limited

to the West Dallas area and across the Trinity River. This angered the Oak Cliff

Rotarians whose residential neighborhoods lay just south of the area. Also hostile to this

action were the railroads, which played a large part of in the development of the Trinity

40

Levee District. Three railroads, which are now the Burlington Northern, the Rock Island

and the Union Pacific lines (Appendix C, Map 6) served the area, and their leaders were

not included in the planning of this endeavor. The railroad companies began mounting

opposition against the Levee District and hired an attorney to investigate the plan.

How Dallas Became the "Can-Do" City

The railroads, however, were not to prevail in the attempt to stop the Levee

Supervisors from having their way. In a preemptive move, the Board, led by Leslie

Stemmons, surreptitiously had bonds printed in Galveston before an injunction could be

filed by the railroads. These bonds were then delivered discreetly to the attorney general

in Austin for his approval. The three supervisors then stuffed the bonds into eight

suitcases and brought them to Dallas by automobile in a high-speed drive. The

supervisors were so concerned with the possibility of an interception of their $6.5 million

treasure that they armed themselves. Arriving at Stemmon's Oak Cliff home, they packed

up Stemmon's ninety-year-old mother and sent her to Chicago by train ostensibly to visit

relatives. A stateroom had been reserved for Mrs. Stemmons, and the Pullman porter

was surprised at the amount of luggage possessed by the elderly lady--each carried on by

a "friend." He was also surprised at the armed escort led by her son, a solemn Leslie

Stemmons. In Chicago the bank officials met Mrs. Stemmons at the depot with an

armored car, collected the suitcases, and quickly conducted a private sale of the entire

bond issue. All this was done before opponents could devise their legal strategies and get

to the courthouse (Payne, 1994; Baker, 1988).

41

Unfortunately, during the late 1920s and early 30s, two major developments dealt

a set back to the plans of the Levee District. The first was a mounting opposition to the

Board of Supervisors of the District, and the second was the depression launched by the

stock market crash of 1929. The opposition was fueled by Edwin Kiest of the Dallas

Times Herald who was convinced that Leslie Stemmons was a swindler capitalizing on

this giant opportunity aided by a massive infusion of public bond money. During the

next ten years, the Industrial Properties Corporation floundered and sold off much of its

property at public auction to pay delinquent taxes. Meanwhile, over the years of the

Depression, fifty or sixty squatter families moved into the area. Leslie Stemmons died in

1939 leaving his dreams unfulfilled, but his sons, John and Storey, were able to salvage

the company by buying back much of the land their father sold. "Under new

management, their fortunes began to soar. John Stemmons worked to establish the

Dallas County Flood Control District which erected the Turtle Creek pressure sewer

which channeled water underground, thus reducing the possibility of flooding in the

Trinity Industrial District" (Baker, 1988, p. 53).

The development of this area became linked to that of West Dallas as civic

leaders turned their efforts onto three priorities: dam-building, transportation, and slum

clearance in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These efforts began to create a value for the

near worthless land in the flood plain of the Trinity River. Throughout the public sector

in the 1940s and SOs, local governments began taking advantage of their eminent domain

authority granted under urban renewal legislation to raze expanding Black neighborhoods

42

that threatened key White institutions and districts, and they used federal funds to

construct massive public housing projects in order to contain displaced Black residents

(Bauman, 1987).

As concerns regarding the slum areas of West Dallas escalated, the City of Dallas

employed two techniques to spur development: public seizure of private property and

securing urban renewal money from the Federal Government. In 1951, Stemmons and an

entire delegation of Dallas business leaders lobbied the House Appropriations Committee

for funds to provide a flood-control system to accompany enormous reservoir projects

that were already underway along the Trinity watershed. "The process would entail four

steps: 1) annex West Dallas, 2) pressure the U.S. Corps of Engineers to protect the land

from flooding, 3) move the Black residents to a concentration of public housing, and 4)

resell the neatly dried out, plumbed and de-Africanized land to private parties for

development" (Schutze, 1986, p. 63).

John Carpenter, then president of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, was

planning to build an entirely new city called Las Colinas on the rolling hills northwest of

Dallas and was in the process of obtaining the support of the local financial institutions

and industrial developers. John Stemmons was also attempting to develop the Trinity

area with industry and warehouses. Carpenter, however, adamantly opposed the plan of

taking homes by force, but he was not to win this debate. He questioned the sincerity of

those who expressed concern for those in West Dallas by raising the question that if the

city was truly concerned about West Dallas, why hadn't it incorporated the area years ago

43

since the problem had been festering since the Depression. The answer was obvious--if

Dallas had done so, they would have had to spend its own money to do it. By the end of

1951, John Stemmons' Trinity Industrial District--a near empty wasteland five years

earlier--was home to 320 brand-new industrial and warehousing buildings, with 40 more

under construction. Some 200 additional firms had purchased land in the district and

were weighing their options on whether or not to build (Schutze, 1987).

By 1955 the Stemmons Company had donated 102.25 acres to the State of Texas

and the City of Dallas to construct a major freeway for a north-south roadway through

Dallas extending from Laredo on the Mexican border and connecting to other highways

leading to Canada. This gift added tremendous value to the Industrial District and was

named after Leslie A. Stemmons. This made Dallas the first city in the nation to begin a

completely new highway under the Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 (Baker, 1988). By

1959, another major artery was opened, the John W. Carpenter Freeway, connecting the

City of Irving (the site of Carpenter's planned community, Las Colinas) with downtown

Dallas. These two freeways converge in the center of Census Tract 100 (Appendix C,

Map 8).

In 1963, Trammel Crow, the noted developer and building pioneer, began

purchasing sites from the Stemmons Company leading to the development of what are

the current sites of a major internationally recognized marketing area. These are, most

notably, the Infomart, the Dallas World Trade Center, the Dallas Apparel Mart, and the

44

renowned Parkland Health and Hospital System and the University of Texas

Southwestern Medical Center.

The Stemmons Industrial Corridor

Appendix D, Table 9 details the population trends for the Stemmons

Industrial/Love Field Corridor for the census periods between 1950 and 1990.

Census Tracts 140.02, 99 and 100 makeup what is called the Stemmons Industrial

Corridor while the Love Field area is defined by Census Tract 4.03.

Prior to the annexation in the 1950s, the Stemmons Industrial Corridor was

included in an unincorporated area of Dallas County known as Precinct 8 (Appendix C,

Map 5). It was made up of large portion of northwest Dallas County where the Cities of

Irving, Farmers Branch, and Carrollton are now located. The land was primarily

farmland and flood plain. During the annexation frenzy of the 1950s, Farmers Branch

and Carrollton each managed to grab portions of this land which now comprised Tract

140.02 and very small portion of Tract 99. Dallas ended up with the majority of land in

Tracts 99 and all of 100.

In 1950, these three tracts were primarily flood plain with a sparse population of

farmers and squatters. These tracts had a total population of 2,624 and were listed as

100% White (Appendix D, Table 9). By 1960, the area was divided into three census

tracts which contained a total of 9,143 people, of which 64.0% were White with all but

six persons residing in Tracts 99 and 100. Tract 140.02 has remained sparsely populated

throughout the fifty year period.

45

The northernmost tract (140.02) is located in the western portion of Carrollton

and Farmers Branch. Data indicate that this tract has the most violators (19) of all tracts

reported. There are two facilities with TNRCC violators, one of which is Zoecon

Industries which is registered as a significant violator from 1989-1991. There are 17

facilities which are in violation according to EPA records. The population for this area is

25.1% minority and has a median income of $18,899 compared to Dallas County's

median income of $36,982, and the City of Farmers Branch median income of $41,815.

The population, however, totals only 323 individuals. This tract records a small increase

in 1990 due to rezoning for apartments along the Stemmons (-30) Corridor. This tract

may continue to grow as there is considerable retail and commercial development and

major road construction is also occurring in this area.

Census Tract 99 known as Stemmons North as defined by the City of Dallas

Standard Statistical Community (Appendix C, Map 4) lies immediately below 140.02 in

location has a total population of 1,584, is 69.6% minority, and has a median income of

$19,333. This tract records 2 TNRCC violators and 8 EPA violators. A very small

portion of the northwestern part of the tract is located in the City of Farmers Branch, and

the rest of this tract is located in the City of Dallas. Tract 99 contains 1,584 persons in

1990, 81.3% of which are minority. This tract has continued to lose in numbers over the

last forty years and is projected to continue to do so because of incompatible zoning.

This tract is zoned primarily for industrial use and has had incompatible land usage since

the 1950s when it was annexed and zoned.

46

The southernmost Tract 100, shown as Stemmons South in Appendix C, Map 4, is

located north of West Dallas and separated by the Trinity River. Between 1970 and

1980, the population for this tract decreased by 36.9%, but increased from 1980 to 1990

by 35%. The population increase has also been due the construction of moderate to

lower income apartments. This tract has a 1990 population of 3,132, of which 71.1% are

minority, primarily Black. The tract has a median income of $19,333.

Also located in Tract 100 is Parkland Health and Hospital System, the County's

major medical facility. This tract is also the home to four other major medical centers

including Children's Medical Center, St. Paul's Hospital, Zale-Lipshy Hospital, and

Aston Ambulatory Care Center. Located adjacent to Parkland are the University of

Texas Southwestern Medical School and a branch of Texas Woman's University School

of Nursing. Major companies located in Tract 100 include Mary Kay Cosmetics and

Taylor Publishing Company.

There are three significant TNRCC violators in this tract: Atrium Door and

Window, Parkland Hospital Pathology Lab, and GP Plastics. GP Plastics has been cited

for violations beginning in 1989 through 1991. The EPA records list 14 violating

companies in Tract 100.

A review of Table 1 shows the comparisons of the four census tracts. Median

home values range from $39,200 to $55,600, much less than the mean for Dallas County

which was $96,045. The homes in these four census tracts are in small pockets of

47

neighborhoods which were built in the late fifties. Throughout the history of this area

incompatible land use has always existed (City of Dallas, 1972).

Table 1Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Demographics 1990

Percent Minority Median Families Median Number ofCensus Tract (Black & Family Below House Values Violators

Hispanic) Income Poverty(Percent)

140.02 25.0 $18,889 27.7 $55,600 17

99 81.3 $20,162 22.3 $39,200 9

100 71.1 $19,333 24.6 $54,000 17

4.03 86.87 $21,677 25.2 $42,500 8

City of Dallas 49.5 $31,925 18.0 $96,045 n/a

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1992.

Love Field

The Stemmons Industrial Corridor is strategically linked to Tract 4.03, the Love

Field area, located to the east and adjacent to Census Tract 100. The Love Field Airport

opened in 1917 as an army aviation training field and converted to commercial use after

World War L "As early as 1933, Leslie Stemmons had lobbied George Dealey of the

Dallas Morning News for support of a new 'downtown airport' in the reclaimed flood

plain" (Holmes and Saxon, 1992, p. 88). By 1940 Love Field was one of five largest

airports in the United States (Holmes and Saxon, 1992). Payne (1994) reported, "The

city began claiming land under right of eminent domain to be used for airport expansion.

With its limited amount of space for runways in a densely populated area, the attempt to

48

expand would not be an easy task" (p. 329). The city in the 1940s began denying

building permits for property improvement thinking that property owners would try to

inflate their land value as Love Field expanded. There were complaints that the property

acquired from minorities by the city for the airport was in reality being sold back to

Whites for residential use (Schutze, 1987: 56). After the city had taken several

neighborhoods in the area, the land was rezoned, making it quite a bit more expensive,

and resold. By the 1960s and 70s apartment buildings were built on the land surrounding

the airport, with many of the occupants being Hispanic. In 1973 the City of Dallas

abandoned its efforts to expand Love Field and joined with Fort Worth in creating the

D/FW Airport located in the mid-cities to serve the bulk of commercial air travel in the

metropolitan area.

The population characteristics in Appendix D, Table 9 shows, however, that there

has been a steady decline in the White population which comprised 99.6% of the census

tract in 1940. In 1990 the total population had decreased by 16.3%, with a demographic

shift showing a large increase in Hispanics and a steady decline in Blacks and Whites.

The median income was $21,677 in 1990 or only about two-thirds that of the county's

median income. The neighborhood is dominated by airline related industries retail

businesses, car dealerships, restaurants and some apartment complexes and offices. To

the north of Love Field is a strip of sexually-oriented-businesses which spill over to Tract

100.

49

The violators located in this census tract consist of seven identified by the EPA

and three by the TNRCC (Appendix B, Table 8). Five of these violations occur adjacent

to airport property and are assigned to aviation related industries (Appendix C, Map 8).

The other five identified violators are located just west of the Union Pacific railroad and

east of the convergence of Carpenter and Stemmons Freeways. The violation patterns for

all four of these census tracts show proximity to railroads and the two major

transportation corridors. The housing in each of these areas is described by the City of

Dallas as older and with a great many in need of repair (City of Dallas, 1972). Since the

area was zoned a mix of residential, industrial and retail in the late 1920s, the housing

stock has deteriorated and their values have steadily diminished. The neighborhoods

have lost White populations and have become more minority occupied, primarily

Hispanic.

Area 2: West Dallas

"Lying just above Oak Cliff and across the Trinity River from Dallas proper, West

Dallas was considered a cesspool of obnoxious industrial concerns, substandard housing,

and diseases" (Black, 1982, p. 296). The City Plan Commission first recommended its

annexation in 1944, but the cost of cleaning up the squalor of the area discouraged any

attempts at annexation.

Beginning in April 1948, the Dallas Council of Social Agencies initiated a study

of the living conditions of the area. The area of major concern lay between the west

levee of the Trinity River and the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks. At that time, it was

50

an incorporated portion of Dallas County and lacked organized governmental services--

building codes, sewerage systems, and water-the most important problems facing the

area.

The area is approximately 13 square miles and could be divided into two sectors

according to use--industrial development and residential slums (Appendix C, Map 9).

Population at the time was estimated at 24,150 of which 4,400 were listed as Hispanics

and 8,950 were Blacks and the remainder White (Kallman, 1948). More than 94% of the

homes were without baths, 90% had no sanitary toilet facilities, and 85% were without

running water (Dealey, 1948). Although West Dallas contained less that 20% of the non-

metropolitan population of Dallas County, the area was responsible between 1946 and

1948 for approximately 50% of the typhoid cases, approximately 60% of the tuberculosis

cases and 30% of the polio cases out of all the county's non-metropolitan incidents of

these diseases. (Kimsey, 1950).

West Dallas and Its Criminal Element

Crime was also a major problem in West Dallas and has been since the 1930s. The

Dallas Police Department estimated that about half of Dallas' professional criminal

element was either spawned in West Dallas or hides out in its slums (Carter, 1950). Two

of Texas' most famous outlaws were Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Clyde's family

lived in the Eagle Ford area (Appendix C, Map 9). "In 1934 the Dallas police wiretapped

the Barrow telephone where they overheard Mrs. Barrow and Mrs. Parker discuss the

tribulations of "the kids" (Payne, 1994, p. 148). Clyde was well known to the Dallas

51

Police for his petty thievery with a penchant for stealing automobiles. After their demise

in Louisiana in 1934, their bodies were displayed to the Dallas public where it is

estimated that 30,000 people saw Clyde's bullet-ridden body and about 40,000 saw

Bonnie. They were both buried in West Dallas. On Bonnie' tombstone was the epitaph:

"As flowers are all made sweeter by the sunshine and dew, so this old world is made

brighter by folks like you" (Holmes and Saxon, 1992, p. 48).

In 1935, Hattie Rankin Moore picked up a Dallas newspaper to see the pictures of

Raymond Hamilton and his mother. Hamilton, a partner in Bonnie and Clyde's gang, was

scheduled to die in the electric chair. Rankin immediately drove to West Dallas to be

with Hamilton's mother. Hamilton's brother, Floyd, was at that time in Alcatraz Prison

where he had attempted one of the "boldest escapes in the history of the gray federal

prison" (Bullock, 1951). Ms. Rankin exchanged letters every month for four years with

Floyd.

Rankin Moore was to begin the first church mission in West Dallas in Floyd's

backyard. Through her efforts other churches established missions and started athletic

programs for area youth where none had existed prior to her arrival. Her name is

prominently displayed throughout West Dallas as a person who cared and came to the aid

of the neighborhood.

By 1950, citizens' interests in the needs of West Dallas were such that the Chamber

of Commerce appointed a committee to address the problems. As a result, on October

30, 1950, the following major recommendations were made: (1) that West Dallas be

52

annexed by the City of Dallas; (2) that Congress be urged to appropriate funds to

alleviate flood conditions in West Dallas; and, (3) that the Dallas Housing Authority be

authorized to establish 3,500 low rent housing units in West Dallas. In addition to these

three supporting recommendations, other recommendations included proposals for the

upgrading of water, sewer, transportation, and drainage systems ("West Dallas

Improvement," 1951). Also included in the annexation process was the small community

of Eagle Ford on the border of Grand Prairie which attempted to fight the annexation and

remain independent. The residents of Eagle Ford were not to prevail and were out-

maneuvered by the Dallas business leaders who were determined to acquire the entire

area. Responding to this report, the various governmental entities immediately mobilized

to make this happen. The agencies included: the Trinity River Levee District; the City

and County of Dallas; the Dallas Independent School District; the Dallas Housing

Authority; the State of Texas; and the United States Government. They were joined in

support by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Council of Social Service Agencies,

and the businesses and industries of West Dallas. Also in support were the two major

newspapers: The Dallas Morning News and The Dallas Times Herald which both ran

editorials in support of the plan and were credited by the Council of Social Agencies for

there support and willingness to increase awareness of the public problem by doing

feature stories on the impoverished conditions of West Dallas (Ross, 1950). This was

followed by resolutions supporting the plan being adopted by the Dallas Federation of

53

Women's Clubs and several other civic organizations (Quinn, 1950; "Work on Vast,"

1950).

In the early 1950s, The Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) began building a 3,500 unit

public housing complex designating 1,500 units for Whites (the Edgar Ward section),

1,500 units for Blacks (the George Loving section); and 500 units for Hispanics (the

Elmer Scott section). Other infrastructure improvements were made by the City and

annexation was finally completed in 1952. A look at the history of the last 50 years of

the West Dallas neighborhood provides insight into how this neighborhood has

developed, and how poverty and neglect have left this area blighted and depressed.

Statistics show that in 1970, four in 10 families in West Dallas lived below the

poverty line. The same was true in 1990. Currently, the rate of unemployment in West

Dallas is 16.2%, while for the rest of the City, the rate is 7.2% (Bureau of the Census,

1990). The population of Dallas has risen nearly 50% during the past 30 years, while in

West Dallas it has decreased more than 30%. A case study of its major polluter and the

city's largest housing project interjects some understanding of how this community was

left behind.

West Dallas: A Superfund Site

Annexed along with West Dallas was the RSR lead smelter located on a 63-acre

site. It is located next to a middle school and is directly across the street from the Boys

and Girls Club, Inc. which lies in the shadow of its towering smokestack. Although the

smelter has been closed since 1984, this facility still casts an ominous specter of its day

54

as a symbol of how industrial negligence and abandon often contribute to the pollution,

blight, and decay which have been evidenced in the West Dallas housing project.

By 1957, the DHA issued a report stating that it was very difficult convincing Whites

and Hispanics to live in the project due to concerns about inadequate security, and

environmental disadvantages, such as smoke, odor, and dust from neighborhood

industrial plants. The DHA stated that the Black area is subjected to the same adverse

factors, but is full. The DHA sought also federal permission to move Hispanics to a new

project and move more Blacks to West Dallas. From 1969 through 1974, Dallas lost more

than $31 million in federal housing renovation money because the DHA continued to

allow the illegal assignment of tenants to projects by race. By 1974, the project was 90%

Black.

Federal officials have labeled lead the number one environmental health threat to the

nation's children and maintains that it is most dangerous to those age 6 and under

(Massachusetts Medical Society, 1993b). Lead is the one environmental hazard for

which both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the EPA agree that the nation's

Blacks are highly susceptible. Significantly more of the nation's Black than White

children have unacceptable high blood lead levels (BLLs), at higher income levels as well

as among families living below the poverty line (Massachusetts Medical Society, 1993a).

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Centers for Disease Control had been looking

at the issue of lead for reasons other than stationary point source emissions from lead

smelters. The issue of lead-paint chipping in urban households became an endemic

55

problem in the United States. Children who consumed non-food particles (called pica)

were showing up with high levels of lead in their blood, and the CDC embarked on a ten

year study to determine its effects. During this ten-year period, the City of Dallas was

taking blood lead readings from children as part of a Federal Program entitled: "Title 19:

Early Periodic Screening and Diagnostic Program."

In 1972, the City began noting high blood level readings in several children within

the West Dallas area and embarked on a program to repaint the West Dallas housing

project the following year. Early data showed strong correlation between high blood

levels and brain damage in children under six years of age. When the program was

finally completed in 1978, a standard of 30 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dl) for blood

lead was established to protect children from the various side effects.

In 1968, the city enacted its first local ordinance for air emissions. Standards for

emissions from a plant could not exceed five micrograms per cubic meter (ug/cm). At

this same time, the City set an ambient air standard for lead also at 5 ug/cm. It is not

clear as to why this standard was applied, as it was not until ten years later that the

Federal Government would set its own ambient air standard for lead at 1.5 ug/cm. At the

5 ug/cm standard, compliance was very difficult to achieve, and the City and the RSR

lead smelter compromised and negotiated over varying agreements and degrees of

compliance.

As part of the Federal Government's program to establish realistic air quality

standards for lead and other industrial emissions, the EPA did a series of nationwide

56

studies in the late 1970s and early 80s. One such regional study was published in 1981

and included the Dallas area in its evaluation. This study was the turning point of the

lead issue in Texas. It found high concentrations of lead in close proximity to lead

smelters in both soil and dust samples (including two Dallas-based smelters, RSR and

Dixie Metals, located in South Dallas).

Once this study was made public, there was an immediate response by the City and

the EPA. Further soil studies were done, and the City conducted two more blood

screening programs. The first screening was purportedly to alleviate public concerns,

while the second to gather sound scientific analyses. While the first study indicated that

a problem might exist, the second concluded that no relationship could actually be

proven between soil lead and blood lead. RSR, however, had violated two calendar

quarters of the EPA ambient air quality standard for lead, and the State of Texas and the

City of Dallas initiated a rigorous lawsuit against the RSR lead smelter. In the summer

of 1983, the State and the City took RSR to court to force not only compliance with air

standards, but clean up of the surrounding area as well. In October of 1983, an out-of-

court agreement was formalized. RSR/Murph was required to install air pollution control

equipment and begin to remove contaminated soil from West Dallas. Before the

conditions of the settlement could be implemented, the Federal Trade Commission,

which had filed a complaint against RSR, appointed a trustee to oversee the facility. In

May 1984, it was sold for a mere $25,000 to the Murmur Corporation. The Texas State

57

Attorney General informed Murmur that it would be responsible for any obligations

under the Court Order. Following that order, the smelter closed in 1984.

In 1985 Debra Walker and six other indigent Black women residing in the West

Dallas housing project filed suit against the United States Department of Housing and

Urban Development and the Dallas Housing Authority alleging that these two agencies

forced thousands of poor Black families to live in slums. In January of 1987, U.S.

District Jerry Buchmeyer agreed to accept a settlement which called for the renovation of

832 apartments. The remainder were to be demolished and replaced with certificates that

would let poor families choose their own apartments. Hundreds of families chose to

leave. In September of 1988, the seven housing plaintiffs sued the City of Dallas stating

that local officials were obstructing the 1987 settlement. The suit said that the City

assisted the DHA in creating a separate and unequal system of public housing. The

Dallas Morning News reported that on August 4, 1989 Judge Buchmeyer stated:

From its beginning, the primary purpose of the Dallas Housing Authoritypublic housing program was to prevent Blacks from moving into Whiteareas of this city. The City of Dallas knew of this intentional segregation;and it repeatedly took actions either to cause this racial discrimination andsegregation, or to help DHA maintain it (Loftis and Fluornoy, 1993, p. A-29).

The City of Dallas agreed to settle the housing suit in 1990 by spending $118 million

for a series of programs and activities designed to increase the supply of publicly assisted

low-income housing, improve the neighborhood conditions around the Dallas Housing

Authority family housing developments, and promote and enforce fair housing (Walker v.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development et al., 1990).

58

In May of 1993, the EPA officially designated nearly two square miles surrounding

the RSR lead smelter as a Superfund site. Cleanup was estimated to take from four to six

years at an estimated cost of over $30 million dollars. After removal of the abandoned

housing units in West Dallas Housing Projects, and soil removal efforts in the early

1990s, the EPA stated that the area was safe. In December of 1994, two University of

Texas at Dallas researchers announced that based on their own studies the West Dallas

area still had high concentrations of lead contamination in the soil, and that EPA studies

stating that the area was safe were flawed. (Loftis and Flournoy, 1994).

A recent city survey found 70 industries that are potential polluters in the West

Dallas area. This neighborhood has been inspected, analyzed, scraped and scoured for

more than a decade. But the debate still rages as to how safe it is.

In 1993 the DHA constructed its new administrative headquarters at a cost of $5

million on the northeast quadrant of the West Dallas Housing Project. This impressive

building with its massive balcony, controlled access parking and fenced in facility was

said to demonstrate the DHA's "commitment to the community." At the time the

building was constructed, over 2,500 housing units were lying in various decay and ruin.

As late as 1995, hundreds of housing units remained vandalized, burned, and ransacked

with windows and doors missing and roofs collapsing. Areas were haphazardly cordoned

off as asbestos abatement procedures were being implemented. The abandoned acreage

was dotted with mounds of dirt said to be dredged from Fish Trap Lake. The mounds

resembled bunkers with large chunks of concrete protruding and weeds flourishing.

59

Graffiti on several of the buildings indicated signs of gang activity and territorial

markings. One would image a Bosnian war zone to appear much the same, minus the

military hardware and a few less bullet holes. An inventory of businesses surrounding

the area revealed three small grocery stores, several pawn shops, liquor stores, four fast-

food restaurants, and minor rundown retail stores. The DHA also purchased a small strip

shopping center on the southeast corner of the parameter of the housing project with the

intent to redevelop the complex, and in 1996 a supermarket was opened.

West Dallas today still has no department stores, hospitals, theaters, bookstores, nor

a bank. The area is dotted with vacant lots, empty factories, and others that still operate.

An inventory of recreational facilities within the housing project finds the equipment

sparse and inadequate. There is minimal playground equipment, and one picnic ground

which is bordered on two sides by dilapidated, abandoned housing units. Several

baseball diamonds are missing seating and lighting; there appears to be only one football-

sized field which has no seating nor any markings--only two crooked goal posts. Fish

Trap Lake, which provides an element of park-like quality to the neighborhood, has no

picnic, recreational, nor playground facilities, unlike other small parks in other areas of

the city.

1990 U.S. Census Bureau data indicate that the racial composition remains

consistent over the past 42 years since construction began--primarily Black. A review of

EPA data also indicate that the area most affected by the lead pollution is concentrated in

60

a half-mile radius of the smelter and in a northerly direction because of prevailing winds.

Four census tracts surround this area: 102, 103, 104, and 105 (Appendix C, Map 9).

Demographics also indicate that of the total population in these four census tracts,

780 or 11.3% of that number are children five years of age or less. Centers for Disease

Control data indicate that this is the age group that is at a very high potential risk to

neurological damage due to elevated blood lead levels (Massachusetts Medical Society,

1993b). This area also includes 2,874 children 17 years or younger. Depending on the

number of years these children have resided in this area, their risk for neurological

damage could also be very high.

A list of schools in this immediate neighborhood shows that there are nine Dallas

Independent School District facilities located in the housing project or directly adjacent

to the four major streets bordering the project. Table 2 summarizes the demographics of

these schools.

Also located in the neighborhood directly across the street from the abandoned

RSR smelter is the West Dallas Branch of the Boys and Girls Club, Inc. which provides

recreational and social activities to approximately 1,200 neighborhood children. There is

a day care center operated by the Dallas Housing Authority, a West Dallas Branch of the

Dallas Girls Club, Inc., a youth health and dental clinic operated by the City of Dallas,

and one indoor swimming pool located adjacent to the abandoned lead smelter. All of

these facilities are in the immediate area of the housing projects and are in the footprint

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path of the prevailing northern winds making them susceptible to windblown

contaminants.

Table 2West Dallas Public Schools Located Within or Adjacent

Ta The Housing Projects

Pre- Environmental Pinkston HighKindergarten Science Magnet and Talented Total Total

and Elementary and Edison and Gifted Number PercentRace (N=5) Middle School Program

Blacks 1,286 463 662 2,371 65.8

Hispanics 301 456 271 1,082 28.5

White 19 77 56 152 4.2

Total 1,606 996 949 3,551 98.5

Source: Dallas Independent School District, Pupil Accounting Division, March, 1994. * Data on Asian, American Indian and otherminorities accounted for only 1.5% of the total student enrollment in these nine schools and was therefore not placed in the table.

This area again underwent a limited lead cleanup in the mid-1980s, but recent tests

have found that contamination persists at levels now known to be harmful (Flournoy and

Loftis, 1993). In the summer of 1993, the city went door-to-door throughout the housing

project and tested 429 children under 7 years old. Those tests, however, showed that 29,

or 6.75%, had elevated Bits. A 1990 Environmental Defense Fund report estimated

that, approximately 96% of African American children and 80 % of White children of

poor families have unsafe amounts of lead in their blood based on newly revised

standards accepted in 1991(Florini, 1994). However, the City of Dallas tests utilized lead

level standards twice as high as the Environmental Defense Fund.

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On May 9, 1993 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated parts of the

impoverished minority community as a Superfund site. The cleanup process was

projected as likely to take four to six years. The agency also emphasized that it would

take approximately 18 months to determine the extent of contamination and decide how

to conduct the cleanup. This is regarded as one of the nation's largest Superfund sites.

About 3,000 people live in the designated area, which includes the West Dallas public

housing project. Most Superfund sites are industrial facilities and have no residents. Of

the 3,500 units, 928 were occupied at the time of designation. An emergency cleanup had

begun in 1991 which has cost the EPA $7 million. Estimates of the additional cleanup

effort run between an additional $8 and $25 million (EPA, 1993). Also included in the

cleanup effort are the piles of lead slag stored on site of the abandoned smelter. A

related lead plant across Westmoreland Boulevard is also to be cleaned up (Loftis and

Flournoy, 1993).

On May 30, 1993, an article appeared on the op-ed page of the Dallas Morning

News submitted by Alphonso Jackson, President and CEO of the Dallas Housing

Authority. He stated, "Recent publicity has suggested that lead is a serious health hazard

to residents of the Housing Authority's George Loving section. Those allegations are not

supported by scientific evidence." Jackson also reported that "soil areas in three areas of

George Loving Place (the section that had been historically designated for Blacks)

contained unacceptable levels by Federal standards" (p. A-37). He countered by writing

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that the Housing Authority immediately relocated families from unsafe areas and

scheduled the vacant apartments for demolition and removal.

An EPA Action Memorandum requesting an additional 30 weeks in which to

complete the preliminary clean up and signed on September 23, 1993 stated:

Based on the extremely elevated levels and extent of heavy metal

contamination...,there is an immediate risk to the public health of theresidents of West Dallas posed by the contamination. The site ispredominantly composed of residential properties. The population withinthis area numbers several thousand, with the demographics of thepopulation being predominantly low income ethnic minorities...Naturalvegetative barriers (grass and ground cover) are highly variable with thearea making the contamination material susceptible to rain and windblown distribution...If on-going response actions are discontinued, thenactual or threatened releases of hazardous substance from this site maypresent an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health,welfare, or the environment (J.L. Richards, personal communication,September 23, 1983).

The memorandum reaffirmed Jackson's statement that the George Loving Section

of the housing project was condemned and families removed. A 2.5 mile stretch of chain

link fence was erected around the area known as the George Loving section, and the

memo states that access is effectively restricted. On March 13, 1994, two people were

photographed by the author of this dissertation, walking in the restricted area. Four other

people were seen using this area as a short cut across the property. There were several

openings in the fenced area allowing for pedestrian and vehicle traffic. It was also noted

and photographed that asbestos abatement procedures were in place, but on March 5,

1994 the gates to the contaminated areas were unsecured and readily accessible. This

report is not unlike the findings of the Dallas Morning News reporter who noted that in

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May, 1993 he was able to walk into the abandoned RSR smelter where the contaminated

soil was being stored in a building where the windows and doors had been removed

(Loftis and Fluornoy, 1993). This, in effect, negates the removal since the contaminants

are carried by wind and air.

At the heart of this effort was an attempt by the Federal Government and the City of

Dallas to initiate a $67 million revitalization project for the area. This would have

provided public housing for 7,000 poor people, forcing them to live in Dallas' poorest,

most polluted neighborhood. Those promoting this massive revitalization were former

HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, the Dallas Mayor and City Council, and the Board of the

Dallas Housing Authority. At the same time, housing experts, former HUD officials, and

other federal and local officials including the former Director of the City of Dallas

Housing Department, were condemning this plan as an "outmoded, discredited approach.

Gary Orfield, a Harvard University professor of social policy stated, 'that itis totally predictable that this plan will produce social isolation, inferioreducation, and a breeding ground for gangs. Douglas S. Massey, an urbansociologist at the University of Chicago who was also quoted in thisarticle saying: "It freezes the ghetto in concrete" (Loftis and Flournoy,1993, p. 29A).

When Secretary of HUD Henry Cisneros was appointed to this position, the

planning for the project took a dramatic turn. Upon visiting the Dallas area in December

of 1993, he heeded the plea of the West Dallas residents and scaled down the plan to

include a total of 1,200 family units which would be air-conditioned and upgraded. This

plan, which is estimated at a total of cost approximately $62 million, would allow for

65

two-thirds of the units to be destroyed. A total of 339 new apartments for the elderly and

families would be built at a cost of $19.8 million. The total cost of the rehabilitation

effort is estimated at $34.8 million. Poor families would get almost 1,000 housing units

outside West Dallas. There would be 335 new public housing units in middle-class,

predominantly White neighborhoods at a cost of $20.6 million. The plan also calls for

598 rent subsidy certificates and vouchers that families could use to rent apartments

anywhere in Dallas and the suburbs at a cost of $21.7 million. The final plan is currently

being reformulated and still requires the approval of U.S. District Judge Jerry

Buchmeyer.

A major issue to be confronted before the final plan can be placed into action

regards the decision over what level of clean up is necessary. A decade ago the EPA

believed that it could safely allow lead concentrations as high as 1,000 parts per million

in residential areas. The old 1,000 parts per million guideline governed the previous lead

cleanup in West Dallas. By the late 1980s, the EPA had cut the "safe" level in half.

Now, any residential-area soil with a level of 500 parts per million is considered eligible

for a clean up. David Bellinger, a researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston, who has

studied soil-lead exposures in Boston children stated in a July 25, 1993 article in the

Dallas Morning News, "I think 500 is prudent, but whether it's firmly rooted in the

(scientific) literature is in the eyes of the beholder" (p. 5A). Ellen Silbergeld, a

toxicologist and professor of pathology at the University of Maryland Medical School,

serves on the EPA's Science Advisory Board and is reviewing West Dallas as a federal

66

court-appointed expert. She has argued in the past for a much lower cleanup up level--

100 parts per million.

In August 1995 Dallas-based RSR Corporation, one of the country's biggest lead

recyclers, and its insurers agreed to pay $16.1 million to settle health damage claims for

587 children who lived near the West Dallas Smelter. This makes the total that RSR has

paid at $40 million in West Dallas claims. Two more suits are pending--one of which

has been filed by the West Dallas Coalition for Environmental Justice asking for $500

billion dollars in damages.

The RSR smelter with its 300-foot-tall smokestack still stand at the corner of

Singleton and Hampton. It was scheduled to be dismantled in September of 1996. No

work has been down on the demolition. The demolition part of the project is expected to

cost $11 million alone. While the EPA has been funding the cleanup operations until

now, efforts are being made at recovering costs from the violating companies. An EPA

risk assessment of the area indicates that the current status of the area poses low level

risks for exposure to arsenic and lead. If this site remains unremediated, blood lead

levels of children in the area will continue to exceed those safety standards established by

the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) (EPA, 1997).

West Dallas Demographics

Appendix D, Table 10 provides an historical look at the demographic trends of

West Dallas over the past 40 years. In 1960, the total population for these 8 census tracts

were 43,7000. By 1990, the population had decreased to 27,349--a loss of 38.5%.

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Income levels have been historically lower in West Dallas than that of the rest of the City

of Dallas. This trend remains throughout the past 50 years. The median family income

in the City of Dallas was $36,925 in 1990, while the median family income for West

Dallas was approximately 25% less at $13,309. While the city of Dallas was 51.4%

minority in 1990, the seven census tracts which comprise the area was comprised of an

84.6% minority population. Three of the census tracts, as shown in Table 3, 102, 103,

and 104 had a median income of $4,999 meaning that a considerable portion of these

residents lived below poverty level. The percentage of families below poverty ranged

from 28.5% to 80%. This table also shows that home values were considerably less than

that of the County which had a median home value of $96,045.

At this time, there are efforts in place to address the economic and social

conditions of West Dallas. In 1996, the Dallas City Council adopted The Dallas Plan's

1996 Action Agenda which called for a West Dallas Community Planning Strategy (City

of Dallas, 1997). The draft plan for West Dallas was completed in March of 1997 and is

currently being finalized. Currently, there are few economic incentives for businesses to

locate in the area, and the issue of pollution has not been resolved. A discussion with the

executive director of the Southern Dallas Development Corporation indicates that

initiatives are being discussed which will seek to infuse this area with incentives for

private investors (J.P. Reid, personal communication, April 13, 1997). In the meantime,

construction has begun on a new multipurpose facility on DHA property which will

house facilities for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Parkland Hospital,

68

the Dallas Police Department, and Child Care Dallas. Also planned is a new athletic

field.

Table 3

West Dallas Demographics 1990

Percent Minority Median Families Median Number ofCensus Tract (Black & Income Below Poverty House Values Violators

Hispanic) (Percent)

43 78.7. $17,539 28.5 $32,400 0

101.01 100 $11,222 37.4 $27,000 0

101.02 96.3 $18,036 38.6 $25,800 0

102 88.7 $4,999 67.2 $55,000 0

103 96.9 $4999 78.2 0 1

104 100 $4,999 80.0 $17,000 1

105 100 $12,850 41.2 $32,000 4

106 88.5 $18,377 36.8 $34,300 4

City of Dallas 49.5 $31,925 18.0 $96,045 n/a

Source: IJ.S. Census Bureau, 1992.

Area 3: Southwest Garland

The City of Garland is currently the ninth largest city in the State of Texas and the

second largest city in Dallas County with an area covering 57 square miles. It is located

on State Highways 66 and 78 and the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and

Santa Fe railroads approximately fifteen miles north of downtown Dallas in northeastern

Dallas County (Appendix C, Map 3). A review of Appendix D, Table 11 shows that the

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city's 1990 population was 180,650 of which 79.7% White, and 20.5% minority--8.9%

African American, and 11.6% Hispanic. The population has grown steadily in the past

40 years and has experienced a well-balanced growth with a well-balanced mixture of

both residential and industrial development (Abrams, Eidson, and Jacobs, 1983). With a

population in the late 1940s estimated at 4,793, the city grew to over 38,500 in the mid-

1960s. Garland's population increased 70% between 1970-1980, making it noteworthy as

one of the fastest growing cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Garland grew by

30% between 1980 and 1990. In comparison to the County and the City of Dallas, its

population demographics reflect less minorities and higher incomes.

The City of Garland has 32 census tracts of which seven have been identified as

containing both EPA and TNRCC violations. Appendix C, Map 10 shows these tracts

which are located in the southwestern parts of the city. Southwest Garland is the oldest

section of the city where the early settlers and early manufacturing located. In reviewing

the violations listed by the EPA and the TNRCC, it is noted that all but one violation is

located in the seven adjacent tracts in the west and central city. Appendix B, Table 8

shows the shaded census tracts located in Garland and demographics for each census

tract and details the names of the violators for the period between 1989 and 1991. They

are tracts number 185.04 185.01, 190.13 , 185.01,189 188.01, and 188.02. 19. These

seven census tracts account for a total population of 26,203 or 14.6% of the total

population of Garland. A review of the demographics of the area shows that those seven

census tracts have been gaining in population since the 1950s much like the rest of the

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city. The median family income for the area is $28,622 compared with the $41,174

median income for the entire city. The minority population is 29.2% while the total

minority population of the City of Garland is 20.5%.

The most defining features of the area are twofold. First, this is the major right of

way for two rail lines, the M-K-T and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe; and second,

two of these census tracts (188.01 and 188.02) mark the convergence of the two railroads

and the location where the city was first settled. As with many Texas cities, the railroads

and the presence of water played a major part in the development of Garland. Garland's

agricultural economy was initially based on cotton and as the community was coming out

of the Depression it was forced to switch to onions. Using its railroads, by the 1940s

Garland was a major onion-shipping point in the 1940s. Garland's economy started

changing in the late 1930s when the Craddock Food Company, which manufactured

pickles, remodeled the old Garland Cotton Oil Mill beside the Katy tracks. Hayslip

(1991) reported, "Craddock's $50,000 annual payroll was a godsend in 1937" (p. 35).

The Byer Rolnick hat factory which made Resistol hats moved to town in that year with a

production capacity of 360 hats per day. This was a major employment opportunity for

the local citizens. Attracted to available access to two major railroads and a strong work

force, several aircraft plants opened in the Garland area during World War II. Hayslip

(1991) also noted that:

By that time, Garland's civic-commitment took hold and the mayor protem and presidents of the local school board and chamber of commerceenticed Southern Aircraft Corporation of Houston with a free 23-acre siteand an attractive lease on an adjoining 125 acres for a landing field insouth Garland (p. 356).

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The 1940s saw considerable growth as manufacturing began production of

airplanes and airplane parts. Post-war economics also flushed cash into the city and the

beginning of major capital improvement projects including recreational facilities, an

airport site, and community centers.

In 1946, Varo, Inc. began operation as a plant designed to manufacture an airborne

static power inverter for use on military planes. "After fifty one years in Garland, Varo is

considered a mainstay of the economy, and the company is second only to E-Systems in

employment. E-Systems currently has approximately 4,000 workers, while Varo, Inc. has

over a 1,000" (City of Garland, 1994). Today, Varo is still a major manufacturer of high-

technology products and has six separate facilities in Garland. The 1990 EPA and

TNRCC reports on violations list three of its facilities as hazardous waste and chemical

discharge violators: Varo, Inc. (Power Systems BU) located in tract 185.01; Varo, Inc. in

tract 185.04 and Varo, Inc. (Electron Devices) located in tract 188.02; and the Varo

Walnut Plant, located in census tract 189. Also in 1949, Kraft Foods Company opened a

facility for the production of cheese, margarine, and salad dressings. Located in what is

now census tract 189, it currently employs over 600 people and is listed as a facility with

toxic release chemical discharge violations.

Garland is the home of fifteen major manufacturing companies as detailed in 1994

Community Profile as prepared by the City of Garland. These companies employ a little

over 9,549 workers. Of those fifteen companies, eight are listed in the 1990 EPA's Toxic

Release Inventory as violators and are located within these seven census tracts. Those

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companies are Varo, Kraft Foods, Tyson Foods, Ingersoll Rand, LTV Energy, Sherwin

Williams, Carroll Company, and Marmon Motors (Appendix B, Table 8). These eight

companies employ over 7,344 workers which means that 76.9% of the workers employed

in Garland's major industries work for companies which are in violation. In addition, this

area also has 26 other companies that are in violation.

This total area is noted for its first settlements and rapid industrialization with the

arrival of the railroads. This area also has strong evolutionary roots in the growth of

cotton. Census tract 185.04 which is partly in the City of Dallas and 185.01 are bounded

to the south by Interstate 535 and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and the

Union Pacific. These two railroads intersect in what is now census tracts 188.01 and

188.02. This is the site where the city began. This area is historically considered

Garland's industrial park and has been zoned for such activity since the 1950s. Unlike

the other identified contaminated areas in Dallas County, this city has historically had

lower concentrations of minorities. The White population has been steadily decreasing

over the past 30 years and while there has been increases in the population, it has been

due to increases in the African American and Hispanic populations.

Table 4 shows the median home values and the percentage of families living below

poverty in these census tracts in comparison to the number of violations per census tract.

While the median home value for Dallas County is $96,045, the median home value for

the City of Garland is $85,981. The home values in these tracts are considerable lower

than both the county and the city, ranging from $53,400 to $65,500.

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Table 4Southwest Garland Demographics 1990

Percent Minority Median Families Median Number ofCensus Tract (Black & Family Below Poverty House Values Violators

Hispanic) Income (Percent)

181.05 33.9 $32,403 15.4 $53,600 1

185.01 40.6 $31,802 7.4 $61,700 15

185.04 30.7 $28,230 6.2 0 9

188.01 22.5 $34,384 3.2 $53,400 4

188.02 25.9 $18,245 22.8 $54,000 1

189 20.9 $35,030 8.5 $65,500 4

190.13 56.3 $17,560 31.3 0 4

Dallas County 36.4% $36,982 10.3 $96,045 n/a

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1992.

A review of the housing characteristics for these census tracts indicates that the

housing stock's major construction period was in the 1950s and 1960s when the area's

development was at its peak. This would indicate that as the business and industry was

locating in the area, homes were built to provide close access to the workplace. Much

like the Stemmons Industrial Corridor, Southwest Garland was annexed into the city with

hopes of utilizing its access to major railroads and transportation corridors for efficiency

in business and industry. This would indicate that the industrial area had a major pull

effect on those workers who were employed in the area with considerable evidence that

the homes constructed were targeted toward the middle income range of home buyers.

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Summary and Conclusion

Development in Dallas County can be summarized by visualizing the growth

process in terms of a layering effect. In the mid-1800s, the pristine plains of North

Central Texas, dotted by rivers, streams, and creeks, began to attract the first White

settlers. Many of those settlers who began developing the area had migrated from the

southern states during the period before the Civil War. Anticipating conflict over the

ownership of slaves, they brought their Black slaves with them to labor on their farms.

For a major portion of Dallas County, the Trinity River served as the primary

source of opportunity for sustainable growth by providing a dependable supply of water

and fertile lands for farmers. Duck Creek provided the same for the city of Garland.

These initial communities sprang forth with a strong agricultural tie to the growth of

cotton. This era lasted from the late 1800s until World War I. As these small farms and

settlements grew, there came the need for goods, products and services, along with the

development of a capitalist economy based on the exchange of surplus goods and

commodities. Small retail stores, businesses, and services such as blacksmiths,

construction, medical, and legal services arose to support the adjacent agriculture

communities. By the late 1800s, major transportation centers, having been defined by the

railroads and the postal system, began to serve as magnets for increased economic

activity and helped in defining local town boundaries. This process was very competitive

and various economic incentives and strategies were offered by community leaders in

their efforts to entice the railroads and the Postal Service to locate in their communities.

75

This process, resulting in the concentration of retail and distribution activity, also

contributed to the economic growth in the region and attracted more people.

Communities responded by incorporating, establishing towns, and instituting systems of

government designed to encourage progressive economic growth and expansion and

provided order and structure to the emerging county.

The laying of railroad tracks resulted in two consequences. First, the owners of

the railroads needed labor to build the rail lines. They brought in Blacks and some

Hispanics to accomplish this task. In addition, they provided cheap housing for these

workers. This housing was provided in less desirable locations such as the Trinity River

flood plain areas and adjacent to the railroad tracks. Second, while rail lines were to

contribute overall to the economy, there was a negative effect on the land nearby. The

noise and pollution emitted by the locomotives did little to attract people for residential

use, and thus land value declined, making it affordable for the poor, generally minority,

populations.

The Stemmons Corridor was particularly attractive to those who visualized the

potential for land usage in the flood plain of the Trinity River. Speculating that efficient

and effective flood control projects would eventually be implemented, investors took

advantage of the low cost of the land in the flood plain as an investment for the future.

Between the 1870s and the early 1990s, major rail lines were introduced into the County.

The Northern Stemmons Corridor (Census Tracts 140.02 and 99) was dominated by two

major rail lines, the Burlington Northern which runs north/south near the eastern border

76

of these two tracts, and the Rock Island which runs east/west intersecting Tract

100(Appendix C, Map 6). The completion of these two rail lines spurred industrial

growth which led to the land being zoned for industrial usage. Because of the historically

mixed usage of this land (farmland and industrial), this led to the relatively small growth

in population of Tract 140.02 and the significant decrease in the population in Tract 99

until 1990 when the tract was split and mixed usage began. This resulted in industrial

development concentrating near the Burlington Northern Rail Line and Stemmons

Freeway (1-35) where the majority of the EPA and TNRCC violations are recorded

(Appendix C, Map 7). Census Tract 100, however, has developed a particular expertise.

Located near the central business district, with its major freeways, rail, and air access, it

is the home of the region's major medical facilities and fashion and furniture distribution

centers. This occurred in Tract 4.03 when Love Field was opened in 1917. This major

development was very instrumental in defining the characteristics of the area which again

attracted major retail and wholesale industries whose volume of activity was tied to

access to major transportation corridors. This census tract has also seen significant

decreases in the population throughout the past 50 years, particularly noted in the decline

in the White population which has diminished by 50% since 1950. Even though the

population has steadily declined, the Hispanic population has increased as the housing

stock has aged, making it more affordable to the minority poor.

The pattern is similar for West Dallas. Again, the primarily rural, farmland and

flood plain began attracting manufacturing and industry with the completion of the Union

77

Pacific in the late 1800s and Texas and Pacific Rail Line in the 1920s. Since West Dallas

was unincorporated until 1950, the area attracted low income, substandard housing which

had no modern plumbing or utilities. Undesirable manufacturing, mining, and industrial

use located near the railroad tracts. Since these activities did not contribute noise and

pollution that affected the more affluent, politically powerful Dallasites, they remained

unchecked until the 1980s when environmental concerns began to surface by residents of

the area. This area has remained economically depressed and has been home to a

population of primarily Black and Hispanic poor. Property values have continued to

decline for it is considered to be an undesirable area because of pollution and industrial

activity. Industrial and chemical manufacturing plants were attracted to the area because

of its access to railroads, the central business district, and the availability of inexpensive

land. Zoning and code enforcement has been historically lax in the area with the idea

that this area was expendable and served as a dumping ground for not only negative

externalities such as polluting agencies, but also for the area's poor and disenfranchised.

Garland's historical development of its high contaminant area follows a somewhat

similar pattern. The industrial area is encompassed by the major intersections of the

Union Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the MKT or Katy lines. Industry

and manufacturing dominated these areas very early on in the development of Garland.

As the war industries arrived during the early 1920s, zoning has historically been

designated for manufacturing and industry. Again, higher percentages of minorities than

exhibited for the city as a whole are found in these areas and the housing stock is aging.

78

Each of the seven census tracts analyzed in this study report demographic transitions

occurring over the past 40 years. These tracts are losing their White populations with

marked increase in both Blacks and Hispanics. As the housing ages and development is

limited to industry and manufacturing, the land and housing values decrease making the

area more affordable to the poor and minorities.

As the economy as a whole for Dallas County shifts from its earlier days of

manufacturing and industry to a technological, service economy, it is evident that those

areas of the city dominated by factories and plants are relegated to a bygone era. Current

growth and development is again concentrated in the northern part of the County. Far

North Dallas, for example, with its upscale department stores and restaurants is attracting

high rates of development and the wealthier White population. Las Colinas, Richardson,

Carrollton, and Farmers Branch are booming with companies engaged in commun-

ications, computers, advanced electronics, engineering, and medical technology.

The disproportionate growth in the northern sector of the County is destined to

continue. Since the trend for financial investment and economic development in the

north evolved in the early part of the century, capital has invested heavily in the

infrastructure and has continued to attract new growth. The more affluent White

population has maintained its stronghold in the northern sector of the County. However,

with the more recent demographic shifts involving high rates of Hispanics arriving in the

area, pockets of barrios are beginning to emerge in older areas where the housing is

79

aging. The northern sector of Dallas, however, will continue to be mainly unaffordable

for many of the poor and minorities who inhabit Dallas County.

CHAPTER V

DALLAS COUNTY HISTORY

This chapter provides a social, economic, and political history of the past 150

years in the development of Dallas County. Utilizing the sociospatial perspective, this

chapter details how the uneven development of the capitalistic economy has resulted in

differential access to resources and life chances for the inhabitants of this urban expanse.

Factors such as real estate development, government intervention, and cultural

orientations converge to define how race and class are represented in this urban

landscape.

Dallas County, located in North Central Texas (Map 2, Appendix C), comprises

902 square miles with a 1990 population of 1,852,810 (U.S. Bureau of the Census). The

county contains 24 cities, parts of six other cities, and is listed as 98.5% urbanized by the

Census Bureau in 1990. The city of Dallas is its largest city with 387 square miles and is

home to 1,006,877 inhabitants which means that 54.3% of the Dallas County population

reside in the city of Dallas. The county contains 415 census tracts of which 295 or 71%

are located in the city of Dallas. The terrain consists primarily of flat prairie and is

dissected by the Elm Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River and its tributaries.

Established over 150 years ago near the three forks of the Trinity, the city of Dallas

80

81

quickly became the county seat and regional business center for cotton, cattle, sheep,

wool, wheat, and hides. Whites and their slaves pioneered farms and cotton plantations

throughout Dallas County. By the first census in 1850, at least 207 people of African

descent accounted for almost 10% of the total population (Allen, 1995). By the 1870s,

with the coming of the locally subsidized railroads, the city became linked, not only with

the Old South, but with the bustling business concentration of St. Louis and the cities to

the east. "Here in the making was the 'not-tied-to-tradition, look-to-the-future' outlook

common to the central United States" (Thometz, 1963, p. 9).

Spurred by the Great Depression and followed by World War II, great economic

transitions occurred in the whole region as there was a major surge of industrialization.

"Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, manufacturing accounted for the greatest increase in

employment of any segment of the Dallas economy. The area began its rapid move from

a rural to an urban economy" (Tyler, 1996, p. 486). Between 1940 and 1953, the total

manufacturing employment in Dallas County jumped 184%-three times the national

average (Melosi, 1983: 164). Wartime production was the primary stimulant to the

emergence of Dallas as an industrial center. "Dallas County gained more than 279,000

people between 1940 and 1953" (McKnight, 1956, p. 12). "Manufacturing produced a

countywide boom as suburban communities such as Garland, Carrollton, and Grand

Prairie became the primary manufacturing sites in the area" (Botter, 1946, p. 12). Since

Dallas had no port, it was limited to light industry, and the city was not marred by

extensive pollution. Melosi (1983) stated that:

82

Leading industries included women's and sports apparel, storage batteries,automobile accessories, beverages, and food specialties. By 1975,metropolitan Dallas had 112 planned industrial districts covering twentythousand acres. Companies such as Texas Instruments, Inc. made Dallas aleader in high technology. Dallas was making a name for itself as aretailing center. Dallas County sales topped the $1 billion mark in 1954-a fivefold increase from 1940. In 1976 retail sales were close to $9billion, which ranked Dallas eleventh among the twenty most populousStandard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) (p. 165).

Dallas' success can also be attributed to its banking and finance which prospered

with the cotton and petroleum trades. Local institutions lent substantial sums of money

to trucking companies and many of them relocated their headquarters in the city.

Republic Bank's decision to loan funds to Texas Instruments at the start of World War II

is renowned as a financial coupe which still pays dividends to the metropolitan area.

Dallas--North and South

Map 2 shows the city of Dallas located directly in the center of the county bordered

by the other 23 cities. The county and the city are considered to be roughly divided into

two distinct parts (north and south)-intersected on the west by the West Fork of the

Trinity River which runs just south of downtown Dallas. The eastern portion of Dallas

City and Dallas County is intersected by Interstate 30. In comparing the areas north and

south of the demarcation point of the city of Dallas, northern Dallas is home to 55% of

the city's population as compared with the southern portion at 45% of the population.

Although northern Dallas City has only 10% more residents, 73% of the businesses are

located there translating into 72 % of the commercial tax base and 66% of all jobs in the

city (Southern Dallas Development Corporation, 1995).

83

Minorities are also disproportionately represented in the southern half of the city

and the county. The complex problem of the continuing economic and sociological gulf

between north and south has led to two separate cultures and lifestyles, one rich and one

poor. Table 5 details the population and income characteristics of the county's Whites

and its two major ethnic groups--African Americans and Hispanics. The county's

population is 68.2% White, 19.9% Black, and 16.5% Hispanic. The city of Dallas,

however, has a higher percent of minorities than the county as a whole with 29.5% Black

and 20.9% Hispanic. In the northern half of the city of Dallas, its predominantly White

residents show median family incomes of at least $40,000, many between $60,00 and

$80,000. While the African American population is 29.5% of the city's total, 83% of the

city's African Americans live in the poorer southern sector. More than half of these

people lack high school diplomas, and in huge sections of the area more than 30% of

them live in what is defined officially as poverty (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990).

In looking at the rest of the county, there are also differences in race and income

between the other cities north of the Trinity demarcation line and those south. The

northern cities of Addison, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Garland, Highland Park, Irving,

Richardson, Rowlett, Sachse, and University Park account for 445,605 persons or 55.9%

of the remainder of the county not included in the city limits of Dallas. The northern

sector is only 6.9% African American and 12.5% Hispanic. This northern sector has a

median income of $54,037, The area south of the Trinity demarcation consists of Balch

Springs, Cedar Hill, Cockrell Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Glenn Heights, Grand Prairie,

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Hutchins, Lancaster, Seagoville, Sunnyvale, and Wilmer. These cities contain 351,596 or

44.1% of the remainder of the county and has a median income of $42,286 or 21.8% less

than the northern sector. This area is 11.4% African American and 10.2% Hispanic.

Considerable changes occurred in the southern half of the county in the 1980s as

the city of Dallas experienced population departures from the central city for suburban

areas. Shifts in the African American population were noted as families who were

moving up the socio-economic ladder were choosing suburban cities in the southern half

of the county. Payne (1996) noted that "Cities such as Cedar Hill, Duncanville,

Lancaster, and DeSoto increased from single figure digits to between 12 and 32%

between 1980 and 1990. The African American suburban population in the southern

sector increased by 120% in the decade of the 80s, the second fastest in the nation" (p.

416). Of the cities having over 20% African American populations, all are located in the

southern sector. They are DeSoto at 20.8%, Hutchins at 39.1%, Lancaster at 29.8%, and

Wilmer at 21.5% (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990).

Dallas in Black and Brown

When referring to cultural diversity in Dallas County, the topic is generally stated

in terms of "Black and Brown." The 1850 U.S. Census first reported African Americans

residing in the Dallas area where 207 people of African descent were counted--almost

10% of the total population. In 1859, 12.5% of the town's population were Negro slaves.

Mexican American migrant farm workers joined Blacks doing low paid work in the fields

85

Table 5

Dallas County Population and Income Characteristics(1990 Census)

Entire County Population: MedianFamilyIncome:

Twenty Four Cities' 1,807,092Six Split Cities2

45,718Dallas County Total 1,852,810 $36,982

Ethnic/Racial Composition:White 68.2% $43,383Black 19.9% $22,923Hispanic 16.5% $24,148

Percent Percent African Percent Total Median FamilyCity White American Hispanic Population Income

Addison 73.9 12.2 14.0 8,783 $34,864Balch Springs 82.1 9.3 13.4 17,406 $29,883Cedar Hill 80.5 14.2 8.1 19,976 $43,996Cockrell Hill 50.2 1.9 67.0 3,746 $24,375Coppell 89.5 2.3 6.0 16,881 $62,218Dallas 55.5 29.5 20.9 1,006,877 $31,925DeSoto 75.9 20.8 4.9 30,544 $50,913Duncanville 82.5 12.1 6.7 35,748 $46,108Farmers Branch 84.9 2.8 20.2 24,250 $41,815Garland 79.7 8.9 11.6 180,650 $41,174Glenn Heights 82.5 12.6 7.8 4,564 $39,766Grand Prairie 75.8 9.7 20.5 99,616 $38,229Highland Park 97.7 0.4 2.5 8,739 $121,441Hutchins 48.9 39.1 17.0 2,719 $31,042Irving 78.7 7.5 16.3 155,037 $37,072Lancaster 65.0 29.8 8.0 22,117 $36,394Mesquite 87.2 5.8 8.8 101,484 $40,198Richardson 86.6 4.7 4.3 74,840 $55,584Rowlett 90.5 5.4 6.0 23,260 $49,768Sachse 93.2 2.4 5.3 5,346 $47,036Seagoville 85.4 8.3 10.9 8,969 $29,231Sunnyvale 95.4 0.7 3.7 2,228 $57,787University Park 95.5 1.1 2.5 22,259 $84,064Wilmer 56.1 21.5 30.3 2,479 $25,343

These cities include: Addison, Balch Springs, Cedar Hill, Cockrell Hill, Coppell, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, FarmersBranch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Hutchins, Irving, Lancaster, Mesquite, Richardson,Rowlett, Sachse, Seagoville, Sunnyvale, University Park, Wilmer and 6,185 persons in unincorporated areas.The six split cities whose portions lie in Dallas County are: Carrollton, Combine, Grapevine, Lewisville, Ovilla, and

Wylie.

during the closing years of the nineteenth century. Davis (1936) reported that "They

were originally "housed in boxcars near the city's Union Terminal, and later formed the

nuclear settlement of the city's oldest barrio, Little Mexico" (p. 18). The railroads

contributed considerable to population growth of Dallas as it soared from three thousand

in 1873 to forty thousand in 1890. Chart 1 graphically shows the population change for

Whites and African Americans between 1850 and 1990 for the city of Dallas where the

major Black settlements began.

Chart 1

City of Dallas Black Population Growth

1,200Thousands Total Population 1,006.88

1,000

800- -

600

Black Population 297.03

400

200

01850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1992.

Local Black historians have documented more than 30 Black settlements in early

Dallas (Allen, 1995). Black churches, businesses, shops, clubs, cafes, schools, and

offices for Black professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and dentists were established.

87

During the 1920s and 1930s popular music was centered in the Deep Ellum district on

the eastern edge of downtown, close to one of the original freedmen's towns. "Major

Black jazz and blues musicians such as Huddie 'Leadbelly' Ledbetter and 'Blind Lemon'

Jefferson performed at Ella B. Moore's Park Theater, Hattie Burleson's dance hall, and

other local clubs" (p. 484).

Map 1 details the six most prominent African-American settlements in the 1940s.

These were located within the Dallas city limits in what was considered less-than-prime

land near cemeteries, railroads, and along the Trinity River where flooding had not yet

been contained. The North Dallas area near State and Thomas Streets became a mecca

for Blacks in the 1920s with its stately homes, shops, cafes, lawyers, and entertainment

district. (Map 1, Area 1). This area thrived into the 1970s when urban planners and

developers recognized it as a gateway to downtown and began buying out the longtime

Black residents. As late as the 1980s, businesses and homes were still being bulldozed in

order to accommodate luxury apartments and offices thus completing the transformation

into what is known today as Cityplace.

Many of these African American settlements were started by Black men who

were hired by the railroad companies as section hands, boilermen, engineers, and

trackmen. Historians say that the railroads encouraged Blacks to locate on the railroad's

right of way because no one else would settle there (Allen, 1995). The African

Americans, in turn, attracted industry because they offered cheap, readily accessible

labor. The railroad first built inexpensive "shotgun" houses for rentals. But as Blacks

88

I

Map IThe First Six African Neighborhoods

in Dallas County

1. Freedman's TownNorth of downtown Dallas at theintersection of what is now CentralExpressway and Lemmon Avenue.The historic Freedman's Cemeterywas recently excavated and relocatedto accommodate highway expansionand developments.

3ME

2. Deep EllumDeveloped in 1872 and known as the"Harlem of the South" because of itscafes, saloons, and theaters. Has been Downtown 45revitalized over the past ten years andis considered the "avante guarde"section of Dallas.

3. East Oak CliffBlacks came to this area in the 1840s emas slaves of William H. Hord. Thenknown as Hord's Ridge, it laterE11thbecame Oak Cliff

4. Queen CityIOne of the largest and most -prominent Black neighborhoodsbefore the rest of South Dallas wasopened up to African Americans inthe 1950s.

5. Wheatley PlaceWas the first Black enclave within amostly White neighborhood.

6. JoppaNamed for the biblical city andfounded by freedmen, it has beengradually isolated by the naturalbarrier of the Trinity River, a railroadswitching yard, South CentralExpressway and Interstate 45.

Source: U. S. Census Bureau and Dallas Morning NewsResearch, 1990

samull.

30

Haske

SP RR

175^

a

Tiniry River

45

89

earned money, they began buying land and building homes. According to oral tradition,

another community, Joppa (pronounced "Joppy") (Map 1, Area 6), started about 150

years ago as a few shacks in a cotton field. Isolated by natural and manmade barriers--

the Trinity River, a railroad switching yard, South Central Expressway, Interstate 45--

Joppa is currently fighting for its preservation. Joppa is considered by its residents as

having been long neglected in terms of access to city services. The freedmen's

neighborhood of 650 persons is surrounded by 500 vacant lots among the 267 houses

still standing. There are many houses in disrepair, and it took the City of Dallas twelve

years to begin the repavement of four of its asphalt streets from money approved in a

1984 bond election. Mrs. Charlie Jackson, who has been a resident of Joppa for over 60

years, is known as the "Mayor of Joppa." She has struggled to keep the neighborhood

intact and to provide needed social services to the elderly and the young. While other

historic Black neighborhoods have been dismantled, this community is determined to

preserve its history and its heritage.

Black-White relations have experienced considerable strain throughout the years.

'Tyler (1996) wrote: "The Post World War I era was marked by the reemergence of the

Ku Klux Klan. With 13,000 members, the Dallas chapter was the largest in Texas, and

the national 'Imperial Wizard' was a Dallas dentist" (p. 479). The Dallas Negro

Chamber of Commerce (later re-named the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce) was

organized in 1925. That same year a study showed that 83.5% of Black housing was

tenant-occupied, and 80% of the units were judged to be "sub-standard."

90

A Peculiar Housing Problem

A book about Dallas written in 1927 in support of comprehensive planning for the

city of Dallas stated the concern of the time regarding housing for minorities. It read:

Dallas has a threefold citizenship... One of the most importantlyvital questions in city planning is to provide areas in which law-abiding,self-respecting, wage-earning thrifty Negro citizens can buy and pay forhomes that are suitable for life use...The same is true in reference to amuch smaller number of people in the Mexican population."

In the South where many of the colored people work in the homes ofthe whites, the importance of good housing of the Negro is a very vitalmatter to the welfare of the white homes. The white family may not bedirectly affected by bad housing conditions of other white families livingin the same part of town, yet it may be vitally and directly affected by thebad housing of a Negro family living in the Negro part of the city. Let megive you an illustration than occurred not long ago in Dallas.

Not long ago the mother of a white family having two children wassurprised and worried by the fact that her children both suddenlydeveloped full blown, typical case of scarlet fever...She had a Negrowoman cooking for her and she knew that this cook had some smallchildren at home. The white lady, not wishing to endanger the health ofher cook's children, told her that she might stop work for a while in orderthat the colored children might not be exposed to the danger of hercarrying scarlet fever to them. The cook answered her mistress, "Law me,Miss Liza, you needn't worry 'bout my chillun; they done had it and arealready peelin off" (Kimball, 1927, pp. 195-197).

Little Mexico and La Bajura

The first sizable numbers of Mexican Americans to settle permanently in Dallas

were brought to the city as members of railroad gangs soon after the turn of the century

(Davis, 1936). Tyler (1996) stated, "Throughout its history, Dallas County had a

vigorous Hispanic population, but it was difficult to detect in official records because

until the 1960s Mexican Americans were listed as White in the Census and were not

91

enumerated as a separate group" (p. 485). In the 1920s Little Mexico emerged as a

clearly defined neighborhood (Map 1). That year locals estimated the Mexican

population in Dallas as high as 10,000 but the U.S. Census estimated 2,902 based on their

limited samples (Allen, 1995). In 1925, a survey of Little Mexico by the City of Dallas

concluded that the whole section of Little Mexico was a slum and "menace to the entire

city" (Davis, 1936). "Such rhetoric reflected a new consciousness that had developed in

Dallas during the 1920s that viewed the city as so inextricably linked that problems in

one section affected the whole city" (Fairbanks, 1990, p. 2).

A description provided by the WPA Dallas Guide and History (1940) describes

Little Mexico as covering ten city blocks bounded by the city dump and the MKT

Railroad tracks and "one of the few slum areas in Dallas possessing individual character"

(Holmes and Saxon, 1992, p. 306). The area today still has a large proportion of

Hispanics with Little Mexico west of downtown Dallas and adjacent to the Stemmons

Industrial/Love Field Corridor.

Another area of the city where Hispanics concentrated was also the West Dallas

area shown on Appendix C Map 9. This area (Census Tract 101.02) is located just south

of the Trinity River directly across downtown Dallas. Its border to the south is Singleton

Boulevard which is also the southern border of West Dallas and which runs parallel to

the Missouri-Pacific railroad tracks. In 1978, this area was the subject of a book entitled,

Mexican Americans in a Dallas Barrio (Achor, 1978) which was an ethnographic study of

Mexican Americans in the larger socio-cultural setting of the city of Dallas. Achor

92

designated this area, "La Bajura," or "the low-land" because of its proximity to the Trinity

River. Demographic patterns of Little Mexico and La Bajura and their relationship to

environmental contaminants will be covered later in this chapter and will be addressed in

relationship to the power structure of Dallas.

Dallas' Formal and Informal Power Structure

In reaction to the civic corruption of the 1920s, the City of Dallas was caught up

in the municipal reform movement which swept the nation. Dallas responded by

formally adopting a council-manager system in 1931. In keeping with the business ethos

of Dallas, its formal government is often described in corporate-like terms: "If Dallas

were a corporation, the city manager would be the president of the corporation, the

mayor would be the chairman of the board and the city council would be the board of

directors. The citizens would be the stockholders" (Linden, 1975, p. 22G). This

reverence for business has been noted by many observers of Dallas. In the words of

Bainbridge (1961): " it is the city of the businessmen, by the businessmen, and for the

businessmen" (p. 145).

Five years after the adoption of the council-manager system, in an effort to bring

the Texas Centennial Exhibition to Dallas (now the site of Fair Park), the business

leadership fleshed out the city's informal political structure with the formation of the

Dallas Citizens Council (DCC). The DCC has been described by Warren Leslie (1964)

in his book on the Dallas power structure, Dallas Public and Private, as "a collection of

dollars represented by men" (p.63). Carol Estes Thometz (1963), in a study of decision-

93

making in Dallas, extensively documents the informal power structure of the Council as a

"pyramidal quasi-monolithic type, dominated by a select group of business elite" (p. 32).

Such men as R.L. (Bob) Thornton, John W. Carpenter, and John Stemmons--names on

all the major freeways in Dallas today--were the pillars of the organization. Thornton

was chairman of the Mercantile National Bank and a four-term mayor of the city. "When

forming the Council, Thornton laid down the only rule of order. There were to be no

delegates or stand-ins at the meetings of the DCC. 'If you don't come, you ain't there.'

(Schutze, 1987, p. 60). The Council wanted men who could sit down at a big table, have

control over the money, and make "it" happen. "They never had to ask anybody's

permission because they were the permission-givers. Dallas, then, is a city characterized

by men of power rather than by organizations of power" (Thometz ,1963). In 1937, the

organization was comprised of 100 white males. By 1970 it would expand to an

organization of 250 chief executives of the city's largest businesses in 1970. Membership

was--and still is--by invitation only. The DCC sponsored a number of key organizations

which played a significant role in civic affairs. "Most important in 1970 was the political

ann of the Citizens Council, the Citizens Charter Association (CCA), which had been the

dominant force in city elections since 1931" (Achor, 1978, p. 61). Under the system of

at-large elections, the CCA was responsible for selecting a business-endorsed slate of

candidates for the Dallas City Council and backed the campaigns with very expensive,

professionally produced advertising. Of specific concern at election time was the

position of mayor, and although the position of mayor does not in itself accord top

94

decision-making power, the mayor can increase the hardships of the decision-makers'

tasks.

The DCC's paternalism has raised many questions about its role in city affairs and

even its justification for existence. To some, the Citizens Council was simply a

benevolent oligarchy. According to Leslie (1964), "Critics have called the )CC an

"invisible government that rules the city like the doges of medieval Venice or the princes

of the Italian Renaissance" (p. 177). But Thometz noted that "This was all to change in

1975 when the at-large election was dismantled" (p. 82).

Dallas Under the Microscope

The city of Dallas' power structure became under increasing scrutiny and

criticism beginning in 1961 and following the Kennedy assassination in 1963. In 1963

The Decision-makers: The Power Structure of Dallas was published. In this document

Black (1953) noted that "Carol Estes Thometz coined a variation of C. Wright Mills'

theory of a power elite to describe a closed, select group of self-appointed decision-

makers drawn from the business and financial communities" (p. 22). Begun as a masters

thesis, this Thometz's thesis was published as a book by Southern Methodist University.

Here Thometz explored the issues of social stratification and the nature and distribution

of political power in an urban setting. This treatise supported the hypothesis that

business is the driving force in a progressive community, and that the men who emerge

as the leading decision-makers are those businessmen who have close ties to Dallas and

the State of Texas. As Thometz, (1963) stated:

95

Dallas is not a "one man town." It is run by a group of about twenty-fiveinterested leaders who can get anything they want done. They really havethe power...Dallas power doesn't form a pyramid with only one man at thetop...In Dallas, there is a group of men who form a fairly flat pyramid.After that it really fans out (p.28).

Not surprisingly, all of the leaders identified were White males, and the majority

were top business executives. The occupations of those identified as top decision-makers

were predominantly in banking and insurance businesses, and the executives in the two

local newspaper-radio-Tv organizations. Other occupations represented are rank ordered

beginning with the most number of representatives: trade, real estate, manufacturing.

Other representatives are from the areas of utilities, law, education, and government. No

leaders in labor and religion emerged in this study. "The 'seven key leaders,' as

delineated by power ratings, included three bankers, two utility executives, and one man

each from retail trade and industry" (p. 31). Also key to this cadre, is the credo that

Dallas civic leaders must put the interests of the city first. "No person who evidences a

desire for advantage, either to himself or his firm, remains an important part of the power

structure for long" (p. 78).

The Five Separate Cities Theory

Just as there is stratification among the decision-makers, there is stratification

built into the urban environmental setting. In other words, where you live helps to

determine "who you are" and whether you have access to political power. In 1964

Warren Leslie, a local writer and journalist, attempted to do a "post-mortem" on the city

where President Kennedy was assassinated. He described Dallas as "being five cities in

96

the middle of nowhere. Its existence is an invention of the human mind and a tribute to

human energy" (Leslie, 1964, p. 23). According to Leslie, the five cities are inhabited by

five dissimilar populations.

First is Oak Cliff which lies west of the center of town and was one of the first

original settlements in the county (now called Kessler Stevens on Map 4, Appendix C).

He calls Oak Cliff "beautiful--yet unfashionable and treated as an ugly stepchild in the

city's pecking order of power. It is sparsely represented in the civic and cultural arena,

and it has turned inward on itself like a rejected child" (p. 29). "Isolated from the main

body of Dallas by a stinking mire that became a river only during flooding season, Oak

Cliff attracted families of moderate means to its single-family homes" (Black, 1982, p.

161). Leslie (1964) noted:

It is a blue-collar area...a place where a young man arriving in Dallasmight come because he can find a house at a good price. Onceestablished, he moves into North Dallas because in Oak Cliff he and hisfamily are out of the mainstream of Dallas life (p. 29).

In the shadow of downtown lie the slums of West Dallas, the second city. It is

adjacent to Oak Cliff but was not annexed into the city until 1950. J.W. Priestly, the

English writer, once commented upon seeing West Dallas, "I think that you have a

puncture in your balloon" (p. 33). The area was and is today still inhabited by the poor

minorities, primary Blacks. It was the sight of a massive federal housing program in the

1950s. A federal judge in his ruling on a discrimination suit against the City in 1987

described the West Dallas Housing Project as "a gigantic monument to segregation and

neglect." He observed: "I think that we should all be ashamed of the very existence of

97

that project" (Flournoy and Loftis, 1993, p. 30A). The issue of public housing has always

been a sore spot for the Dallas establishment. Leslie (1964) stated "that public housing

chills the hearts of Dallasites as the term 'socialized medicine' does the hearts of doctors"

(p. 37).

The third area of the city is called Turtle Creek dotted by luxury apartments and

begins the establishment area of North Dallas. It is dissected by an honest-to-God'

creek, and if one is going to live in an apartment in Dallas, a Turtle Creek address is the

place to do so. The second large group of luxury apartments, inhabited by people of

influence in the community, is located on Preston Road and Northwest Highway. This is

approximately in the center of "The Establishment" area. The area is surrounded by a

wall, and residents refer to themselves as living "behind the wall" (p. 44). This area also

comprises Dallas' "suitcase set." These are the most mobile of the various populations

and is also populated by what has often been called "stewardess apartments."

The fourth city of Dallas has the fewest inhabitants--downtown. By day it gives

the impression of urban health, activity, and a sense of purpose. Dallas has rivaled other

cities in adding more downtown office space than any other city in America outside of

New York. Although it has struggled with the problem of inner-city middle-class

populations migrating to the suburbs, it still manages to present a demeanor of affluence

and vitality for those people who frequent the streets during the day--corporate

executives, lawyers, government workers and support staffs who arrive at nine and depart

by five. It is the home of the first Nieman-Marcus store--Dallas' monument to

98

conspicuous consumption which is an important symbol of Dallas affluence and a

drawing point for downtown Dallas in attracting people who are in town for conventions

or tourists staying at the hotels in the area.

Most of the people who built and manage downtown Dallas live in the fifth city--

affluent North Dallas. Others live in two virtual islands near the center of city--Highland

Park and University Park. Although they are surrounded entirely by the city of Dallas,

they are separately incorporated townships. Highland Park had been developed north of

Dallas in 1907 as an exclusive planned community. Payne (1994) stated that "A noted

landscape architect, Wilbur David Cook, who designed Beverly Hills, California was

engaged to design a plan for a community 'beyond the city's dust and smoke' and 10

degrees cooler" (p. 214). University Park developed shortly thereafter near the new

Southern Methodist University in 1915. The cities are 3.7 square miles and 2.2 square

miles respectively, and in 1945 the last attempt at annexation by the City of Dallas was

staved off by the Park Cities Anti-Annexation Association. To many critics, the Park

Cities communities typify some of Dallas' worst faults--an atmosphere of smugness, a

lack of social conscience, and a lack of involvement with problems of the total

community (Payne, 1994).

In addition to "the five cities within a city" suggested by Leslie, a sixth city exists.

It played a very prominent role in the change of the social order of Dallas in opening the

doors for African Americans--South Dallas.

99

Succession in South Dallas

In the 1930s African-Americans in Dallas began displaying a more aggressive

stance. Two leaders arrived on the scene, A. Maceo Smith and the Rev. Maynard

Jackson, father of Maynard Jackson, Jr., former mayor of the City of Atlanta. Together

they began to create a new association of intertwined coalitions of Blacks seeking

economic, social and political improvements. Their efforts resulted in the formation of

the Progressive Voters League, whose goals in 1937 included a voter registration drive

with the target of qualifying 10,000 Black voters. Other goals included securing a second

Black high school, increasing the hiring of Black policemen and letter carriers, paving

streets in Black neighborhoods, more parks, street lighting, and increasing opportunities

for Black employment in city government. By 1930 construction on a new high school

began in South Dallas, and the city manager announced that Negro policemen would be

hired at the same salaries as Whites. Also, the Dallas Park Board would purchase land

for two more new parks for Black citizens to use. Beginning in the 1940s and into the

1950s, there was racial tension and violence as Blacks began to migrate into

predominantly White neighborhoods in South Dallas, partially drawn by the completion

of Lincoln High School. The over-flow of Black families in ostensibly White

neighborhoods was also linked to the removal of 200 families from the site of a new $3

million low-cost housing project at the Hall and Thomas street area--the area known as

Freedman's Town (Map 1, Area 1). By 1938, the Black community submitted an appeal

100

for the City to provide public housing for poor Blacks at levels comparable to those

provided to Whites.

This era also saw a series of bombings and retaliations against Blacks who were

moving into White neighborhoods in South Dallas. Schutze (1986) noted that "At the

time of racial unrest between Blacks and Whites, Hispanics had not yet emerged in

Dallas as a distinct minority. They had not yet agreed to become a 'race,' in the North-

American lexicon of ethnic discrimination" (p. 71). There was Anglo-Saxon bigotry

against poor and Indian-Mexicans, but middle-class people with Hispanic names were

considered to be "White." One of the key leaders in the Hispanic community was a

member of the South Dallas Adjustment League, a White organization which attempted

to raise money that would be used to buy houses back from Black families who had

purchased them in White areas. The leader was one of two Hispanics indicted along with

eight other Whites in the bombing conspiracy. "He testified that one of his duties as a

league member had been to help paint 'For Whites Only' signs and carry them around to

place on the lawns of people who agreed not to sell their houses to Blacks" (p. 71).

Throughout the turmoil of the 1950s, a "blue ribbon" grand jury was convened to

investigate the bombings. At first it was thought that the bombings could be attributed to

a couple of out-of-control rednecks, who would be tossed into jail, and the grand jury

could call it a day. "But, much to the dismay of the North Dallas oligarchy, the events

were carried out with the complicity of civic activists, churchgoers, and the trunk of the

body politic" (p. 67). No one was ever charged or indicted. The result was what Schutze

101

called "not a product of law, but of truce and accommodation" (p. 73). The oligarchy

went to work both threatening and cajoling those involved in the social standoff Whites

finally fled South Dallas and in the 1950s and 1960s, the churches and synagogues began

to sell their property and move northward. This migration of Jewish and Protestant

Whites landed in the North Dallas area known as the Hillcrest neighborhood, or as it is

known today in the vernacular, Hebrew Heights.

Tension again erupted in the 1960s in South Dallas. The City of Dallas was

aggressively acquiring land by using its right of eminent domain to evict Black people

who were adjacent to Fair Park, ostensibly because the park was in need of expanded

parking areas. In reality, attendance had declined in past years because fairgoers

objected to being exposed to "a certain element" on their way into the park. It was also

determined that the city was paying Black people one price for their property while a

White property owner right next to them received three times that amount. The Fair Park

Homeowners Association organized and began its efforts to stave off the advancement of

the city into their neighborhoods. In its contributions to the Civil Rights movement of

the 1960s, the North Dallas oligarchy appointed a Black man to fill an unexpired term on

the city council. He was given the task of persuading the Fair Park homeowners into

acquiescing to the city.

In the upheaval, Blacks fortified by the advancements of the sixties were

supported by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and its representatives who

had been working on eminent domain issues for Blacks throughout the South. Jesse

102

Jackson was brought to town and declared "war" in the struggle for the economic welfare

of the Black people of Dallas. The Fair Park Homeowners Association issued an

invitation for a meeting with the mayor to discuss their grievances. The mayor did not

respond so the Association announced that 600 protesters would disrupt the Cotton Bowl

Parade scheduled to be aired on television on New Years Day, 1970. The football game

was also to be aired from the grounds of the State Fair Park. At midnight the night before

the parade, 500 protesters gathered in South Dallas, and the mayor finally agreed to a

meeting. In spite of the negotiations, this story ended with many Black Fair Park

homeowners still losing their homes and for not much more money than originally

offered. In the words of a local writer: "that's how the exercising of the right of eminent

domain works in Dallas, strictly business...and exactly how it worked in other areas of

town--Love Field with the airport, Eagle Ford when West Dallas was annexed--and other

areas" (Schutze, 1986, p. 163). Meanwhile back at the parade, one of the Black Fair Park

leaders rode in a convertible--with the mayor--much to his chagrin.

The Fair Park Homeowners continued their battle and filed suit against the City

Council challenging the existing at-large election system. In 1980, one of the

homeowners, a seasoned veteran of the Fair Park melee, was sworn in as the first elected

Black on the Dallas City Council. "This was the beginning of the end of the traditional

way of ruling in Dallas--for the racial system, for the political system, and for the

oligarchy itself' (p. 167).

103

The Pattern Remains

Tables 6A and 6B detail the demographics of these "separate cities" in 1990. A

review of the neighborhoods in both North and South Dallas that are designated as

Standard Statistical Communities (Appendix C, Map 4) by the City of Dallas Planning

Department shows a pattern of segregation and inequality that continued to be

maintained over the past fifty years. For example, the South Dallas area is 96% Black

and has a median income of $9,180, while the Hillcrest neighborhood is 94% White with

a median income of $58,812.

The census tracts listed in Southern Dallas County have a recorded total violators

(both TNRCC and EPA) of 33 while the northern sector of cities and neighborhoods have

a total of 3 violations Also, the dispersion of minorities in the southern sector far

exceeds that of the north. Median family incomes are also considerably higher in the

north. This pattern is consistent with the demographics of other neighborhoods

throughout Dallas County and continues through the 1990s. A comparison of

neighborhoods in the northern sector of the city of Dallas and Dallas County

demonstrates vast differences in ethnic composition, income, and shows also that

exposure to pollution is concentrated in the southern half of the county.

104

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CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The intent of this study has been to provide an expanded understanding of the

complex problem of the location of environmental contaminants in the urban milieu. In

studying Dallas County, this research has applied a sociological approach to the issue of

urban development by utilizing an historical paradigm. Previous literature (Bullard,

1986; Gould, 1986; Mohai and Bryant, 1992; Napton and Day, 1992) has addressed the

debate as to whether race or class is the more accurate predictor of the location of

environmental pollutants. This study expands the understanding of this relationship by

interjecting an analysis of how structure and agency, which are the driving forces of

capitalism, contribute to the resultant contours of the urban environmental landscape. In

other words, while race and class are inextricably linked to this process, there is an

acknowledgment that other social, economic, and political forces are far more powerful

in ascertaining causal links to this phenomena (Anderton et al, 1994; Vittas and Pollock,

1995; Krieg, 1995; and Yandle and Burton, 1996).

Utilizing descriptive data, this study identifies those 35 census tracts in Dallas

County which were determined to have pollution violators located within their

boundaries. In providing demographic profiles on each tract (Appendix B Table 8), it

was determined that all but two of these tracts had median family incomes lower than the

106

107

county median of $36,982 in 1990. Twenty-two of these census tracts had minority

populations(African Americans and Hispanics) greater than 36.4%, which was the

minority composition of the county as a whole. Of these identified tracts, it was

determined that there are three major areas in the county where a majority of the

violators were highly concentrated: (1) the Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor, (2)

West Dallas, (3) and Southwest Garland.

The Historical Analysis

In looking at the evolution of Dallas County over the past 50 years, it became

apparent that the forces which converged to define the county in 1990 were set into pace

at the very beginning of the mid-1980s. The research showed how Dallas County has a

long history of racial segregation and stratification. Many of the founding pioneers who

arrived in that era did so with African slaves who provided cheap labor in the cotton and

onion fields of Dallas County. Those workers were confined to areas where housing was

poor and substandard, and the land was inadequate for any other use or subject to

flooding. With the arrival of the railroads in the 1870s, more Blacks and Hispanics

arrived in the area. They were used as cheap labor for the construction of the rail tracks.

The railroads built "shot-gun" housing near the tracks so that the workers were close to

their jobs and transportation to and from work was minimized.

The competition for land was fierce beginning in Dallas County in the late 1800s

as the settlements of Dallas County began vying for railroad stations and post offices in

their attempts to gain population and businesses and create cities. It picked up again in

108

the mid 1900s when the cities of the county began aggressive "land-grabs" in the form of

annexations. Black (1982) reported that "The frenzy of population and spatial growth in

Dallas County impressed the Texas Legislative Council, whose 1954 report detailed

Home Rule annexations activity between 1946 and 1953" (p. 38). Of those cities

reporting, Dallas led the state with sixty-five annexations. By 1953, however, five Dallas

County suburban towns placed within the top seven annexing cities in the state. Garland

was the highest with forty-two times, Irving thirty-seven, and the City of Grand Prairie

increased from five square miles to thirty, and by late 1953 had pushed its boundaries to

the Dallas City limits, preventing the city of Dallas from further westward growth (Black,

1982). After the terrain was carved up, the actors went to work landscaping the territory.

The City of Dallas was to emerge as the key agent in the county. The

sociologists, Logan and Molotch (1987), state that "The creators of towns and the

builders of cities must strain to use all the resources at their disposal, including crude

political clout, to make great fortunes out of place" (p. 53). Dallas did and still does this

very successfully. With certain immutable factors in place--the railroads and the Trinity

River,--the next step was to make the land profitable. Government in the form of the

council-manager system, planning, and the legal mechanisms were in place by the late

1920s and early 1930s. Next, the developers, capitalists and political elites were

mobilized to action. Industrial areas were carved out and exclusionary zoning, deed

restrictions, and major transportation corridors were outlined. This led to more

residential segregation, with the most desirable land going to Whites and minorities being

109

relegated again to the cheaper, less-desirable land. While these social and economic

structures were being established, the entrepreneurial agents began to play a dominant

role in this process--those persons who saw the opportunity for wealth and power and

were able to set those capitalistic processes into motion which would expand and

increase that wealth. Those agents who were instrumental in shaping Dallas County

were all white males much like C. Wright Mills (1956) described in his writings:

As the means of information and power are centralized, some men cometo occupy positions in American society from which they can look downupon, so to speak, and by their decisions mightily affect, the every dayworlds of ordinary men and women. They are not made by their jobs; theyset up and breakdown jobs of thousands of others...They need not merelymeet the demands of the day and hour; in some part, they create thesedemands, and cause others to meet them. Whether or not they professtheir power, their technical and political experience of it far transcendsthat of the underlying population. What Jacob Burckhardt said of "greatmen", most Americans might well say of their elite: 'They are all that weare not (p. 3).

This model of capitalistic expansion within the county is best perceived as what

Logan and Molotch (1987) calls the "growth machine." This model emphasizes the fact

that growth is based on a "good business climate"(p. 58), or in the words of Feagin

(1933): "The business of government is business" (p. 149). In utilizing the sociospatial

analysis of historical processes, Figure 1 diagrams the major forces which have

contributed to the unique historical development of Dallas. As the sociospatial approach

emphasizes, "settlement space refers to the built environment in which people live.

Settlement space is both constructed and organized...built by people who have followed

110Figure 1

The Dallas Growth Machine

GovernmentCity of DallasDallas CountyDallas Public Schools

The Urban PlannersKesslerUlricksonCity Plan Commission

The Legal MechanismsZoning ordinances and deed restrictions

Racial zoningComprehensive zoningAnnexation procedures

The Developers and Major CapitalistsBen CarpenterJohn StemmonsR.L. ThorntonTrammell Crow

The Political ElitesThe Dallas Citizens CouncilThe Area Chambers of CommerceThe Dallas Times HeraldThe Dallas Morning News

The Environment/Infrastructure

Built--railroads--freewaysNatural--Trinity River and its flood plait

The seven boxes on the left of the diagram categorizes the major structures which contributed to the dynamics of the local growth machine.The listings in each box refer to the agents which were prominent during the formative era of the Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor andWest Dallas. The four men and one woman whose names appear each played a prominent role at a crucial time when development of the theseareas were taking place and whose names surfaced repeatedly during research of this area of Dallas.

n

The Social Service AgenciesDallas Council of Social Service AgenciNAACPWomen's Chamber of CommerceAuxiliary of Methodists ChurchesHattie Rankin Moore

The Citizen GroupsThe Ku Klux KlanThe South Dallas Neighborhood Associa

es

tion

yThe Dallas

Growth Machine

111

some meaningful plan for the purposes of containing economic, political, and cultural

activities" (Gottdiener, 1994, p. 16). The process is circuitous in that in time the

constructed space is molded by sociospatial factors. The various components in Figure 1

were very influential in the creation of the urban contours of Dallas. These variables all

united at different points in time to develop an urban milieu which created meaningful

opportunities out of constructed space. Even natural space, specifically the Trinity River,

was adapted to settlement space as the river was channeled and dammed transforming

flood plain and farm land into industrial and transportation space resulting in economic

gains for those who were involved in the process.

In explaining the processes which carved out Dallas County, the agents who were

most instrumental, men like John Stemmons, John Carpenter, and R.L. Thornton, were

linked inextricably to political and economic determinants of the area. They were

powerful leaders who influenced decisions which gave Dallas its aggressive, progressive

growth attitude. They were supported by men like George Kessler who had a vision of

the city and county throughout the early 1900s.

In the 1940s and 1950s while the capitalist forces were at work, the unimaginable

happened. The interlopers, the voices of the poor and the minority, emerged, and for

once, the elites were challenged with the question: "Is there no social conscience in

relationship to Dallas' minorities and the poor?" As concern was directed towards West

Dallas, South Dallas, and Little Mexico, housing and social relief were easily obtainable

as the Federal government supplied resources to ameliorate these conditions. A simple

112

task--add to the base of capitalist expansion as the problems of the poor in West Dallas

are addressed.

A new dilemma, however, was to surface at the end of the 1950s and into the

1960s. It started in other parts of the county, and it was extremely unpalatable to the city

fathers. It was called desegregation, and it meant that the exclusionary systems of

governance and distribution of resources in Dallas would be challenged. Never at a loss

for vision and action, the Citizens Council hired a public relations expert to handle this

matter. The leaders researched this issue in other cities and came to the conclusion that

this social phenomenon was inevitable; furthermore, any resistance would be futile and

not affirming to a city which was intent on cultivating peace and harmony while

attracting new investors and growth. The oligarchy devised and developed a campaign to

sell this concept. The tool was called, "Dallas at the Crossroads," a twenty-minute video

designed to shock Dallasites into a fundamental morality. The video depicted Little

Rock and New Orleans in the midst of race riots showing the hatred, anger, and violence

which accompanied desegregation in the South. The film was shown again and again to

schools, neighborhood groups, and employees of firms. Meanwhile, Dallasites were co-

opted into acquiescing to desegregation by appealing to their sense of citizenship. With a

heavy emphasis on prosperous growth and good job opportunities, the citizens were

prevailed upon to uphold the city's good name.

Since that time, other issues of equity have surfaced in this arena. Whether it was

lead pollution in West and South Dallas, or housing availability, or health care, or jobs,

113

the social and political agents who continue to drive Dallas have mustered their public

relations skills to save the name of the city. As a result, the public health, social services

and religious organizations were given meager resources to keep the relative deprivation

of Dallas' poor and minorities from becoming absolute deprivation. The antagonists still

remain in a somewhat ineffectual role as it relates to social change. They still make lots

of noise, but as everyone knows, a dynamic urban environment is impervious to noise,

but it does thrive on action, profit, expansion, and growth.

On the surface, the outlook for the disenfranchised in Dallas is still the same.

Segregation in housing, education, and employment maintains its stronghold on the

Dallas marketplace. As it was in the early 1900s, the urban landscape of Dallas has

maintained its segregated housing patterns with the resultant negative externalities

confined to low income areas. In other words, the County rests in accordance with the

zoning mantra of the 1920s, and what Bullard and Feagin (1991) declared "a place for

everything and everything in its place" (p. 69).

Conclusions

More traditional sociological approaches have attempted to quantify the

relationship between urban population demographics and the problem of contaminant

location. Rodeheaver, Williams, and Cutrer (1997) posed the question: "If ethnic and

racial minority and lower economic class neighborhoods are exposed disproportionately

to pollution, then is the racial and ethnic minority status of a community more important

than its economic class status?" (p. 13). Their conclusion was that other factors such as

114

political decisions, zoning practices and transportation corridors influence location near

employment, housing costs, and land costs.

While the question of exposure is certainly definable by race and socio-economic

indicators, the data do little to unravel the processes leading up to this phenomenon. The

tools employed in this study have shed considerable insight into the forces of growth and

development as it relates to political and economic power. A major finding in this study

leads to the importance of the historical events resulting in the definition of the urban

landscape. Bullard (1994) discussed how historically certain regions of our country,

particularly in the South, became "sacrifice zones" (p. 97). He associated this

phenomenon as "emerging from certain attitudes arising out of the region's marriage to

slavery, and the plantation system, which exploited both humans and the land ' (p.101).

A review of Dallas County's history also links its early development with the values of

the Deep South. De facto racial restrictions, later codified by de jure segregation

practices, were evident in the areas of residential neighborhoods, housing, and education.

These policies were in place long before industry and manufacturing began to develop.

Land costs and accessibility were determined initially in relationships to its use and its

affability to its early settlers. This study strongly suggests that in looking at the

placement of environmental pollution one must also assess the correlation between other

negative amenities which are also present in conjunction with environmental

contaminants.

115

In the case of the Stemmons Corridor defined by the Trinity River, visionaries

saw wealth where a flood plain lay. Through ingenuity and creative political and

financial strategies, this area was converted to a profitable industrial area. The land lost

value and appeal as a residential area and gained exceedingly in its industrial use. As

residential values decreased, the process of succession fell to those who had marginal

resources for affordable housing. In the case of West Dallas, also located in the Trinity

River flood plain, the pattern established in the early 1920s and 1930s caused it to

become entrenched in its reputation as undesirable and expendable. Enforced by the

establishment of government polices of segregation and lax code enforcement, this area

continued to deteriorate. Again, this was an area where the poor could find meager

housing.

Garland, on the other hand, had a very different historical development. The

location of manufacturing and industry was a goal of the city visionaries. Spurred by the

war efforts in the 1920s, Garland's junction of railroads drew industry into the area, while

at the same time neighborhoods arose which would provide low cost housing to its

growing work force. This work force was primarily White and issues of racial

desegregation were not as prominent in this city as was in Dallas.

It is also important to note that throughout this early era of development, there

was a lack of information and knowledge regarding the implications of environmental

contaminants. Questions had not yet arisen as to the health consequences, and capital

and labor each was more concerned with the enhancement of economic opportunities and

116

growth in the market. As manufacturing and industries grew, so did the need for more

housing in the immediate areas. Transportation was of major concern during this early

era. Public transportation was almost non-existent, and cars were a luxury for many

working-class families.

Also, it wasn't until the 1970's that researchers began discovering the effects of

industrial and chemical by products in residential neighborhoods. In ascertaining which

came first, the people or the pollution, the answer really depends on the area that is being

examined. What might be an important question is at which point did people begin to

understand the linkages between people and pollution. As the issue seems to be currently

regarded as one of racism and classism, it is important to note that the exposure of

minorities and the poor to pollution is merely another by-product of the system of

stratification which exists in our society. If these questions are to be relevant, we must

view them as symptomatic of a systemic problem. In order to address the issue of

unequal distribution of contaminants, researchers must again address the issue of unequal

access to resources in general in our society. The major obstacle to this process is what

Schnaiberg and Gould (1994) calls the "treadmill of production." This concept refers to

our capitalistic thinking that progress is accomplished by conquering nature and

expanding production. While governmental polices and regulations attempt to protect

those who are being affected, the reality is such that the economic institutions which are

formed to support this treadmill are highly entrenched in their efforts to protect and

assure the progress of technology and growth. "This means that in clinging to our

117

economic system, society will continue to erode environmental systems and to

impoverish increasingly larger numbers of people" (Schnaiberg and Gould, 1994, p. v).

Therefore, issues of environmental equity must be addressed in the context within a

larger arena assessing the economic, social and political determinants of capitalism.

Implication for Future Research

While this study is the first of its kind in developing a socio-historical approach to

environmental pollution, it answers the call of other sociologists (Vittas and Pollock,

1994; Krieg, 1995) who recognized that the forces of environmental pollution are not

restricted to an easily defined set of variables. There remains a considerable amount of

work to do in addressing this issue. Only through a comprehensive understanding of how

decisions are made and land and capital distributed can we obtain a broader

understanding of this topic. Krieg (1996) attempted to do so in his study of

environmental pollutants in Boston. While finding that the gentrification processes and

public housing sitings increasingly "push" minorities into areas with existing toxic waste

sites where land values are low , he acknowledges that each community with

environmental pollutants present is unique in how it came to be that way. Such is the

case of West Dallas with its history of linkage with the Stemmons Industrial Corridor and

the Trinity River.

While this study expands the Krieg analysis of urban environmental problems, the

major revelation of this study is that it is a considerable task to unravel the forces which

affect urban growth and that the further one delves into the matter, the more complex the

118

set of relations and actors that are revealed. Unlike Boston, Dallas has a very different

history of its early development. Boston has a history of industrial activity of hundreds of

years, while Dallas is a relative newcomer. Dallas and Boston only begin to give us

insight into how the process of people and pollution converge. It appears to be a process

of who identifies economic opportunities first. If it is business and industry, it envisions

the cost of the land as being cheap, accessible, and not subject to strong political forces

who will oppose the industrial activity with its resultant pollutant factors. Where

residential neighborhoods are concerned, there is a confluence of factors such as access

to inexpensive land, location adjacent to employment opportunities, and access to public

resources, such as schools, public housing, and public transportation. What this research

has contributed reinforces earlier studies which suggest that more studies should be done

in order to identify as many as the various scenarios which led the phenomena of people

and pollution. Only then will researchers be able to construct meaningful explanations

and predictive models which more effectively assess the cause and effects of uneven

development in the urban milieu.

Finally, the social relationships of capitalism must not be ignored in analyzing the

urban milieu. There are certain systemic structures which enable the capitalistic system

to exploit the land and its inhabitants. While racism and classism contribute

considerably to the uneven distribution of environmental pollutants, it must be noted that

these two variables are merely the tools which prove useful to the capitalists in achieving

their goals of maximum profit and minimum responsibility for their exploitations. There

119

are no easy solutions to these dynamic forces and their consequences of uneven

development in relegating those less empowered to undesirable localities for housing. It

is only through a more comprehensive understanding of these processes that new

structures, policies, and systems will be designed to mitigate the overarching effects and

serious dangers that capitalist intrusion poses to the poor, minorities and to their

environment.

APPENDIX A

PRIOR STUDIES ON ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY

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MATRIX OF TNRCC AND EPA VIOLATIONS FORDALLAS COUNTY BY CENSUS TRACTS

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o e

ISM -

C 0

CC

z 8

M N00

- 0

ro (Na

ri - - C C

C aC

-.

-* -

APPENDIX C

MAP OF DALLAS COUNTY, MAJOR CONTAMINATIONSITES AND RAILROAD LINES

133

134

Map 2Dallas County

249! (VI N- At r ~TY ~ ~

21 35 269 R[CHAR S T 20s to , A Ri A "G [AND'

C~E ~ LOPPEI.L 77 I*OA ~ ~ 29 IICAIL(p 1j4 'ES11MAPJ

n -, NORTH ese u R W

g*1KE J{ RD] 'KWANVAI

- .A A ao -Kw w , jN~

6 35Q 4 8 1 > } *

IA LAO

CD NI4342'H I )C- R i (L)MHIN

-- -- l AIRIEAS (VUN7,Y 'REIEL

____ -- __-WHT - MS(VNF

G A

35256 SUNNYVIto

osov kVD :.

120 A N isA

C 12

"i \' 1 } ~635 175, . _

20 4520 SEAQOV 1LLE

... 8SO 1HWS35EIPOOO

75 TAArm8an

1 -r-- -- Y --- YER tSU'LLHIS '.UNTY

Source: North Central Texas Council of Governments, 1990.

- IME EMI

135

Map 3

Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor--West Dallas--Southwest Garland

in Proximity to the Entire County

13740 13.11 31.1 JC 152.10411 141.01 13709 1900 11x107

137.07 3. t E 192.1 J

141.07\ 137.10 150.1D

141.0 37.4 .A HE 111 32100

14144 1E M 350 N H W 110.12

141.1 1400 3.02 FN 132.00 0 G X OW 111.01 51. 11.0114.0 x01019.03 70,04 00.1 nId K GH

141.11 71.-03 ]0.1900 906 36.00 3X Y 3101115.04 01 8700 102.01 - 111.11

141.)3 7.01 FU a J i. 12D

06.00 71.01 011 74.04 pG DL 3. 1 .71.00 1530 11.10 111141.12 14344 01 ... F 74.00 OA U 77.00 71.01 10 1300 T 04 am ON O

Ft 14. 73.02 105.01 7.0 11,.00 g y 101.12 191.11 8 .~ i ~ F . 0yr 142.02- T CW 2.0 U 121.02 1111.13 111.11

FD 144.00 47.C0-01Cmo FA C 3 1 1.00 gW [lt10-0 00

144 A~1.0 .00 EnMA 705IV__AQ10000 J AU AT w y

EX .0 15.00 AKCPAM1A 2 1 122.0 7 .4 1 00 7 .01 10

EW 1.1.00 10.00 C F 01.6.0201 9Q 172717

15301106.0 Ct 3.00 33. L 2.01 4. 0 500O 1. 00 174.02 17-1 177.02

57 11.0 107.01 CJ <ow 8 120 11 00 9V .0 IV 51.01 202 70

140 7.00 45.0 0.0

100.00 160.00 CF 1.Y Ca *102 92.01 110.00G 1 3.01 01.02 173.02

10 02 CE 04.00 CC S T 1.p N 03.03 111.00 JR

11A1,0 2.00 113.00 10.01 e.2 3.04101.02 13.01 3.00 11,0 170

114.02 EF ED 114.01 O 0 17 T

10103 EG

114.03 1. 50.02 7.046.01 . 142

104.01 EP EJ 401 E 114.01 11.021.1.2

EM E184.04 .... 100

185.12 ET ER EL 13E 17. 171.00.-

EKN-

115.10 155.13 506.E1 9.02

184.06 145.05 188.06 170701

L 18.01

108,12 150.11

185.06 158.13 1 55.02 100

Source: North Central Texas Council of Governments, 1990.

136

Map 4

City of Dallas Standard Statistical Communities overlaid

on 1990 Census Tracts

317."0

131.11 31.1 i13.

36.121 :

130.16 134.10

40.41 9f. 6.0 132 1e.0.7Lkr66 66.07 H.04 136 133 131 of 6.

0.97.0 7 76.04

7302 7 'hi jio126 2

La'e 1ald q 79 136 124.03 1 F o126.02

3 + Q **160t.124 125

4 41100 4.-0 Lak

"'taanows South 6w 123 176

16 ,N 12204 176.06102 01.0

106 1 10 0S 1 2 3 12302

106 104 28 ark 83 rbsnale

go. i as 33.01 44 8 12

107.01 M* 4 42 20 3 37 1 2

Glu 811 6e41 1-01 12047 4 7 South DalLas4 44 48 +0 40 118

1114107.02 33 6b61 112.01 116

64310-01-02 42 SU3..r1 62.02 16104 3.1 n Ma100431 G 116.01 117

tft & Creek .01 114.02 116.02110-011002 14.1 Simpson ta. D a dy ery ]s r 170.02

ked i rd 11 113 14041111.01 17 1170.0

347.0

143.102

Source: North Central Texas Council of Governments, 1990.

137

Map 5Dallas County Census Map with City of Dallas Inset

1950

i-r ,

7

'4 74- 75 77 .Y 7 8

72 37 .3 79..3 6

43 71

I /

e4«K-X p

4-A 8 II e

615

a r

88

+-1 3AL2. A 9

422 3A40Lttr

65 6 62 4 93I I63 wy +

TEA6 . S 9DALSU BA IE RE - ETR P R ALA RA IEDA E -ASE NP Rj .. e~uuCNS uws

Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1952.

138

Map 6

Dallas County Railroad Corridors

1 6 2

410513708 136.11 04.1 JC 1

0707 04.1 J8 JD .A11 0'14107 137.10 KW t

8 14115370HE10 .R 16.0

"a "A Y

141W W I M 18H F 11012 10f .00 158.04141.1 1 2 1W 13100 O M 110

-1 64.0 603 7.04 01 O OJ by14111 \j. W r.0 Y u1.0701 0 a 1201 - 151.16

6063.00 X 0 760 g63011

14,2 14.04 74- A U 770 7.01 1 0 T 061

FL 14 7302 601 * 1 r .5 5.10C 7 16112pa 1.0 07 1 .FE 4202 - T Cw . 12602 11.13 11.1

FO AU 4700 140 rC 00D 5

77.0

14406, .00. 17CP0 750

277 AC

17 0

16000 44022 0 1 756 7141..02 11.0

VW .151,0.0 101..0a 0 .2 3.1 122a, 9 .0W

16.01 -EF16.r - U .

00 5400 6.4.m. 100.=164.01EP J

87.00 45 E.0E0 go11.00 1 7

50 166.10 C 851025.0 160

161.001 .a 216 0 6 3 1 101.02 6 6 31.0 6 6.0 7.40 2170

104.02 10603 E

1640416 167..01

166.1 T 1 EA.E3 1 .0 270

E 4X

2. 65.n acf657.R ckIsEn3.1MT0 Kay 8.S0h2str

4.4.0 S uthern 6506 Pa06c17i217.0

Soure: ort Cetra Teas ounil f Goernent1a46.A0C4 I1.,4991

139

Map 7Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor EPA and TNRCC Violations

1990 Data by Census Tract

E--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Environmental ProtectionAgency.

T--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Texas Natural Resource.Conservation Commission.

140

Map 8Stemmons Industrial/Love Field Corridor EPA and TNRCC Violations

1990 Data by Census Tract

v 1~

E--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Environmental ProtectionAgency.T-This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Texas Natural.

Resource Conservation Commission.M-This symbol represents the location of a municipal solid waste site.

141

Map 9West Dallas EPA and TNRCC Violations

1990 Data by Census Tract

tt." t

W tLSR s

srs

ova r tK 1050

MI

' IrfAirr

aArtOf Ar lArS 4 /" Jf tl' .

IOWtANd VArY ' ,'w

Offs ;

+"

c ANAA

,

K 1 MPAF

T S T

0ow i+ M " MdI1NK IS M f r , ,':'. II ..' _ AKMOdM r1 s ht M r , . .

yy

N

NdMAS s

S ~ 'POP '104.'Di

t

roR rd a '":Y'

r h u r,

t Ali r

uararo $1

" 1 ^ e !4 ," AAYQ M(_ 7y S t w1AN

,', ~ ".

Air- -

f rfit lAp

Ti yy : i

ii 51u1dIrD + Avl i " ,ti

Pur.A 100041 r x C ICN:x S r

IIA

,. 7; " W M 9 u

= CAS rIY ;1 _

Tracts 101.01, 101.02,103,104 105, and 106 are the areas which were included in the 1950 annexation bythe City of Dallas.

E--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Environmental ProtectionAgency.

T--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Texas Natural ResourceConservation Commission.

I#- Designates the RSR Battery Smelter Superfund Site.

4007# AmAVA

rya cITY LIITSYf a i ';%' J Y4LI+O 1~p Je

04 W. N. k

*Avis sr

amr

r

wrS r

I I . ., . H; F KillAMP-

-7 .arJrr-!C

F

q

_iLi -- -

I

\ l I .

142

Map 10Southwest Garland EPA and TNRCC Violations

1990 Data by Census Tract

Z'C)IU! ~4 T t p

*A~fM4

Ir- $ 4 4 -

MC ' $ .f ,,;;"}. *

: RS

wa

secukrr

i i. ":: w

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tauttr

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T T r+

m noT

TqR Y

r

tp

C

E( s

F9

E--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Environmental ProtectionAgency.T--This symbol represents the location of a violator as designated by the Texas Natural Resource.

Conservation Commission.

A

rA w

i!nu 1.r

r

r +rAMO ,.,_,

f

x

M A

w

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--- WES,.1

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, .1

APPENDIX D

U. S. CENSUS POPULATION TRENDS-1950-1990STEMMONS INDUSTRIAL/LOVE FIELD

WEST DALLASSOUTHWEST GARLAND

143

144

Table 9

Stemmons Industrial/Love Field CorridorU.S. Census Population Trends-1950-1990

Tract No. andDemographics 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Ttxctl4OAZ Irecrwt8 t 4 lI4OA2z U 40z42 Spliq B4OTotal Pop. 2,624 66 52 8 323

White 100% 100% 90.3% 100% 88.2%Black Included a 0 n/a 0 0.03%

Hispanic major 0 n/a 0 0.22%portion

Median Income of western n/a n/a n/a $18,889DallasCounty

Tract 99 including all TratTat9 Td9Total Pop. of Irving, 4,635 3,225 1,758 1,584

White Carrollton, 99.6% 98.9% 80.4% 44.3%Black and Farmers 0.3% 0.1% 5.5% 55.7%

Hispanic Branch 0.09% >400 15.5% 25.6%Median Income n/a $4,677 $6,759 $14,966 $20,162

Tract i00~ Trtl0 iTrinlO $0 Tracti10& Ta>1Total Pop. 4,460 3,665 2,315 3,132

White 26.2% 4.2% 31.9% 33.5%Black 73.7% 75.4% 62.4% 61.7%

Hispanic 0.3% >400 4.3% 9.4%Median Income $4,219 $7,333 $14,859 $19,333

Tr at4l 3 4f 4 4>A03< >4.W3 4.>Total Pop. 9,731 8,114 6,509 5,610 5,415

White 99.6% 90.5% 94.2% 58.9% 47.2%Black 0.4% 9.4% 1.9% 2.9% 0.03%

Hispanic n/a 3.9% 29.3% 60.2% 76.8%Median Income $3,413 $5,564 $8,213 $15,686 $21,677

Stemmons/LoveField Corridor

Population Totals 12,335 17,275 13,451 9,691 10,454Percent Minority n/a 23.7% 29.2% 43.6% 56.1%Median Incomes n/a $4,958 $7,593 $15,345 $20,590

City of DallasPopulation Totals 434,462 697,684 884,401 902,619 1,006,877Percent Minority 7.2% 22.7% 32.9% 41.2% 49.5%Median Incomes $3,526 $5,976 $10,091 $19,682 $31,925

145

Table 10West Dallas

U. S. Census Population Trends--1950-1990

Tract No. andDemographics 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

iotai rop.

White

BlackHispanic

Median Income

Total Pop.'WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

Tract 4Ox4,85860.9%23.0%12.1%$3,684

Tract 1t111,91335.2%64.7%

20.5%$2,963

Trat431,61597.5%2.6%n/a

144, 598n/a

Included ahuge

part ofDallasCounty

includingthe areabetweenThe Elm

and WestForksof TheTrinityRiver

and thetowns

ofCockrell

Hilland

Fruitdale

TrackV433,78564.4%38.8%>400

$6,572

11,33231.5%66.8%

30.0%$5,394

5.0%

94.8%>400

$3,320

Tract 103$4,7546.2%93.6%>400

$3,031

2,695.33.5%52.2%26.9%$4,147

-Tract 4$5,61058.8%2.8%

60.2%$12,872

trctt0t9,18713.0%60.2%

37.6%$11,504

4.6%

89.1%10.1%

$5,242

3,8584.1%

90.7%5.2%p

$5,218

Tract 141,8775.0%80.7%18.1%$3,661

Trc'4-4,82936.1%33.9%46.8%

$17,539

7,85214.7%47.4%

53.5%$13,309

8.0%

74.3%22.6%

$4,999

tractiP 34240.0%100%.09%

$4,999

Tratt 1W42,0870.3%85.5%14.8%$4,999

4.0%

95.9%3.4%

$2,177

5,08199.6%0.0%30.9%$2,194

Tract 1(43,35064.7%10.5%47.0%$2,331

I I 1 1U

,V

146

Table 10(Continued)

West DallasU.S. Census Population Trends--1950-1990

Tract No. andDemographics 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

.c.4..$c..Tttcti*. , t4t0~ Tc 0> Tci*Total Pop. 4,863 3,899 3,663 2.610

White 31.4% 28.7% 8.4% 0.1%Black 68.5% 69.9% 75.2% 92.7%

Hispanic 11.7% 19.5% 20.0% 10.8%Median Income $3,163 $5,994 $12,282 $12,880

Tractl1O6' 7 rTrct?1O06 T I*c i6 TActiO&.6 TrKTotal Pop. 5,903 5,931 6,600 7,743

White 96.5% 92.7% 30.7% 23.4%Black 6.9% 4.8% 5.2.0% 0.6%

Hispanic 55.4% 79.2% 85.1% 87.9%Median Income $3,731 $6,601 $11,434 $18,377

West DallasPopulation Total 24,150 43,700 38,900 31,888 27,349Percent Minority 55.7% 78.4%3 81.1% 93.8% 84.6%Median Incomes n/a $3,251 $6,126 $9,552 $13,309

City of DallasPopulation Totals 434,462 697,684 884,401 902,619 1,006,877

Percent Minority 7.2%2 22.7%3 32.9% 41.2% 49.5%Median Incomes $3,526 $5,976 $10,091 $19,682 $36,925

'This figure is based on a study that of blighted conditions in West Dallas in 1948. The Dallas Councilof Social Service Agencies recorded 4,000 Latin Americans, and 8,950 Negroes in a survey.

2 This number includes Blacks and other races. Hispanics were classified as White in this census.31960 census included the category "Hispanic Surname" as a subset of the White population. Only

selected census tracts with over 250 Hispanics were included in counting Whites with Hispanicsurnames.

147

Table 11

Southwest GarlandU.S. Census Population Trends-- 1950-1990

Tract No. andDemographics 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Total Pop. 5,432

White 97.3% 1Black 2.7%

Hispanic n/aMedian Income This includes

what is nowthe cities of

Total Pop. Garland,White Sachse,Black and

Hispanic RowlettMedian Income

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

Total Pop.WhiteBlack

HispanicMedian Income

4,390 J69YI,8y

88.2% 95.1% 78.2%11.9% 4.7% 16.2%3.0% n/a 7.5%

$4,062 $10,549 $22,458

STra~ - Tractt$W',0

3,699 3,04399.6% 98.2%

0 0.2%0.4% 4.1%

$12,488 $25,425

11658.6%25.9%

n/a

16100%n/an/an/a

24100%n/an/aa/a

5,24494.4%6.6%

0$9,357

8n/an/an/an/a

5,19289.8%3.7%10.1%

$18,102

87480.8%7.0%15.3%

$13,693C I II mr

D,291

73.2%18.3%15.6%

$32,403

.,'Jyz

58.3%32.6%8.0%

$31,802

3,94778.3%15.6%5.1%

$28,230

3,85880.3%7.9%14.6%

$34,384

72792.4%8.6%17.3%

$18,245

148

Table 11(Continued)

Southwest Garland1U.S. Census Population Trends--1950-1990

Tract No. andDemographics 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Total Pop. 2,377 3,810 4,704 4,784White 89.6% 97.1% 92.5% 83.4%Black 10.4% 2.6% 2.0% 3.6%

Hispanic 1.8% 4.3% 7.7% 17.3%Median Income $6,414 $10,772 $24,217 $35,030

Total Pop. 1,336 14,626 4,060 4,501White 99.4% 99.2% 79.3% 44..6%Black 0.2% 0.2% 8.7% 13.1%

Hispanic rn/a n/a 7.2% 43.4%Median Income n/a $9,601 13,307 $17,560

Southwest GarlandPopulation Totals n/ai 4,909 28,101 23,778 26,203Percent Minority n/a n/a 2.1% 13.9% 29.2%Median Incomes n/a n/a $10,111 $20,349 $28,622

City of Garland 5Population Totals 10,561 38,501 81,437 138,857 180,650Percent Minority 5.0%2 4.0%3 7.5% 10.0% 1 20.5%Median Incomes $3,398 n/a $11,429 $25,475 $41,174

Dallas CountyPopulation Totals 473,405 951,527 1,327,321 1,556,390 1,852.810Percent Minority 15.2% 17.4% 23.2% 28.4% 36.4%Median Incomes n/a $6,545 $10,680 $24,217 ] $36,982

Southwest Garland was not annexed into Garland until 1951 so it is reported in the totals forPrecinct 3.

2 1950 census data categorizes race and White, Blacks, and other races. Hispanics wereclassified as White.

31960 census included the category "Hispanic Surname' as a subset of the White population.Only selected census tracts with over 250 Hispanics were included in counting Whites withHispanics surnames.

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