This is what the Epa and West Dallas residents
have been waiting for
covered by government mandated safety clothing
workers will dig the dirt out of this elementary
school playground six inches deep enough to
make sure all of the soil contaminated with
lead, and in some cases arsenic, is removed.
It's loaded into this dump truck, covered with
plastic and hauled off.
But the process that we have selected is
completely safe and poses no threat to either humans
or the environment.
But these protesters say there is a threat.
Because they have not yet found a permanent
site to take the soil, the EPA is temporarily
storing it at the RSR smelter plant, right in
the middle of West Dallas.
These people say that defeats the purpose.
You know, they treat us low, like dirt, but yet
still, we're concerned about our kids,
and it seems like if they're going to make a
dump site, they ought to make it in Highland
Park or North Dallas.
Some protesters had originally vowed to
blockade the entrance to the plant to keep the EPA
truck away.
Police were on hand just in case, but when the
truck arrived, protesters simply watched
it drive in.
I wish you said you were going to stop them at
the gate.
Why didn't you?
No, no, we're not going to stop them at the gate.
I think that what we're trying to do is throw
them within the boundaries of legal justice
and we're going to try there and see if that works.
If not, then we'll use other means.
This is just the first of many sites in West
Dallas that will need to be cleaned up.
EPA officials say the entire project could take
more than a year to complete.
RESIDENTS CAN ONLY HOPE BY THEN THE EPA WILL
HAVE A PERMANENT PLACE OUTSIDE OF WEST DALLAS
TO TAKE THE SOIL.
JOHN GARCIA, TEXAS NEWS 5.