After years of residents pushing for the closure of an industrial facility in the southern neighborhood of Joppa, council member Adam Bazaldua announced he will initiate the process to shut it down.
The announcement surprised environmental advocates and community members who attended the District 7 budget listening meeting Tuesday night, with Dallas City Manager Kim Tolbert in attendance.
Related:West Dallas and Joppa residents launch ‘The Toxic Twins: Fund the Fund Campaign’
Bazaldua said he was going to start the process of getting a memorandum signed by five council members to request an appraisal of TAMKO, a shingles company that has operated in Joppa for almost 40 years.
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“We can at least start with an appraisal of TAMKO, which is the very first step for us to be able to revisit the non-conforming use of that property,” Bazaldua said during the meeting. The appraisal would help determine the avenues to shut down the facility.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
For years, environmental advocates have asked Dallas to close the facility through amortization, a tool that allows cities to close businesses that negatively impact the community. After state legislators in May 2023 passed Senate Bill 929, which protects business owners and allows affected businesses to request compensation for their losses, the environmentalists’ efforts have stalled.
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and District 7 council member Adam Bazaldua answer questions from residents during a budget town hall on Aug. 19, 2025, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center in Dallas.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Caleb Roberts, the director of Downwinders at Risk, an environmental group that has worked with Joppa residents to shut down the TAMKO plant and limit industrial use in the area, said the news surprised them. Still, they were happy to see a council member show commitment to this community.
“We are thankful that he is taking a side and looking to work towards this,” Roberts said. “We know it’s going to be a long road with many unanswered questions, but this is the first step toward something long overdue for the Joppa community.”
In an a joint email statement, Bazaldua and council member Laura Cadena for District 6, where another shingle plant is located, said both leaders will initiate the memorandum, to allow understand the costs and allow city council to deliberate on potential paths forward.
“Both Council Members remain committed to full transparency and will keep the community informed throughout this process,” reads the statement.
Long road ahead
Joppa started as a freedman’s town in 1872, a few miles southeast of downtown Dallas. For years, residents of the about 350 homes have complained of being ignored by city officials.
In 2020, The Dallas Morning News reported extensively about the historical abuses.
In late 2023, a study showed that residents of Dallas’ Joppa neighborhood are exposed to two to three times as much air pollution and experience higher rates of respiratory illness than the rest of the city.
Related:Higher levels of air pollution, asthma found in Dallas’ Joppa neighborhood, study finds
During the study period, conducted by scientists from Texas A&M University, one or more Joppa monitors exceeded the EPA’s national 24-hour particulate matter exposure standard an average of once a week.
District 7 environmental commissioner Temeckia Derrough was also surprised by the announcement and said she requested a meeting with Bazaldua to learn more about his plan.
“It’s unclear how he plans to approach this. I have many questions about how he plans to build the case against TAMKO,” Derrouch said. “I am glad the community is being heard, but there is a long road ahead.”
Two years ago, Bazaldua secured a deal with Austin Bridge and Road, a former asphalt plant in the neighborhood, to cease operations. The closure was seen as a victory for the community.
Last month, leaders from the community groups Singleton United/Unidos in West Dallas, and Justice for Joppa announced the “The Toxic Twins: Fund the Fund Campaign,” to shut down two shingle factories: GAF in West Dallas and TAMKO in Joppa.
In the joint statement, Bazaldua and Cadena said they had been in conversation with city staff for several weeks regarding the evaluation of costs associated with the closure of TAMKO and GAF.
The campaign is centered around raising money for the amortization process of the two plants.
Earlier this year, the Dallas City Council amended the development code to align with SB 929. Based on the city attorney’s recommendation, the council added a provision that removes a resident’s right to petition for an amortization process.
The city created a fund to cover business losses and stipulated that there must be enough money available to pay for a nonconforming property before an application for amortization can be approved. The city would then hold a public hearing to determine if the continued operation of the business would adversely affect nearby properties.
On the night of the announcement, multiple residents wore yellow T-shirts from the “Fund the Fund” campaign. They asked why no money was allocated toward the initiative in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025–26.
“Those of you who are here for the non-conforming use, the money, is there. It’s not about finding the money,” Bazaldua said. “And I know that there was a question specifically about finding a political will. It’s more about starting the process at this point.”
Bazaldua did not clarify how much money is available for amortization.
“While the logistics are important, it’s imperative that we acknowledge the people most impacted throughout this process, the residents of Joppa,” Bazaldua said on his statement. “They have shown profound patience and resilience while living in the shadow of these facilities. This is a tremendous step forward, not only for environmental justice, but for the quality of life and future growth of our community.”
During the meeting, Jack Ireland, the city’s chief financial officer, said a specific line item in the budget for non-conforming use isn’t necessary.
“We would move money from one of our reserve funds to address any non-conforming use that the City Council so directs us to do,” Ireland said.
Roberts said this was the first time they had heard about money being available to shut down polluters. The group plans to follow Bazaldua and the city’s moves to fulfill this community request closely.