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A Two Wheeled Risk of Harm in Dallas

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In 2018 at the onset of electric scooters in Dallas, this new transportation option was advertised as a boon for commuters and residents alike with little if no mention of safety concerns.

Fast-forward to today and the trendy vehicles are becoming a safety risk and potential source for personal injuries.  According to city officials, scooter companies have not been disabling them late at night when their use is banned.  That has led to a recent explosion of complaints about groups of people joyriding late at night and menacing downtown business owners and residents alike.  Another problem with the scooter companies’ negligence – joy riders discarding scooters in piles on the pavement.

Since COVID-19 has closed many downtown businesses, city officials said that before the pandemic, scooters were used mostly for commuting but that peak use now is between 8 p.m. and midnight — mostly for entertainment purposes.

It is these safety concerns and the possibility of bodily harm to the joy riders and others alike that the city’s transportation department decided to halt the scooter program temporarily so it can work on tightening the rules.  As of right now, scooter operators must remove the approximately 5,000 vehicles that are currently out on the Dallas streets.

The city’s ordinance, tweaked in March of this year, allows scooters to operate until 9 p.m. in Deep Ellum and until midnight everywhere else.  Other regulations include a 20 mph speed limit.  The council lifted a ban on motorized scooters in June 2018 to encourage alternative transportation.

Police report that criminals sometimes use the scooters after hours as a quick getaway, while large groups of young people are motoring around the city to get better views of illegal street races late at night.

Reports have detailed the misuse of scooters.  They are no longer being used mostly for transportation to the bus station or a bar as intended – but rather have become a form of entertainment.  From a public safety standpoint, they have become a problem.”

Unfortunately, the scooters come with a risk of injury and have also been used in connection with crimes such as purse snatchings.  Personal injuries resulting from the scooters and public safety concerns with their misuse are the main reasons the city council has paused their availability.  A Parkland Memorial Hospital spokeswoman said 68 people were treated in the ER over the past year for scooter injuries.

The city council hopes that their temporary ban gives the city a “second chance” to do a better job of regulating scooters.  Five companies have permits to operate scooters in Dallas: Lime, Wheels, Gotcha, Bird and OjO.  The city told the scooter companies about the late-night violations and they vowed to fix it – however that did not happen.

In some cases, up to 40 scooters have been discarded in streets and on sidewalks.  A similar situation doomed the city’s bike-share program, which preceded the scooters but fizzled out in 2018. At the program’s peak, as many as 20,000 bicycles once rolled through the city.

City officials will meet with the scooter vendors and community leaders and come up with recommendations to make the scooters as safe as possible to all, he said. That includes adding corrals where people can leave the scooters.

Former Dallas Asbestos Vermiculite Plant

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Vermiculite, a naturally occurring mineral, contains Asbestos

Vermiculite, a naturally occurring mineral, was mined and processed in Libby, Montana, from the early 1920s until 1990. This vermiculite, which was shipped to many locations around the United States for processing, contained asbestos.

At the Texas Vermiculite Company/W.R. Grace site in Dallas, Texas, more than 396,900 tons of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite were shipped to that location and a facility at the site expanded vermiculite using an exfoliation process. Commercial exfoliation of vermiculite is a process of heating uniformly graded pieces of vermiculite in a furnace to expand or “pop” it into lightweight nuggets.

Expanded vermiculite had excellent insulation properties and was widely used for attic insulation, among other uses, during the second half of the 20th Century.

The Dallas vermiculite facility operated from 1953 to 1992. The buildings at the plant were demolished in the early 2000s.  A residential neighborhood is within a quarter mile of the former vermiculite expansion plant. Thousands of people lived within a mile of the facility while it was still in operation.

While the facility was operating, workers at the facility and members of their households were exposed to asbestos from the processing and handling of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite and waste rock.

Neighborhood residents could have been exposed to asbestos from the plant operations either from the manufacturing operations themselves or from stockpiles of asbestos-laden vermiculite on the property.

The vacant property most likely no longer poses a health threat to the community. However, individuals that lived in the neighborhood before 1992 should be aware that they may have experienced environmental exposures to asbestos from the facility and should mention this potential exposure when during routine medical check-ups.

The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) has conducted an extensive review of the Dallas expansion plant.   In the mid-2000s, health screenings were conducted at Parkland Hospital for west Dallas residents who lived near the W.R. Grace facility prior to 1992.  Radiology for a number of individuals found evidence of asbestosis.  If you lived, worked or attended school near the Texas Vermiculite/W.R. Grace vermiculite plant in west Dallas prior to 1992, you should consult your physician concerning regular screenings for potential asbestos related illnesses.

Dallas asbestos lawyer, Ben DuBose, was among several people who spoke with West Dallas residents at community meetings shortly after the Parkland health screenings.  “I was asked by the Dallas Bar Association to speak at an informational meeting for community residents about the health risks posed by asbestos exposure.   Not everyone exposed to asbestos develops an asbestos disease, but exposure does increase the risk of such disease.   Sadly, the people living in the shadow of this vermiculite plant had no idea it was spewing out asbestos fiber into their neighborhood.”

Asbestos Abatement of Historic Lakewood Theater

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Lakewood Theater - Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas – Abatement crews are preparing to remove asbestos from the historic Lakewood Theater.  The art deco gem opened in 1939 with “Love Finds Andy Hardy”. For the next 76 years, the Lakewood continued to operate as a movie theater until closing in early 2015. The theater now faces an uncertain future. Craig Kinney, the theater’s co-owner, has indicated that he hopes to lease the theater to another tenant that will continue to operate it as a movie theater. Alamo Draft House and the owner of the Texas Theater have both been in talks with Lakewood’s current owner.

The Dallas Morning News reports that crews are setting up this week to begin asbestos abatement of the auditorium ceiling. The owner indicated, however, the work will not impact the lobby’s art deco murals.   The Texas Department of State Health Services Asbestos Notification Form lists the asbestos containing materials slated for abatement include: plaster texture, duct insulation, fire doors and flooring materials.

Asbestos was a ubiquitous ingredient in construction materials beginning in the 1920s and continuing for decades. Cutting, sanding, mixing or otherwise manipulating asbestos containing materials can release asbestos fibers into the air where they can be inhaled. Once inside the body, asbestos begins to attack the body’s cells. Decades after exposure, asbestos can cause malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis.   Even low levels of asbestos exposure have been linked to malignant mesothelioma, a fatal cancer of the lining of the lung which is caused only by asbestos exposure.

Asbestos materials that are installed in a building don’t generally pose a health threat after installation is complete unless they are disturbed and become friable. Proper abatement methods, such as the Lakewood Theater owners appear to be following, can safely remove asbestos materials that have become degraded or frayed and more susceptible to fiber release. Proper abatement procedures can then allow buildings to be safely used.