Midlothian cows get an added dose of flavoring to them

"You ain't one of them environmentalists, is ya?"

In Texas nowadays, we say the word "environmentalist" like we used to say the phrase "nigger-lover".  Don't want to be caught dead being one of them! Might as well say you like Yankee chili and pink underwear. Stuff like that just ain't done here. But my answer to the question above is like my answer to if I'm a nigger-lover: Damn straight I am - and you are too!

If you breathe, you're an environmentalist, ya moron. I've touched on the cement kilns of Midlothian just south of Dallas before.  I spoke of how their pollution is rabidly protected by the anti-Christ elected by the local residents.  Texas is a proud state, you see, and we don't like to do anything half-assed. So when we pollute, we go all the way!

But I've not come here today to bury Texas, but to portray her. Armed with my mighty camera I journeyed to the three infamous kilns I'd read so much about. Midlothian is a small city and one can see all three kilns at the same time from the right vantage point they are so close together. So I simply followed the smokestacks on the horizon and this is what I found.

TXI was the first plant I came across.  It was the most colossal of the three. The complex was huge with gigantic storage facilities for the raw materials.  Down the road they even had their own railroad station.

Who knew cement was this complicated?

The smokestacks rise like some ancient relic of an industrialized hell.

Storage units looked like grain elevators.  Probably store grains of sand.

No idea whats stored under this dome


The other side of the road was industrial as well, with a steel plant and this, an "air separation facility".

I saw this coffee house and it really struck me. It has good vibes to it with sort of an Austin funkiness to it.


This is the Holcim plant. A couple of miles from the coffee house.


Not near as big as TXI but the only one active on the day I went, New Years day.




Holcim flag flies with the American flag. Pollution is patriotic!


Midlothian is a very rural city though it has pockets of some very upscale subdivisions. Lots of long highways and grassy fields.




On to the Ash Grove plant, the smallest of the three.


See the long, rusty cylinder in the middle? If the plant were operating, it would be rotating just like a cement truck.


Headed west of the plant towards some railroad tracks.


Up to the left is an overturned car. Gotta check that out!


We can see the whole underbelly. Awesome!


A hose was left from where they syphoned off the grain.


Time to head on home.

If you want to see the entire set of pics click here.

Here's a short list of some of the additives spread over the land and livestock:

Mercury
Particulate Matter
Hydrochloric Acid
Chemicals contributing to smog called Total Hydrocarbons.

The EPA is starting to do some sabre rattling lately over pollution in the DFW area.  We'll see if they actually have the guts to stand up to the corporations for once.