McKinney Neighborhood Looking for Answers More Than Month After Cement Cloud Blanketed Homes

When Jill Alcantara looked out on her backyard in the McKinney Greens neighborhood of McKinney, she didn't see the oasis it was meant to be. She saw a battlefield.

"It's 1600 feet from my property line to the offending Martin Marietta plant," Alcantara said looking into the distance. "All of this was inundated with that dust."

Since the mid-July accidental release of cement dust from the Martin Marietta Ready Mix cement batch plant, Alcantara and her neighbors have been trying to get answers from the company, the state and the city about what's being done to prevent another cement dust release.

"We've emailed the city," Alcantara explained. "The city needs to come here and talk to us and explain this to people."

Alcantara is concerned about her health. She is battling small cell lung cancer.

"I have a battle in front of me that I'm gonna fight, and I don't see any... any real benefit to looking backward or wishing things were different. They're not different," Alcantara said. "They are what they are."

The City of McKinney sent NBC 5 an email response saying, "We are most definitely directing residents to contact TCEQ wth concerns/complaints. For its part, the city is asking MM (Martin Marietta) to clean up from the incident and comply with TCEQ requirements."

NBC 5 contacted the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality. Via email, the TCEQ said, "A sample was collected on July 19, 2019, and confirmed that the material at the complaintant's property was cement dust," the TCEQ said. "The final investigation report has not been finalized, but we expect the final report will be available late September."

Across the street, Don Pizarro said he's still dealing with dust, but it's hidden. He took NBC 5 up to his attic.

"You can see just crazy amount of dust," Pizarro said. "It was basically sucked into my attic for hours and hours and hours."

Pizarro said Martin Marietta cleaned the inside of his home. "They did a very good job cleaning, however we have ongoing dust that is just out of control," Pizarro said.

Pizarro got an estimate for more than $5,300 to clean his attic of dust. In an email to Pizarro, a Martin Marietta spokesperson said it was "outside the scope of their clean up effort".

Martin Marietta emailed a statement to NBC 5 saying it has completed 432 cleaning services in the neighborhood for 149 residents. The cleaning services include interior and exterior homes, cars and pools, as well as street and duct cleaning. The statement said any requests beyond that will be "evaluated on a case-by-case basis."

The cement plant has been closed since the July incident while the TCEQ investigates.

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