Dumped On

Daniel discounts the city's limp efforts to stop the dumping over the years. "There's a point at which good intentions don't count, and results should start to count," he says. "That point was back in 1982, '83, and '84."

"We didn't have anyone come to the defense of the community," Harold Cox says. "We had no one saying this was wrong, unjust, and illegal. They were constantly telling us that it would take 65 days to enforce a citation, that it was legal within these boundaries. There hasn't been anyone [who] said to us these people were illegal other than Mike Daniel."

Cox says he's weary of the fight against the dump, but vows to see it through. "They were wrong," he says. "The city was wrong. I live here. And it affects me."

Dallas Observer intern Rebeca Rodriguez contributed to this story.