15 Jul ACTION needed: Relocation of Pure Casting facility and Building Affordable Housing

Protect our Children’s Health!
Relocate Pure Casting!
Build Affordable Housing!

The Pure Casting facility (2110 E. 4th Street) is a polluter of heavy metals and uses hazardous chemicals in our East Austin neighborhood. Pure Casting is located right next to Zavala Elementary School and surrounded by homes.

East Austin needs your support in protecting the health of our children and the residents that live in the area. It is crucial that we let the City Council and Pure Casting know that we will not allow children to be exposed to hazardous chemicals!

The Pure Casting facility is an ideal location to build affordable housing. It is 30,152 sq. ft. of land. The City Council should use the Affordable Housing Bond money ($55 million) to purchase the site. This site abuts to the property owned by the City of Austin (the Brown Building on Chicon & E. 4th Street). Call you Mayor Lee Leffingwell and
Council members at 974-2250. Let’s keep our children safe from harmful chemicals.

Please post your comments and feedback on the draft letter below!

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Mayor Leffingwell
and Council Members
P O Box 1088
Austin, TX 78767-1088

Re: Relocation of Pure Casting facility and building affordable housing

Dear Mayor Leffingwell and City Council Members:

East Austin residents, neighborhood associations and community organizations have worked hard to cleanup the environment in East Austin and to protect the community’s health. Since 2001, hundreds of industrial and commercial properties have been rezoned in order to complement neighborhood compatibility. Unfortunately, numerous hazardous industrial properties remain adjacent to schools and homes. As long as these facilities continue to do business, they keep their past zoning designation. Additional work is needed to relocate these facilities to an industrial park area and/or a non-residential area.

Pure Casting Company operates an industrial metal castings plant at 2120 E. 4th Street, next to Zavala Elementary School and is in a residential area. Pure Casting uses and emits various chemicals into the air. Huge 18-wheeler trucks enter the neighborhood to pickup and drop off merchandise to Pure Casting. These trucks are a health and safety hazard to the children of the community. It is unacceptable, unethical and immoral for school children and families to have to breathe these emissions and tolerate constant industrial traffic and noise pollution. It’s time to protect the residents of East Austin.

We have the opportunity to bring desperately needed affordable housing to East Austin and to protect the health of the residents. We request that the Austin City Council use some of the $10.5 million Affordable Housing Bond money set aside for year 2009, to purchase the Pure Casting property. This site is ideal for affordable housing, since it is adjacent to city-owned property (the Brown Building), and surrounded by single-family homes, Zavala Elementary, and the historic Pan-American Recreation Center.

Sincerely,
The Austin Community