Downwinders at Risk

Downwinders at Risk further claims to promote “environmental justice” and efforts to “deindustrialize Communities of Color,” focusing on what it describes as the disproportionate effect of air pollution on low-income and vulnerable communities. ⁴ The organization has also engaged in regulatory and legal advocacy, including participating in state and local rulemaking processes and pursuing legal challenges related to permitting and enforcement. ^{5  6  7}

Background

Downwinders at Risk was established in 1994 and is based in Dallas, Texas. ³ The organization later achieved tax-exempt status in 1996 under the name “Downwinders at Risk Education Fund,” and public records suggest that the education fund functions as the organization’s primary operating and reporting entity for financial and administrative purposes. ⁶

Downwinders at Risk claims that it was founded to address air pollution and environmental concerns in North Texas, particularly in communities located near industrial facilities, with early activities including monitoring air quality and opposing permits for facilities such as cement plants and other industrial operations in the Dallas—Fort Worth region. ³ In later years, the organization expanded its activities to include initiatives such as the regional air-monitoring network SharedAirDFW project, advocacy campaigns against specific industrial facilities, and support for increased business regulation. ^{7  8  9}

Advocacy

Pollution Control

Downwinders at Risk has advocated against industrial air pollution in North Texas, with a focus on opposition to the activities of cement plants, asphalt shingle factories, lead smelters, oil and gas operations, and other industrial facilities the organization claims are located near residential neighborhoods. ³ The organization also claims it was initially founded to oppose “hazardous-waste burning” at cement plants in Midlothian, Texas, and later expanded into campaigns addressing regional smog, particulate-matter pollution, and industrial zoning. ³

In 2006, Earthjustice named Downwinders at Risk as part of a coalition opposing the Bush administration Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) cement kiln mercury rule, with a Downwinders board member arguing that Midlothian residents were “surrounded” by cement kilns. ¹⁰ In 2010, Earthjustice quoted Downwinders representative Jim Schermbeck as supporting new EPA standards implemented by the Obama administration that applied stricter pollution controls to cement kilns nationwide. ¹¹

Shingle Manufacturing

Downwinders at Risk has been involved in advocacy campaigns against two asphalt shingle facilities in the DFW area: the GAF plant in West Dallas and the TAMKO plant in Joppa. ¹² KERA News reported in 2025 that Downwinders at Risk and Singleton United/Unidos, a neighborhood association in West Dallas, held a press conference outside Dallas City Hall calling for the city to close the GAF and TAMKO facilities, which the groups described as “harmful to nearby residents.” ^{12  13}

Later in 2025, Downwinders at Risk’s then-board chair, Cindy Hua, spoke at a press conference announcing the “Toxic Twins: Fund the Fund Campaign,” which sought to remove the GAF and TAMKO facilities through Dallas’s nonconforming-use fund. ¹⁴

Dallas officials began reviewing the cost of shutting down the two industrial sites after pressure from residents and activists, while GAF and TAMKO asserted that they complied with local and federal regulations. ¹⁵ TAMKO claimed a forced shutdown or relocation could cost Dallas more than $500 million, while Downwinders at Risk executive director Caleb Roberts disputed TAMKO’s position and argued that Joppa residents faced elevated respiratory-health risks posed by the facility’s activities. ¹⁶

Dallas City Council later considered hiring a consultant to study the potential cost of closing the GAF and TAMKO facilities. ¹⁶

Joppa Environmental Health Project

Downwinders at Risk is the organizing partner of the Joppa Environmental Health Project, an initiative focused on the historically Black Joppa neighborhood in Dallas. ¹⁷ The project has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and involved Texas A&M University researchers studying possible links between particulate matter exposure and health outcomes among Joppa residents. ¹⁷

As of 2026, the organization’s website identified Misti O’Quinn, a Downwinders board member, as a community liaison for the project and listed a community steering committee made up of Joppa residents and local representatives. ¹⁷ In 2023, Kera News reported that a health study in partnership with the SharedAirDFW project allegedly found higher levels of air pollution and asthma in Joppa, which Downwinders at Risk later promoted. ¹⁸

SharedAirDFW

Downwinders at Risk has supported the development of SharedAirDFW, a regional air-monitoring network claiming to use more than 100 “custom-built” air-quality monitors across the Dallas-Fort Worth region. ⁸ The project is based out of University of Texas at Dallas laboratories and has been supported by grants or assistance from sources including the National Science Foundation (NSF), Earth Day Texas, the U.S. Army, the City of Plano, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Downwinders at Risk. ⁸

Dallas County further characterizes SharedAirDFW as a regional air-quality monitoring project involving the University of Texas at Dallas, Paul Quinn College, Dallas County, and other local partners. ¹⁹ Environmental news network Green Source DFW has claimed that the project was intended to give residents more localized information about particulate matter and other pollution levels in the region. ²⁰

Neighborhood Self-Defense Project

Downwinders at Risk operates the Neighborhood Self-Defense Project, which it describes as an effort to use Dallas’s “ForwardDallas” planning process to change zoning and land-use rules in southern Dallas neighborhoods. ²¹ The organization claims that the project has supported “neighborhood-led” land-use plans in areas including Floral Farms and the Singleton Corridor. ²¹

Downwinders at Risk also claims that its organizing work includes building political capital through the Neighborhood Self-Defense Project, leading campaigns against corporations such as GAF and Shingle Mountain, and training communities on outreach and public engagement. ⁴ The group’s materials describe these efforts as intended to “deindustrialize Communities of Color,” and advance an air-quality and industrial-zoning advocacy framework. ⁴

Legal and Regulatory Advocacy

In 2011, Earthjustice represented Downwinders at Risk and other groups in litigation defending federal cement-plant pollution rules and challenging EPA policies that allegedly weakened enforcement of cement plant emission standards. ²² Later, in 2014, Earthjustice listed Downwinders at Risk among groups represented in litigation that challenged an EPA-created “affirmative defense” policy for cement-plant pollution violations. ²³

In 2018, California’s then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) filed a motion to intervene in Downwinders at Risk, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a “petition for review” case challenging EPA rules related to cement-plant air toxics compliance requirements. ²⁴ In 2025, Earthjustice represented Downwinders at Risk, Air Alliance Houston (AAH), the Clean Air Council (The Council), the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC), and the Sierra Club in a lawsuit against the second Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over exemptions granted to coal plants from mercury and air-toxics standards. ²⁵

Downwinders at Risk also joined a 2025 lawsuit by a coalition of nonprofits, local governments, and Native American tribes challenging the second Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) termination of Environmental and Climate Justice grant programs. ^{26  27}

Coalition and Public-Education Advocacy

In 2024, Downwinders at Risk signed onto an open letter from the left-wing environmental organization Greenpeace criticizing oil and gas company Energy Transfer’s lawsuit against Greenpeace related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The letter described the case as a “meritless” strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), characterizing it as the misuse of the legal system intended to “suppress environmental advocacy, free speech, and protest activity.” ^{25  28}

In 2025, Downwinders at Risk hosted a bus tour and documentary screening intended to educate residents about air pollution and industrial land-use issues in Dallas and its campaigns against industrial facilities. ²⁹

Financials

According to Downwinders at Risk Education Fund’s 2024 tax filing, the organization reported $203,759 in revenue, $252,025 in expenses, and $231,827 in total assets. ⁶ The organization has received funding from several philanthropic organizations, including the Tides Foundation, which reportedly provided a grant of $150,000, and grants from groups such as the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation and the Patagonia corporate giving program. ^{2  30} Additional funding has been reported from the Communities Foundation of Texas, the Planetary Trust, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). ^{2  31}

Downwinders at Risk has also received federal funding through grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tied to environmental and climate justice programs. ²⁶ The organization has since participated in litigation challenging the termination of such grant programs under the second Trump administration. ²⁶

Leadership

As of 2026, Caleb Roberts was the executive director of Downwinders at Risk. ⁶ Prior to this, Roberts sat on Downwinders at Risk’s board and worked as a senior planner at Gap Strategies, a planning and public-engagement consulting firm. ³²