The recycler that nobody wants

"We really need you here, but we definitely don't want you here." In short, those seem to be the words Mason Brown is hearing these days about his South Dallas concrete recycling facility. Here is the nut of Brown's story:

" 'It is increasingly difficult to accommodate undesirable uses in a redeveloping city,' said Theresa O'Donnell, director of the city's development services department. Ms. O'Donnell acknowledged that Mr. Brown's problem is a serious one, not just for him but for the city. Waste concrete needs to be recycled, and Mr. Brown provides a good service, taking it in for free and crushing it to an aggregate that can be sold for road base, she said. But Dallas is a changing city, and there is less land than there used to be for businesses like his. "