By Audra Brigham
In 1923, an ordinance was passed by the City of Lubbock that moved black citizens and industries releasing harmful pollutants to the east side of the city, stating their mutual presence was “dangerous to the health and polluted the atmosphere.” The ordinance was repealed by City Council in 2006.
This intentional decision may have been forgotten or denied by citizens and even politicians in Lubbock, but many east side and north side citizens are still impacted by the infrastructure put in place by the 1923 act. In 2006, the Plainview Daily Herald reported that over 54 percent of African-American citizens in Lubbock still resided within the given parameters of the 1923 ordinance.
They are not the only ones that have remained nestled in the east side of the city. Industries and factories like Pyco Industries and Southern Cotton Oil still consider the east side their home, and many of these industries are located less than a mile from residential areas.
According to Billie Russell, the neighborhood association president of Dunbar-Manhattan, a neighborhood located in the heart of the east side, citizens living close to these industrial sites have complained about harmful air quality. She said they have documented numerous instances of non-smoker’s lung cancers, disproportional cases of asthma and allergies, and even asthma attacks leading to death in citizens that didn’t suffer from asthma.
The east side citizens claim they have seen the factories release a cloud of toxins into the air overnight, and it is not unusual for them to wake up with a light film of dust from the factories on their yard, car, or house. The surrounding residents say they worry that the city council prioritizes economic profit from the industries more than their own citizens’ lives.
Cannon Roberts, a community organizer and a staff member for the Lubbock United Neighborhood Association, attends almost every neighborhood association meeting in the city.
“I can see the difference in what the neighborhoods are dealing with. For Tech Terrace and Overton, they are worried about their historical landmarks, east and north Lubbock are worried about the incredibly high rates of asthma that their children have. When you move farther west and south in Lubbock, most of those neighborhoods are not even concerned enough to have a neighborhood association,” Robert comments.
Russell agreed and said she believes the misunderstanding is due to the ability of citizens on other sides of town to remove themselves from the situation.
“If you live where there’s not a lot of air pollution and where there’s good air quality and its monitored often by our environmental people here in the city, who forget other areas of the city where the industry is, then you’re not gonna know there’s an issue at all,” she said.
Roberts said this mentality does not exclude the local government here in Lubbock.
“Our city council does not live in the east side. The fact is, that money really insulates people from these issues. So, our city council has really taken an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach. And if they aren’t dealing with it themselves, then they don’t worry about it,” he said.
According to data supplied by Scorecard, an online pollution locator, six out of the eight point sources of pollution within Lubbock are located on the east side. Additionally, out of the eight harmful pollutants the website monitors, Lubbock reported harmful amounts (some scoring at the most extreme levels) on all but one.
The local chapters of the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality are responsible for monitoring private and corporate footprints on air and water quality, and their state chapter in Austin is responsible for assessing the potential footprint of industries and allotting permits to corporations wanting to build in specific areas of the state.
The TCEQ has only one air monitoring station in Lubbock, and upon doing data analysis and research on their daily air quality reports, it is clear the reporting from the monitor is not fool-proof. For example, from 8 p.m. on March 8, 2019, until noon on March 15, all data from the air quality monitor was lost.
Twenty-one of the 129 days included in the 2019 air quality report show that the singular monitor was operating at either partial or full impairment. Over 16 percent of 2019’s days of average annual data has already been compromised or lost. For the beginning of this year, the monitor’s accuracy average is slightly under 90 percent. This proves to be an issue when attempting to accurately investigate the long-term impact of pollutants being released by point sources in Lubbock.
The TCEQ is also responsible for enforcing air quality regulations, typically set by the EPA. On occasion, the TCEQ will receive a complaint from a citizen about illegal toxins being released and will be required to respond.
Sara Coley from the Lubbock chapter of the TCEQ explained the enforcement process that takes place after a complaint is filed.
“We have different categories of violations. So, if there was a complaint, like if we got a complaint that something was happening - and there’s dust leaving the property and affecting a house, typically that would just be a Category B,” she said.
“But the particular complainant in that question stated that their health was being impacted. Because of that, that escalated that case to a notice of enforcement. However, in order for us to do that, the complainant has to be willing to sign an affidavit, potentially go to court, and we have to have a doctor’s note,” Coley said.
Jason Adams, an air and waste work leader for the Lubbock region of TCEQ, stated that he thinks people might not fully understand the process of enforcement when it comes to regulating air emissions.
“Honestly, it would be up to them to come to us if they have an issue or concern. They need to let us know, because if we aren’t informed, then there’s nothing we can do,” Adams explains.
“Typically once everyone gets the notice of enforcement, they work with our agency to resolve the issue. And sometimes, it may take years. Some people may not understand that even though this violation’s here and it’s important to take care of it, it goes back to economic feasibility” Adams says.
“We have to work with that company in order for them to have time and to get money to comply with the rules and regulations. Some people say, ‘it needs to happen now,’ well, you need to look at the economic sustainability and feasibility for that company.”
TCEQ employees that were able to comment said they encouraged citizens to reach out to them about any complaints or concerns they had about the industries on the east side and assured us that they are actively regulating the sites of such industries.
Roberts challenges this statement, claiming the TCEQ only comes to regulate the sites during business hours, and the complaints are that the toxins are being released overnight. He also says that industries know when their annual site accountability check will take place, and they are much more cautious with their emissions around the time they predict to be inspected.
Russell and Roberts believe the environmental disparities between the east and south sides of Lubbock are rooted in something much greater than an unfortunate coincidence. They said they think Lubbock’s inability to admit fault and an overt history of racism has caused the city officials and citizens to gloss over major issues that affect minorities.
“Right now, our mayor’s number one concern is money. So, if it’s not making the city money, he’s not really going to care about it. Taking care of children and making sure their asthma is taken care of doesn’t make money in the short term,” Roberts stated.
When asked if they believed action would have already been taken if the air quality was affecting citizens on the other sides of town, both Roberts and Russell answered with a resounding “yes.”
“We need to acknowledge it so we can move on. And the city, from the school board to the city council, is just so unwilling,” Roberts said.
“I think the younger generation is just much more willing to acknowledge our past mistakes,” he adds, “and it’s really hard to make lasting change with leaders who are unwilling to do that.”