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New public records obtained by the Sierra Club reveal that state and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, are raising serious concerns about the significant environmental and community impacts of a Mississippi highway project known as Interconnecting Gulfport. The City of Gulfport and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have been pushing this project forward despite strong opposition from the community.
Residents of the historically Black neighborhoods of Forest Hill and Turkey Creek– communities that would be harmed by the highway– have long been advocating for solutions to severe flooding in the region. However, with the looming threat of the Gulfport Road Project, these communities now face an even heavier burden of increased and recurrent flooding, along with the risk of displacement and further marginalization.
Residents have called on DOT to evaluate the significant effects of the project in an environmental impact statement (EIS) instead of an abbreviated environmental assessment (EA), and to evaluate the significant consequences that will be caused by the commercial development around the new road.
In 2022, the National Council of Negro Women, along with Sierra Club, and other local community organizations, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the environmental assessment for Interconnecting Gulfport arguing that this project would inflict severe and irreversible damage to the region by destroying crucial wetlands and endangering historically Black neighborhoods.
This month, we filed our opening brief.
While the case is still in litigation, the documents provided through a Freedom of Information Act request show that other federal agencies – and Mississippi’s own state environmental agency – do not agree with the DOT’s environmental assessment, which concluded there would be “no significant impact” on the surrounding communities and environment.
The newly released documents emphasize the urgent need for DOT to reconsider the Gulfport Road Project.
- The EPA recommended the proposed 404 permit not be granted because “surrounding minority neighborhoods in the Turkey Creek watershed already experience flooding [and] replacing these wetlands with impervious surface....may exacerbate flooding of neighborhoods.”
- The Fish and Wildlife Service recommends the DOT conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement.
- Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality recommends that the Army Corps fully evaluate the commercial growth around the new road.
Wetlands play a crucial role in promoting better-quality natural water, preserving shorelines against erosion, and most importantly, protecting against floods by naturally absorbing and then slowly releasing “surface water, rain, snowmelt, groundwater, and flood waters.” Additionally, wetlands contribute to air and water purification, which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
However, under the guise of improved transportation, the proposed project will require a road to be constructed in a large wetland area near two interstate highways, posing a significant threat to the ecological balance of the region and undermining the invaluable benefits wetlands provide. By disrupting the marshes, adjacent neighborhoods become more susceptible to frequent flooding (worsened by the climate crisis), higher volumes of carbon pollution, and worsening air and water quality. And in fact the DOT’s own traffic studies show that the project will not reduce traffic congestion at all. For too long, state DOTs have operated under the status quo based on the inaccurate assumption that adding lanes will help congestion. In reality, expanding highways makes congestion worse (a concept known as “induced demand”).
Local leaders have also made clear that this highway project is intended to boost commercial development and revenue, raising questions about its necessity for improving infrastructure at the expense of bordering towns.
The long-standing advocacy from local residents and these now public records make it clear that a change in course is needed. The DOT must re-evaluate this project with more transparency and a genuine commitment to environmental protection and community well-being.
We can invest in infrastructure projects that support our economy without sacrificing the health of our environment or putting the health of vulnerable communities at greater risk.
Join us as we call on the Department of Transportation and Secretary Pete Buttigieg to suspend the Gulfport Road Project and conduct a thorough reassessment that prioritizes Mississippi communities and the environment over commercial interests.