North Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Groups Call for Action in EPA Region 6

DALLAS, TEXAS -- Today, a coalition of environmental justice advocates, representing organizations across North Texas – including Lane Plating Community Advisory Group, Southern Sector Rising, Downwinders at Risk, Midlothian Breathe, Liveable Arlington, and the Sierra Club – sent a letter to Dr. Earthea Nance, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Regional Administrator for Region 6. EPA Region 6 is headquartered in Dallas; the region includes Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The letter to Dr Nance calls for a series of meetings between these organizations and EPA to discuss the environmental justice issues across North Texas, and to develop plans for addressing these issues. Top concerns include:

• The environmental and public health risks at the Lane Plating Superfund Site;

• The ongoing public health risks at the former site of ‘Shingle Mountain’ in Dallas;

• The country’s largest source of sulfur dioxide pollution at Vistra’s Martin Lake power plant;

• Failure of the region to comply with EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone pollution; and

• Protecting children from fracking pollution and methane in communities across Texas.

Laura Hunt, M.D.,representing Midlothian Breathe said, “We are excited to welcome Dr. Nance to her new position as Administrator of EPA Region 6. Our region has suffered from decades of neglect from an environmental standpoint. Midlothian Breathe has learned, like other organizations such as ours, that industry, profits and politics reign paramount throughout much of Texas and have much greater influence on TCEQ than environmental or public health concerns. We are eager to see someone with the knowledge, courage, patience and tenacity needed to shift the scales of power over these matters and bring us closer to achieving environmental justice in this region. We can't wait to begin some long-overdue dialogue between community groups and EPA Region 6 that will hopefully start at the top with you.”

Allen McGill, Representing Lane Plating Community Advisory Group noted, “The Lane Plating Superfund Site isone of the most dangerous sites in the country, with toxic levels of Hexavalent Chromium and Arsenic, among other pollution found onsite. We demand that the site be remediated for future residential use and any nearby properties be cleaned up as well.

Misti O’Quinn, Community Organizer with the Sierra Club said, “North Texas requires strong leadership from EPA, as we tackle air, water, and land contamination across the region. Top Texas polluters like the Martin Lake Coal Plant, won’t change course on their own, and many of these issues have existed for decades. Hopefully Dr. Nance and EPA will recognize the urgency to act now.”

Evelyn Mayo, Board Chair with Downwinders at Risk commented, “Downwinders has been a resource and advocate for many of the frontline organizations making these requests of the EPA. We are the last line of defense for residents when the government fails to protect them from environmental harm. We look forward to this EPA being more proactive instead of reactive in addressing environmental injustices.”

Ranjana Bhandari, Executive Director of Liveable Arlington, pointed to a recent article which noted that “approximately 30,000 Arlington children go to public school within half a mile of gas wells, according to an analysis by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, and up to 7,600 infants and young children attend private daycares within that radius…and eighty-five percent of the public school students are children of color, and more than two-thirds live in poverty.” She further states that “Neither the city, the state, nor drillers monitor the pollution at these sites. Children are exposed to dangerous levels of fracking emissions. We urge the EPA to finalize strong rules for emissions from fracking to protect our children.”