Teena James was fighting to be heard.
Sitting in the passenger seat of a city-owned all-terrain vehicle, James pointed her cell phone camera toward the mobile home parks and trucking centers that line the streets of Echo Heights, a Fort Worth neighborhood southeast of U.S. 287.
A caravan of city staff members and residents were taking what activists call a 鈥渢oxic tour鈥� of the community, which includes an elementary school, homes and . James wanted friends tuning into her March 21 Facebook livestream to know about the tour and an important city council vote that evening. But the ATV鈥檚 roaring engine threatened to drown out her message.
鈥淎s you can see, the , we鈥檙e pushing for a difference in our community 鈥� a healthier community, a safer community,鈥� James said as the vehicle rumbled down Parker Henderson Road. 鈥淲e finally have gotten the city to come out, and here鈥檚 what we鈥檙e seeing.鈥�
Just a few hours later, at Fort Worth City Hall, James and her neighbors were heard loud and clear.
Following passionate testimonies from residents, and Texas A&M civil rights clinic students, City Council members voted to delay, for 30 days, adoption of the land use sections of .
Activists want the plan revised so that it doesn鈥檛 forecast further in southeast Fort Worth, an area thick with industrial pollution. The plan is updated annually and provides guidance for the city鈥檚 decisions on zoning cases, budget priorities, annexations and more.
Mayor Mattie Parker was among the officials who instructed city staff to meet with Echo Heights residents about their concerns before the plan comes back to council in April.
鈥淚 believe strongly that on this dais, we have an obligation to remedy the sins of our past,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淥ftentimes those sins may not have been intentional, but as council members in a very fast growing city, we have a responsibility to try to remedy that together. It鈥檚 something all of us have had a commitment to.鈥�
She complimented the work of the city鈥檚 planning and analytics team, but added that every council member expressed issues with the comprehensive plan. Council members must be more involved in the process so they can better communicate their priorities to city staff, Parker said.
鈥淚 would like our residents to be excited about the comprehensive plan and the story that it鈥檚 telling, and it鈥檚 evident to me tonight that there are certain pieces of it we鈥檙e excited about and on board with, and there are other pieces that we still need to work on together,鈥� she said.
Minor changes to comp plan, but residents say problems go deeper
Eric Fladager, Fort Worth鈥檚 assistant director of planning and data analytics, pointed to the efforts city staff are already taking to engage Echo Heights residents. In addition to the toxic tour, staff members attended a March 10 listening session with residents and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas staff working with the Echo Heights Stop Six Environmental Coalition.
For the first time since the late 1990s, Fladager鈥檚 team soon will launch a year-long public input campaign to significantly reshape the city鈥檚 comprehensive plan. Meetings are expected to begin as soon as this summer, but major changes won鈥檛 be included until the 2025 comprehensive plan, according to .
In the meantime, city staff adjusted future land use maps near W.M. Green Elementary School. The campus serves a student population that is 62% Hispanic and 29% African-American, according to Texas Education Agency data. Land directly surrounding the school is now projected to be vacant or agricultural rather than light industrial.
Last August, residents a zoning change that would have built a light industrial facility on a 57-acre farm across from W.M. Green. City maps, however, continue to project that property shifting from agricultural to industrial.
Speakers opposing the comprehensive plan said the city鈥檚 changes don鈥檛 go far enough to address the industrial zoning that permeates southeast Fort Worth.
They cited life expectancy disparities as evidence that industrial pollution has led to dire community health problems. Residents of the 76119 ZIP code, where Echo Heights is located, live to be an average age of 73.4 years old 鈥� 5.3 years less than the Tarrant County average of 78.7, according to published in 2019.
鈥淥ur lives are worth just as much as y鈥檃ll鈥檚 lives,鈥� said Letitia Wilbourn, a leader of the environmental coalition. 鈥淛ust because we鈥檙e Black and brown people don鈥檛 mean that y鈥檃ll can cut our lives short.鈥�
The plan bakes in an environment where communities of color are forced to breathe in dangerous toxins and suffer from early deaths, cancers, birth defects and other health conditions, said Jim Schermbeck, a Fort Worth native who serves as director of the North Texas air quality activism group Black Americans are exposed to 21 percent more particle pollution, or soot, compared to the average American, according to .
Schermbeck, who spoke at the meeting, called the vote to delay approval a 鈥渞emarkable victory鈥� for residents and environmental activists, led by the
鈥淭his is one of those times 鈥� I鈥檝e seen it happen before 鈥� where it鈥檚 a done deal when you come into the room, but because of the speeches that go on and the vibe in the room itself that builds up over those speeches, (leaders) start having second thoughts about doing this,鈥� Schermbeck said. 鈥淚 believe that鈥檚 what the mayor was going through, and many other people on that council were going through.鈥�
City vows action. 鈥極nce I see it in writing, I will believe them鈥�
District 5 Councilmember Gyna Bivens, who currently represents Echo Heights, instructed assistant city managers to take immediate action on code compliance violations near homes. The neighborhood will be part of the , which will get its first council member in May.
Code compliance officers can make truck operators stop washing their vehicles to prevent chemical runoff from landing in neighbors鈥� backyards, Bivens said. The city can also install sound monitors to track the after-hours noise that causes 鈥渒itchen cabinetry to shake,鈥� she added.
鈥淲e can do that right now. We don鈥檛 have to wait for a vote,鈥� Bivens said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need another cancer alley 鈥� This is a way to avoid that, or at least slow it down, and make some corrective changes.鈥�
City staff members are also working behind the scenes to come up with an approach that will involve multiple departments, according to Christina Brooks, Fort Worth鈥檚 chief equity officer. She facilitated the March 10 listening session with Echo Heights residents, which Brooks acknowledged wasn鈥檛 鈥渂usiness as usual.鈥�
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 there to tell anybody what we鈥檙e doing or boxes that we may have checked. We were just there to listen,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淭hat meeting did elicit a lot of emotion, and I think it was really beneficial for some of the city staff to hear just how deep and problematic some of the issues have been from the residents鈥� perspective.鈥�
Solutions won鈥檛 be developed overnight, and action plans may require input from agencies on the county and state level, Brooks said.
Many of the same department staff who attended the listening session visited Echo Heights for the 鈥渢oxic tour鈥� on March 21. Cody Whittenburg, Fort Worth鈥檚 assistant code compliance director, snapped photos of trucks behind Wilbourn鈥檚 home.
鈥淭he last thing we would ever want is for anyone to feel not supported,鈥� Whittenburg said. 鈥淲e want to make sure that they have the right avenues with the right individuals to help make those positive changes.鈥�
As the city turns its focus to Echo Heights, members of the environmental coalition are working to get more residents involved.
Mar鈥橳ayshia James, vice president of the coalition, said the area is full of single and working parents who may not have time to educate themselves about the comprehensive plan and industrial zoning. She and other activists have gone door to door and tabled at community events to spread the word, she said.
鈥淣ow, since they were able to delay it, we have a month to prepare,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to get more of our neighborhood association involved and see exactly what it is we鈥檙e wanting, like parks. You can鈥檛 force anybody out, but there鈥檚 ways to try to think about what we can do in the area.鈥�
Wilbourn, a retired Tarrant County sheriff鈥檚 deputy who has lived in Echo Heights since 1985, said she was ecstatic 鈥� and surprised 鈥� after city council members voted in their favor. But Wilbourn is waiting for results, especially in areas of Echo Heights that are not directly adjacent to the elementary school.
鈥淎s I always say: I don鈥檛 trust them. They鈥檝e lied to us repeatedly,鈥� Wilbourn said. 鈥淥nce I see it in writing, I will believe them. Until then, I don鈥檛 trust them. I don鈥檛 believe.鈥�
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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