Houston neighborhoods of color should be supported under the Clean Water Act, but they aren’t. Here is how Texas Housers thinks the state should fix that.

Texas Housers recently submitted comments to the Texas Attorney General’s Office and Department of Justice regarding the consent decree between the City of Houston (City), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that addresses years of Clean Water Act violations in the City’s waste water infrastructure.

The City of Houston has illegally discharged thousands of gallons of sewage through its aging, failing waste water infrastructure and low-income, segregated communities of color have been dealing with the financial and emotional burdens of raw sewage backing up onto their streets and into their homes for generations. 

Housers has made several recommendations, including calling for the City to prioritize infrastructure repairs and replacements in neighborhoods of color and requesting that EPA institute a Title VI investigation into the City’s wastewater infrastructure program to determine if the City’s activities in providing wastewater infrastructure maintenance have been disparately impacting people of color.

Housers will submit additional comments to the DOJ by November 8, 2019. Other interested parties can find information about submitting comments here. Below is our consent decree comments.