Redressing Racial and Environmental Injustice Through a Voluntary Acquisition and Relocation Program

Abstract

Tucked in the northeast corner of Corpus Christi, adjacent to one of the nation's largest ports, lies Hillcrest, a low-income and minority neighborhood clouded by a history of segregation, discrimination, and environmental injustice. The siting of heavy industry—refineries and petrochemical and energy companies—along its northern and western borders and infrastructure—an expansive highway—along its southern border have depressed property values, reducing the mobility of homeowners, and disproportionately subjected residents to noise, air pollution, and noxious odors for decades. Upon the completion of the new Harbor Bridge, which will skirt Hillcrest's eastern border, the neighborhood will be enclosed by industry or infrastructure on all four sides, cementing the isolation of its residents from the rest of the city and perpetuating the long-established practice of unduly inflicting environmental burdens on marginalized and disadvantaged communities. In 2015, civil rights lawyers filed a Title VI complaint with the Federal Highway Administration on behalf of two Hillcrest residents. The complaint, which alleged that the adverse health and economic impacts of the proposed route for the bridge would be disparately shouldered by the neighborhood's large and already overburdened African American population, prompted the creation of the 3-year Voluntary Acquisition and Relocation Program, intended to provide restitution for decades of segregation, discrimination, and environmental injustice. The landmark program offers financial assistance and relocation counseling to participating residents who chose to relocate or financial compensation for homeowners who elected to remain. This program provides a model for civil rights, fair housing, and environmental justice advocates to procure more equitable outcomes for communities beset with racial and environmental injustice.