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Green Light to Pollute in Texas
| Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice | Bullard Center | May 4, 2026
This report page discusses petrochemical and refining expansion in Texas, especially around the Greater Houston area. It states that this industrial concentration disproportionately affects fenceline communities, often low-income communities of color, and argues that Texas lacks adequate environmental justice tools to prevent these inequities.
Petrochemical Expansion in Texas Will Fall Heavily on Communities of Color
| Author not listed here | Inside Climate News | November 30, 2025
This article discusses petrochemical expansion in Texas and cites environmental justice research showing that race and poverty predict where polluting industries place facilities.
Solid Waste Sites and the Black Houston Community
| Robert D. Bullard | Sociological Inquiry | 1983
This landmark study examined the siting of solid waste facilities in Houston and found that waste sites were not randomly distributed across the city, but were disproportionately located in Black communities. It is one of the foundational academic works in the field of environmental justice.
Chapter 2: What Is Environmental Justice?
| U.S. Commission on Civil Rights | U.S. Commission on Civil Rights | 2003
This government chapter describes environmental justice and provides examples of communities of color facing concentrated environmental hazards, including Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, where mostly minority cities hosted many chemical plants and refineries compared with nearby mostly white communities.
Industry Poisoned a Vibrant Black Neighborhood in Houston. Is a Buyout the Solution?
| Adam Mahoney | Capital B News / Grist | March 8, 2024
This article focuses on Houston's Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens, historically Black neighborhoods affected by contamination linked to a rail yard. It connects the case to Houston's long history of environmental racism and to Robert Bullard's foundational research on race and toxic pollution.
Double Jeopardy in Houston
This report examines Houston communities facing both climate risks and industrial chemical hazards. It is useful for showing how low-income communities and communities of color can face layered risks from refineries, chemical plants, flooding, and weak emergency planning.
Port Arthur, Texas: American Sacrifice Zone
| Andrea Germanos | NRDC | November 13, 2014
This article describes Port Arthur, Texas as a refinery and petrochemical fence-line community. It explains how residents live near major industrial pollution sources along the Gulf Coast, making the city a prominent example of environmental injustice.
A Dream Deferred: 30 Years of U.S. Environmental Justice in Port Arthur, Texas
| James Bruggers | Inside Climate News | February 11, 2024
This article uses Port Arthur, Texas to evaluate the legacy of federal environmental justice policy. It describes life along the Gulf Coast petrochemical corridor, where largely Black and low-income communities continue to face refinery and chemical-plant pollution.
In the Belly of the Beast: Health, Justice, and Resilience in Port Arthur
This article discusses Port Arthur as a community surrounded by petrochemical infrastructure and industrial pollution. It is useful for documenting health and environmental justice concerns in a city heavily shaped by refineries and chemical plants.
How Port Arthur's Oxbow Plant Is Damaging Nearby Black Communities
| Amal Ahmed | Texas Observer | November 2, 2021
This article examines pollution from the Oxbow calcining plant in Port Arthur and its impact on nearby Black communities. It discusses environmental justice complaints and the difficulty residents face when challenging industrial polluters.
Benzene Emissions on Texas Gulf Coast Among Nation's Highest, Report Finds
| Alejandra Martinez | Texas Tribune | April 23, 2026
This article reports on benzene emissions and refinery pollution along the Texas Gulf Coast, including Port Arthur. It is useful as a recent example of how fence-line communities near petrochemical facilities continue to face toxic air pollution.
For the Third Time, Black Residents in Corpus Christi's Hillcrest Neighborhood File a Civil Rights Complaint to Fend Off Polluting Infrastructure
| Aman Azhar | Inside Climate News | October 27, 2022
This article covers Corpus Christi's Hillcrest neighborhood, where Black residents have repeatedly challenged polluting infrastructure through civil-rights complaints. It is useful for documenting how highways, refineries, ports, and industrial projects burdened a historically Black neighborhood.
Black Residents of Corpus Christi's Hillcrest Back in Court Over Pollution
| Dylan Baddour | Texas Observer | October 31, 2022
This article examines Hillcrest residents' legal challenges over a sewage treatment plant, bridge construction, and desalination infrastructure. It shows how a Black neighborhood already surrounded by industrial pollution continued to face new environmental burdens.
The Story Behind the Harbor Bridge: Segregation, Neglect and Pollution in Corpus Christi
| Texas Housers | Texas Housers | August 7, 2015
This article explains how Corpus Christi's Hillcrest and Washington-Coles neighborhoods were shaped by segregation, disinvestment, industrial pollution, highways, and port infrastructure. It is useful for documenting the connection between racial segregation and environmental burden.
Historic Agreement Resolves Environmental Justice Complaint in Corpus Christi, Texas
| Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | Lawyers' Committee | December 18, 2015
This article describes an agreement addressing the disparate impacts of a planned highway through Corpus Christi's Hillcrest neighborhood. It notes that Hillcrest was already hemmed in by a ship channel, refineries, and an interstate highway.
Corpus Christi Civil Rights and Fair Housing Complaint Referred to U.S. Department of Justice
| Earthjustice | Earthjustice | February 12, 2024
This press release reports that a Corpus Christi civil-rights and fair-housing complaint was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice. It frames the Hillcrest community's struggle against polluting infrastructure as a fight against environmental racism.
Assessing Soil Health in the Corpus Christi Community
| Thriving Earth Exchange | American Geophysical Union | No date listed
This project page describes community-based work to assess possible soil contamination from industrial pollution in Corpus Christi, including the Hillcrest neighborhood. It is useful for documenting local environmental health concerns linked to industrial activity.
America's Dirty Little Secret: The Texas Town That Has Been Without Running Water for Decades
| Oliver Laughland | The Guardian | November 23, 2017
This article examines Sandbranch, Texas, a historic Black freedmen's community without running water. It is useful for documenting environmental justice issues involving water access, flood risk, government neglect, and racial inequality.
After 150 Years, Black Residents of Sandbranch, Texas, Still Have No Running Water
| People's World | People's World | June 25, 2024
This article discusses Sandbranch, Texas, where Black residents have long lacked basic water infrastructure. It is useful for documenting environmental racism through infrastructure denial, water insecurity, and political neglect.
Solutions for Sandbranch and Deconstructing Environmental Racism
| Dallas Weekly | Dallas Weekly | March 5, 2024
This article discusses efforts to address environmental racism in Sandbranch, Texas. It is useful for documenting how floodplain arguments, infrastructure denial, and political decisions have left a Black community without basic water access.
Come Hell or No Water: The Story of Sandbranch and the Environment
| D. Pemberton | Texas A&M Law Student Scholarship | 2022
This legal paper examines Sandbranch, Texas as an environmental justice case. It is useful for documenting the legal and policy issues behind a freedmen's community's lack of running water and exposure to environmental hazards.
Confirming the Environmental Concerns of Community Members Utilizing Participatory-Based Research in the Houston Neighborhood of Manchester
| G. Sansom et al. | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2016
This peer-reviewed article examines pollution concerns in Manchester, a Houston neighborhood near the Ship Channel and multiple industrial facilities. It is useful for documenting community-based research in a predominantly Latino environmental justice community.
Air Toxics and Health in Manchester
| Union of Concerned Scientists | UCS | June 29, 2016
This article discusses toxic air pollution in Manchester, Houston, where poverty and pollution overlap near refineries and industrial facilities. It is useful for documenting how a community with limited political power faces cumulative environmental health risks.
Toxic Air Pollution in the Houston Ship Channel
| Yukyan Lam | Natural Resources Defense Council | August 31, 2021
This report discusses racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in toxic air pollution along Houston's Ship Channel. It is useful for documenting how industrial emissions from refineries and chemical plants disproportionately affect nearby communities of color.
Lives 'Devastated' by Petrochemical Industry Pollution in Texas
| Kristina Marusic | Environmental Health News | January 26, 2024
This article reports on petrochemical pollution along the Houston Ship Channel and its harms to local communities. It is useful for documenting human-rights and environmental justice concerns in neighborhoods near refineries and chemical plants.
History of Environmental Justice in Houston
| Here in Houston | Here in Houston | No date listed
This overview discusses environmental justice in Houston, including the Manchester and Harrisburg neighborhoods. It is useful for documenting how low-income and minority communities were placed near hazardous industrial environments.
Environmental Racism in Houston, Texas
| ArcGIS StoryMaps | ArcGIS StoryMaps | November 12, 2021
This story map discusses environmental racism in Houston, including refinery pollution and the Manchester neighborhood. It is useful for documenting how industrial emissions, flooding, and race intersect in Houston environmental justice communities.
Wastewater Disposal Wells, Fracking, and Environmental Injustice in Southern Texas
| Jill E. Johnston et al. | American Journal of Public Health | 2016
This peer-reviewed article examines wastewater disposal wells associated with oil and gas activity in southern Texas. It is useful for documenting how fracking-related waste infrastructure can create environmental justice concerns for nearby communities.
A Case Study on the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory in Houston, Texas
| H. Wheless et al. | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2025
This article examines industrial toxic releases and environmental justice in Houston. It is useful for documenting how Latinx communities face disproportionate environmental burdens and how public data can support policy change.
Community Science Is Changing How People Can Fight Pollution
| Courtney Lindwall | Natural Resources Defense Council | May 23, 2023
This article discusses community science efforts in environmental justice communities, including Houston refinery neighborhoods. It is useful for documenting how residents gather their own pollution data to challenge industrial polluters.
