|
Settlement
of Washington Park Lawsuit Succeeds in Relocating Residents
To Integrated Housing Opportunities And Demolition Public
Housing On Superfund Site
On
April 12, 2000, federal and local officials entered a consent
decree to relocate all of the 160 families living in the
Washington Park Public Housing Project to integrated housing
opportunities. The Housing Project is located on an EPA
Superfund site in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law, representing residents of Washington
Park, successfully challenged the remedy selected to clean
up the contamination that would have left the residents
of Washington Park living in the middle of a Superfund site
while their neighbors were relocated. The last resident
left Washington Park in August 2001 and the housing project
is slated for demolition.
The
Consent
Decree settling the Washington Park lawsuit (Lead Committee,
Inc., et al. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency,
et al., Civil Action No. 298-CV-421 (E.D. Va. 1998)), marks
the first time that an existing Superfund site cleanup plan
has been altered to address racial discrimination in the
location of public housing within an area of hazardous environmental
contamination. "The Washington Park case represents
a landmark victory for the families living in Washington
Park and the movement for environmental justice," stated
Thomas Henderson, lead counsel for the plaintiffs and Director
of Litigation for the Lawyers' Committee.
The
Consent
Decree also represents a personal victory for Ms. Helen
Person. Ms. Person, a long- time resident and advocate for
tenant's rights at Washington Park, and the lead plaintiff,
has been widely honored for her relentless work to end the
discriminatory housing and lead pollution in Washington
Park. Ms. Person steadfastly sought relocation to safe and
decent housing for all residents. Her efforts were supported
by Senator Robb and Congressman Sisisky, both of whom helped
lay the groundwork for the final settlement.
"I
have prayed and worked for the safe relocation of all the
people in Washington Park, especially the children, and
now my prayers have been answered," said Helen Person.
Ms. Person left Washington Park in 2001 and now lives near
downtown Portsmouth. The majority of the residents are now
living in integrated neighborhoods using Section 8 vouchers,
a federal rental subsidy program.
"Washington
Park should not have been built at that location,"
stated Thomas Henderson. "The site, located immediately
adjacent to an operating lead foundry, had always been inappropriate
for housing. It was chosen in the early 1960's only because
public housing for "Negroes" was being constructed
using federal funds," said Henderson.
Lead
contamination from the foundry resulted in the designation
of the housing complex and the adjacent lead foundry as
an EPA "Superfund" site. In 1994, when EPA selected
the final cleanup remedy for the Superfund site, only private
landowners were relocated, despite repeated objections from
the Washington Park residents, including lead plaintiff
Helen Person. That EPA decision forced the residents of
the segregated public housing complex to continue living
in the lead contaminated Superfund site.
"The
result was that the African American residents of Washington
Park were unfairly forced to endure multiple temporary relocations
and lead abatement programs, including two emergency cleanups,
over a ten year period," said David Bailey, an attorney
with the Lawyers' Committee's Environmental Justice Project.
EPA's promises that the site would remain safe during the
Superfund cleanup process were repeatedly discredited by
reports of undiscovered, unreported or unremediated lead
contamination, according to Bailey.
"That
EPA remedy selected in 1994, had it been left unchanged,
would have continued and exacerbated the same conditions
of segregation and inequality in Washington Park established
under Jim Crow," said Henderson. Under the Consent
Decree, all tenants received an opportunity to be relocated
to integrated housing. The class action settlement requires
demolition of the Washington Park complex and rezoning of
the property for industrial or commercial uses. The property
will never again be used for residential purposes, according
to the agreement.
"The
agreement represents a major fair housing triumph for African
American public housing residents at Washington Park,"
said Julie Nepveu, an attorney for the Housing and Community
Development Project of the Lawyers' Committee. "The
Consent
Decree provides every tenant in Washington Park with
relief from exposure to the existing lead contamination,
and an opportunity to live in a racially integrated neighborhood
in Portsmouth. It ends the separate and unequal conditions
of segregation at Washington Park," said Nepveu.
The
plaintiffs in this case were represented by the Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the law firm of
Davis Polk & Wardwell. The defendants included the City
of Portsmouth, Virginia, Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing
Authority, Pneumo Abex, Inc., the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development, and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
back
to the top
Environmental
Justice Project
|
