Re: Kelly AFB EJ Complaint

[Raul Alvarez <raulalvarez@igc.org>]

[Note -- Raul requests that any responses are directed to him
<raulalvarez@igc.org> rather than the entire cpeo-military list.]

COMMUNITY GROUPS FILE CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT PERTAINING 
TO ACTIVITIES AT KELLY AIR FORCE BASE

May 4, 1999 (San Antonio) - Southwest Public Workers Union (SPWU) and
Committee for Environmental Justice Action (CEJA) held a press conference
to announce the filing of a civil rights complaint alleging discrimination
by Kelly Air Force Base (KAFB), the Greater Kelly Development Corporation
(GKDC), the City of San Antonio, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR) and Region VI of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  SPWU
and CEJA allege that the above mentioned agencies discriminate against
Latino residents that live near Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas by
ignoring their environmental protection and public health needs.  SPWU is
a grassroots organization representing people of color in San Antonio on
issues related to environmental and economic justice.  CEJA is a community
local of SPWU and is composed of residents living near KAFB.

CEJA and SPWU allege discrimination due to:

1) The exclusion of members of the Restoration Advisory Board and the
general public from  meetings of  the Base  Closure Team;
2) Plans for rapid industrial redevelopment of the base without adequately
considering impacts on surrounding communities;
3) Delays in the release of the Public Health Assessment of KAFB;
4) The decision to not list KAFB as a superfund site;
5) A failure to release public information;
6) Decisions which indicate that only on-site (and no off-site)
contamination will be cleaned-up;
7) The failure of the City to inform persons buying federally subsidized
affordable homes of the presence of soil and groundwater contamination;
and
8) The failure of TNRCC to take any enforcement action against KAFB.

"These agencies have not adequately addressed our concerns about
industrial operations, clean-up activities and redevelopment efforts at
Kelly," said Yolanda Johnson, President of CEJA.  "We feel that the
actions of these agencies have a disproportionately negative effect on
residents living near Kelly Air Force Base, 96% of which are Latino."

Complainants bring their complaint pursuant to Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the Executive Order on Environmental Justice (E.O.
12898).  Policies, programs and activities of agencies like the City of
San Antonio, the GKDC and the TNRCC that receive federal funding cannot
have a discriminatory effect under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  The
Executive Order on Environmental Justice requires the same of federal
agencies such as the Department of Defense (that oversees KAFB), the
Environmental Protection Agency (that oversees EPA Region VI) and the
Department of Health and Human Services (that oversees the ATSDR).

CEJA and SPWU also claim that the actions that prompted the complaint are
not aberrations in the behavior of the City of San Antonio and the TNRCC.
They claim that these situation at Kelly is part of a broader pattern of
discrimination.  With regard to the City, the groups site problems
associated with the BFI landfill, the Koch Fuel Storage facility, and
contaminated dirt from the Alamodome site.  With regard to TNRCC, the
groups explain that TNRCC has been the subject of at least 10 civil rights
complaint but has failed to take significant steps toward addressing these
and other environmental justice concerns around the state.

"Institutional racism runs deep in the city and state's planning
processes," said Chavel Lopez of SPWU.  "We are hoping that the
administrators and civil rights officers of the federal government will
bring justice to people living near Kelly since our city and state
officials seem unwilling to acknowledge, much less address, the racism
that pervades these institutions."

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS PROMPTING COMPLAINT

Base Closure Team  (TNRCC, KAFB, EPA Region VI)

The complaint against the TNRCC, KAFB and EPA Region VI comes as a result
of the exclusion of members of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) and of
the general public from the meetings of the Base Closure Team (BCT).  
CEJA and SPWU members serve on the RAB and have requested on several
occasions to be allowed to attend meetings of the BCT.  The BCT, whose
membership includes representatives of TNRCC, KAFB and EPA Region VI, has
repeatedly ignored these requests.  The BCT allows individuals who are not
official members of the BCT to attend BCT meetings (e.g., GKDC
representatives). Members of the BCT make key decisions pertaining to the
restoration of Kelly Air Force Base and often base these decisions on
information provided to the BCT but not provided to the RAB.  The RAB and
the general public (that is also excluded from BCT meetings) are thus
limited in their ability to participate in decisions pertaining to the
restoration of Kelly Air Force Base.  CEJA and SPWU allege discrimination
by the TNRCC, KAFB and EPA Region VI for excluding the members of the RAB
and the general public from BCT meetings.

KAFB Redevelopment  (City of San Antonio and GKDC)

The complaint against the City of San Antonio and the GKDC comes as a
result of the decision by the GKDC to allow Lockheed Martin to continue
its T-56 and TF-39 engine work at Kelly Air Force Base.  The GKDC
finalized its Master Plan for the Redevelopment of Kelly Air Force Base in
March of 1997.  The areas designated in the Master Plan for
industrial-manufacturing are some of the areas which are closest to the
residential areas East of the base and which therefore stand to negatively
impact the surrounding neighborhoods.  This is of particular concern
because the amount of industrial manufacturing activity is projected to
almost double.  On numerous occasions, CEJA and SPWU asked that GKDC
establish buffer zones between industrial uses at the base and the
surrounding communities.  These requests were not heeded by the GKDC.  As
a result, the GKDC has approved large industrial operations such as Boeing
and Lockheed Martin at the base.  The Lockheed Martin operation was just
approved by GKDC within the last six months.  Lockheed will continue to
make T-56 and TF-39 engines at the base, a process that involves the use
of large quantities of toxic chemicals and produces harmful air emissions
and waste streams.  CEJA and SPWU allege discrimination by the City of San
Antonio and the GKDC for permitting these types of operation at the base.

Public Health Assessment (ATSDR and KAFB)

The complaint against the ATSDR comes as a result of their failure to
finalize the Public Health Assessment for KAFB that the ATSDR represented
it would release in January 1999.  The assessment was first scheduled to
be finished in mid-June 1998.  The release date for the report was
pushed-forward to July 1998, then September 1998 and ultimately January
1999.  The ATSDR provided KAFB a copy of the draft assessment. Although
CEJA and SPWU requested all the information provided to KAFB by ATSDR,
only a small portion was provided.  After KAFB was provided with a copy of
the draft assessment, KAFB questioned the methodology used in the
assessment and asked for a review by outside experts.  ATSDR agreed to
this external scientific review.  This review is not part of ATSDR normal
review process as explained in the news clip.  CEJA and SPWU allege
discrimination by the ATSDR and KAFB for failing withholding information
and for manipulating the process.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination in deciding not to list KAFB as a Superfund Site on the
NPL.  (EPA and TNRCC)    

KAFB ranks at the top of the list of contaminated sites in Texas, if not
the entire country.  The State of Texas opposed Superfund listing and,
knowingly or not, assisted KAFB in delaying clean-up and taking other
discriminatory acts against the community. The EPA abused its discretion
by failing to list KAFB on the National Priorities List (NPL).  By failing
to list KAFB on the NPL, TNRCC and EPA have discriminated against Latino
residents that live near the base by denying them opportunities for
effective public participation and allowing for delay of the clean-up at
KAFB.

Discrimination in failure to release public information to the public.  (
KAFB and TNRCC)

KAFB consistently withholds information from the public as documented.
Examples of public information withheld include information pertaining to
groundwater and soil contamination; design of remediation systems;
contamination of Leon Creek and the Edwards Aquifer; and contamination of
the Union Pacific rail yard" have yet to be released.  KAFB has
discriminated against Latino residents living near KAFB by withholding
information needed to effectively participate in decisions pertaining to
clean-up activities.  TNRCC is also guilty of discrimination due to their
failure to require that KAFB release the information.

Discrimination in deciding how to clean up contamination of surface and
ground waters. (DOD, TNRCC, City of San Antonio, GKDC and EPA Region VI)  

KAFB seems intent on only cleaning-up soil and ground water contamination
on-site.  Clean-up of on-site contamination has already commenced but KAFB
is not engaged in any clean-up activities on any off-site properties.
Natural attenuation is being considered as a "clean-up" strategy for
off-site contamination and not on-site contamination.  KAFB refuses to
acknowledge that it has caused any off-site soil contamination. The City
of Antonio has encouraged the above approach for the purpose of expediting
redevelopment of the base.  TNRCC and EPA Region VI are aware of and have
failed to address these inequities.  This approach discriminates against
residents living near KAFB because their property (soil and groundwater)
of members of surrounding communities in a contaminated state.  This
contamination will have a negative effect on the health and property
values of members of surrounding communities.

Discrimination in the Redevelopment of KAFB property.  (KAFB, the City of
San Antonio and GKDC)  

The plans for redevelopment of KAFB show that the amount of floor space
dedicated to industrial-manufacturing activities will almost double (i.e.,
from 5,993,800 sq. ft. to 11,053,500 sq. ft.).  CEJA and SPWU allege
discrimination by the City of San Antonio and the GKDC for proposing such
a large amount of industrial development at KAFB without adequately
considering the actual and historical impacts on surrounding communities.
These communities have suffered disparate impacts of such burdens from
industrial activities for many years.  Redevelopment of the base should
decrease and not increase negative impacts on these communities.

Discrimination in the development of new housing near KAFB. (The City of
San Antonio)  

The City of San Antonio is allowing the development and sale of federally
subsidized affordable housing in the area to the North of Kelly Air Force
Base without  proper  notification to potential buyers of the
environmental conditions of the properties.  Specifically, contaminated
groundwater emanating from the base underlies these properties.  In
addition, soil samples taken by residents indicate that lead
concentrations are significantly higher than background concentrations
established by KAFB.  CEJA and SPWU allege discrimination by the City of
San Antonio for failing to notify potential buyers of these conditions.

Discrimination in failure to use enforcement authority. (TNRCC)  

Over the years, several complaints have been made to TNRCC about
operations at KAFB.  TNRCC has failed to take any enforcement action
against KAFB.  Further, residents have made numerous complaints directly
to KAFB.  KAFB is not required like TNRCC to keep a log of citizen
complaints and a record of investigations related to the complaints.
TNRCC's San Antonio field office has thus failed in its duty to inform
residents living near KAFB that the agency can take enforcement action if
citizens complain and violations are issued.  TNRCC's failure to take
necessary enforcement action as a result of citizen complaints allows KAFB
to operate at levels that are harmful to nearby residents.  TNRCC's
failure to inform residents about proper complaint procedures has led to
undocumented complaints of exposures to harmful levels of emissions.