Proposed desalination development near a Northside Corpus Christi neighborhood has come under new fire on the heels of city officials taking their most significant steps to finance and construct the facility.
The local chapter of the NAACP recently weighed in, taking an official position on the project, proposed for construction on a 17-acre tract of land off the ship channel and adjacent to the historically Black Hillcrest neighborhood.
In it, the NAACP calls for “immediate action and response from City of Corpus Christi and its elected Council Members to halt such construction of any desalination plant.”
“Many environmental health hazards are located disproportionately in communities of color as a result of outdated and ineffective policies and the NAACP stands firm against the environmental impact of the desalination plant being constructed within a radius of residential homes, specifically the Hillcrest, Washington, Coles community,” it states.
Read by Jeremy Coleman – Corpus Christi’s NAACP president – before the City Council last week, the organization urged “community input, city investments in local communities, and clear data metrics regarding the environmental impact to ensure accountability across the city of Corpus Christi,” the document shows.