Federal Highway Officials Reach Agreement With Alabama Over Claims It Discriminated Against Flooded Black Residents

Oct 4, 2024 Story by: Editor

SHILOH COMMUNITY, Ala. — The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has reached a voluntary agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) regarding accusations that a highway expansion project led to persistent flooding in a historically Black community.

The agreement, released on Friday , includes two proposed "improvement" plans that federal officials believe could help alleviate the flooding issues affecting residents. The state is expected to proceed with one of the plans, both of which involve constructing additional drainage infrastructure at the site.

One of the plans, preferred by federal transportation officials, calls for purchasing additional right-of-way property from Shiloh residents to install more drainage.

Although federal investigators did not determine whether state transportation officials had engaged in racial discrimination in Shiloh, a community located around 70 miles south of Montgomery, at least one resident has expressed dissatisfaction. Instead, the officials indicated they would not further pursue these discrimination claims if the state agreed to the mitigation plans outlined.

The Biden administration launched the investigation in 2022 under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs. This investigation was triggered by complaints from Black Shiloh residents, who alleged that the elevation of U.S. Highway 84 by ALDOT had caused flooding in their homes.

“ALDOT disputes that a Title VI violation has occurred,” the agreement states. “In entering into this Agreement, FHWA is not making a noncompliance finding against ALDOT, and ALDOT is not admitting a violation of Title VI. ALDOT has agreed to implement the actions described in this Agreement voluntarily.”

The agreement does not address the use of restrictive covenants in Shiloh—legal measures found in an Inside Climate News investigation that have limited Black residents’ ability to seek compensation for ongoing flooding.

Shiloh residents had also filed complaints with federal transportation and environmental agencies, accusing the state of ignoring their concerns about repeated rainwater flooding from Highway 84.

Federal authorities later confirmed they were investigating “whether the Alabama Department of Transportation and Coffee County violated Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act] by not resolving the flooding issues impacting the community residing between US Highway 84 and County Road 502.”

The flooding issue in Shiloh gained attention through local leaders like Pastor Timothy Williams and environmental advocates such as Robert Bullard, a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also visited Shiloh earlier this year to tour the area.

During his visit, Buttigieg declined to comment on the Title VI investigation but emphasized the importance of addressing past transportation-related wrongs, particularly those tied to race. He told residents he was moved by the situation he witnessed in the community.

Shortly before, Buttigieg heard from residents like Willie Horstead Jr. , an Army veteran, who has seen his mobile home slowly sink into the saturated ground due to ongoing flooding. Horstead, along with Pastor Williams, filed the original complaint with the FHWA.

“All where we’re standing right now, there is nothing but water here when there’s a good rain,” Horstead told Buttigieg. “I’ll tell you—I just want to be made whole.”

“There is no way I’m going to forget what I just heard,” Buttigieg responded at the end of his visit.

The issues in Shiloh were being addressed “at the highest levels of our department,” Buttigieg assured residents. He explained that the federal government had tools to ensure state officials treated residents fairly and funds to channel directly to communities in need.

In a statement issued on Friday, Buttigieg reaffirmed the government’s commitment to helping the residents of Shiloh.

“Earlier this year, I visited Shiloh to meet residents whose families had owned land there since slavery was outlawed, and I saw firsthand the flooding and home damage they have endured for years,” Buttigieg said. “The agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to build a drainage project is a first step toward addressing broader needs of the community. In addition to monitoring the state’s progress on project construction, the U.S. Department of Transportation will continue to provide technical assistance, coordinate with our federal partners, and urge Congress as well as state and local governments to act to unlock further resources to help make the Shiloh community whole.”

Since Buttigieg's visit, some residents have expressed feelings of neglect, citing that federal assistance has yet to make a tangible difference on the ground.

This voluntary agreement represents the first public federal action since Buttigieg's visit.

The first and preferred plan in the agreement involves purchasing right-of-way properties from Shiloh residents at "reasonable" prices, relocating a discharge point, and constructing a drainage ditch to channel water to a natural outflow point south of the community. The plan also includes expanding roadside ditches and increasing the capacity of a detention basin with an emergency spillway.

The second plan, which will only be used if the first plan proved unworkable, involves adding a detention basin in the highway median with riser structures to control water flow while avoiding flooding on the roadway. Shiloh residents have noted that neither the highway nor their properties flooded before the 2019 expansion.

Pastor Williams remains hopeful the agreement will lead to improvements for the residents of Shiloh. However, he believes the voluntary agreement does not fully address the racial issues at play.

Since the highway expansion, residents and advocates have repeatedly stressed the role race has played in the ongoing flooding of Shiloh.

Environmental justice advocate Robert Bullard has long studied the intersection of race and environmental issues. He believes it is evident that Alabama is discriminating against Black residents in Shiloh, a community close to where he grew up. He described the highway expansion as the result of “savage” engineering.

“This road was engineered in a disrespectful way,” Bullard said in February. “There are no other communities along this stretch of highway that were put in a bowl. The only thing that is different about this community is that they’re Black landowners. … This was done on purpose by smart people who are engineers and hydrologists and who do not care about the results and do not care about fixing it. Structural racism created this problem. This is a manmade problem that did not have to exist.”

Williams echoed Bullard's sentiments, stating that these racial dynamics were left out of the findings in the agreement. He also felt the agreement should have addressed the use of restrictive covenants that limited the state’s liability.

“All of that should’ve been included,” Williams said.

ALDOT expressed satisfaction with the agreement in a statement, noting their early efforts to address the flooding concerns.

“Early on, ALDOT showed its commitment by hiring an engineering firm to study the issues and look at options,” the agency spokesperson said. “We are encouraged that the FHWA recognizes ALDOT’s commitment to resolving the concerns expressed by the Shiloh Community. We look forward to working with our federal partner to implement the planned improvements.”

Under the agreement, ALDOT will be required to submit progress reports on the improvement work in Shiloh every 180 days and ensure that property owners are kept informed throughout the mitigation process.

Sarah Stokes, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center representing Shiloh residents, agreed that the agreement is just one part of making residents whole.

“This is only a piece of the solution residents are fighting for, so our work supporting them is not finished,” she said. “The government should also make them whole as a basic step towards dignity and justice.” Source: InsideClimate News