Representing Black and Hispanic Neighborhoods With Inequitable Conditions: Deepwood Landfill
Daniel and Beshara obtained injunctive relief to remedy the largest illegal landfill in the State of Texas. This illegal dump was created next to three Black neighborhoods whose residents suffered from the illegal landfill next to their homes. In Cox v. City of Dallas, 256 F.3d 281 (5th Cir. 2001), the City of Dallas was held liable under the federal solid waste act, RCRA. The City of Dallas not only issued permits for the landfill it also directly contributed to the illegal landfill by allowing its demolition contractors to dispose of the debris at this illegal landfill. A former mayor of Dallas referred to the landfill as “the worst environmental terrorism that has been visited upon a neighborhood.” The remedy in the case included remediating and closing the landfill in place, methane gas monitoring, collection, and removal. A major element of the remedy was the City funding and infrastructure for the site to become the Trinity River Audubon Center.
“Out of Deepwood”, a documentary of the environmental lawsuit about the Deepwood dump, the neighborhood’s fight for justice and the creation of the Trinity River Audubon Center is available at https://www.bcworkshop.org/posts/out-of-deepwood (click the arrow in the box with the stripes at the top of this linked page to begin the film). The Building Community Workshop (www.bcworkshop.org), a Dallas based nonprofit community design center created the documentary.
This plaque at the Trinity River Audubon Center recounts the history of the site as a landfill.
A picture of a group of the neighborhood homeowners that challenged the City’s role in the illegal landfill in their neighborhood is here:
The below linked videos, photos and articles include the surveillance videos and news coverage of the Deepwood Dump in Dallas, Texas before it became the Trinity River Audubon Center of Dallas.
March 8, 1997: News video footage of the fire at Deepwood Dump, the largest illegal landfill in Texas. Dallas Fire Department chief Dan Watson describes the entire site as 80 acres, and that they are concerned with a fire area of solid waste of approximately 30 to 40 surface acres with a height of 30 feet. He estimates cleanup time as two to three weeks with an approximate cost of one million dollars. The Deepwood Dump was later converted to the Trinity River Audubon Center as a result of the lawsuit Cox v. City of Dallas, 256 F.3d 281 (5th Cir. 2001): http://youtu.be/QkE1-1fXOeA
May 17, 1995: Video surveillance of the Deepwood Dump, the largest illegal landfill in Texas. The Deepwood Dump was later converted to the Trinity River Audubon Center as a result of the lawsuit Cox v. City of Dallas, 256 F.3d 281 (5th Cir. 2001): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o9Rk2A9UmY&feature=youtu.be
Application for Search Warrant describing the conditions and operation of the illegal landfill: Application for Search Warrant
United States EPA Criminal Investigation Division Report of Investigation - Herman Nethery Landfill 1996 (the Deepwood Dump): United States EPA Criminal Investigation Division Report of Investigation - Herman Nethery Landfill 1996
