Fifth Ward, Pleasantville continue fight for clean air

Houston has a long history of environmental racism. More specifically, Houston’s Black communities have long endured the short end of that stick.

In fact, the founder of the fight against environmental racism, Dr. Robert Bullard, first battled those forces in the Bayou City in 1979, when Jimmy Carter was in the White House.

Fifth Ward and Pleasantville are no strangers to the ravages of environmental racism, enduring some of the worst air quality in the region, and the higher incidence of diseases and maladies associated with it.

“Environmental racism has significantly impacted both the Fifth Ward and Pleasantville communities with the placement of harmful industrial facilities, rail lines, and switching rail yards, diesel truck traffic, and highway impacts that have even led to flooding in the areas,” said Dr. Denae King, associate director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. “The air emissions from these harmful sources of pollution have affected health and well-being for families in these historic Black communities for generations.”

Recently, these communities experienced what some are framing as an environmental justice “win.” But even the most optimistic observers recognize that true victory—air quality suitable for human beings and all members of their ecosystem—demands far more.

Recent ‘win’

Recently, Fifth Ward and nearby Pleasantville won the right to receive state-level data on the quality of their air and what exactly is in it.

Residents already know the air quality is bad. They can tell it from the smell and the levels of illness and disease they endure at rates higher than those in other Houston neighborhoods. Still, the air monitors that were long fought for will give residents specific information about what they’re breathing.

It’s an essential step to protect public health, and is celebrated as a remarkable win for long-time local advocates at a time when African Americans stand to face the greatest health risks from the rollbacks of bedrock pollution protections at the federal level.

“The air monitoring network in Pleasantville became the first community-led air monitoring network in the state of Texas, so to have access to regulatory data is a win for the health of Pleasantville residents,” shared Bridgette Murray, founder and executive director for Achieving Community Tasks Successfully, during an interview with King.

And in light of policies unleashed by the current White House administration, the victory could be viewed as a minor miracle.

Since returning to power last January, the Trump administration has rolled back essential environmental protections that keep all of us safe from the harms of pollution and extreme weather fueled by climate change. It has closed the agency’s environmental justice offices and clawed back millions of dollars intended to improve the health and well-being of people most harmed by pollution.

King asserts that the recent win is not just symbolic, but rather, substantial on multiple levels.

“Community leaders in Fifth Ward and Pleasantville neighborhoods have been longtime advocates for healthy communities, safer environments, and reductions in poor air quality,” she said. “Their advocacy led to the establishment of networks of low-cost air monitors designed to measure particulate matter and volatile organic compounds.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmHH83IYSt4

Next steps

Along with the grassroots organizing victory highlighted by King, she added that the air monitors are community-owned and maintained, and provide residents with important data on potential sources of contamination.  

“The installation of reference-grade air monitors by TCEQ will only enhance the community leaders’ understanding of air quality in the area,” added King. “The community leaders can combine their air monitoring data with the new reference monitors’ publicly available data to educate residents about potential health impacts and advocate for stricter enforcement of nearby industries and other sources of pollution.” 

Backstory: Horrible air quality

The Bayou City has been ground zero for environmental racism and the outsized polluting of Black and Brown neighborhoods for generations. The Fifth Ward alone is home to six cancer clusters, allegedly caused by the Union Pacific Railroad. The contamination, creosote, is a toxic substance linked to cancer.

Houston is not technically a member of “Cancer Alley,” the 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River in Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that contains over 200 petrochemical plants and refineries. But because “Cancer Alley” houses the highest concentration of such industries in the Western Hemisphere, emitting toxic pollutants associated with elevated cancer risks, especially for Black residents in surrounding fenceline communities, many give Houston honorary membership.

“It’s a lot of pollution going on,” said Marcus Glenn, program developer of the Black United Fund Houston (BUFTX). “We’re looking for ways to help reduce asthma and different chronic illnesses that are tied to these environmental issues in a holistic way.”

Houston’s track record

According to Air Alliance Houston and a recent historical track record, no city in the nation pollutes its air, and thus its residents, like Houston.

Over the 1997–1999 period, Houston was noted as having the worst ground-level ozone (smog) in the country, even surpassing Los Angeles, which had long been considered the worst. During 1999–2001, Houston had the highest maximum one-hour ozone concentrations in the U.S.

A 2008 NPR report stated that Houston surpassed Los Angeles in carbon emissions, citing the extensive petrochemical industry in the area.

And though Bakersfield, CA, is frequently identified as the U.S. city with the highest year-round particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2026 “State of the Air” report, Houston still consistently ranks among the top 10 most polluted cities in the U.S. for ozone. In fact, according to that American Lung Association report, the Houston-Pasadena area ranked 6th worst in the U.S. for ozone pollution and 8th worst for year-round particle pollution.

Residents of communities in the Houston area with the greatest levels of air pollution, all of which are predominantly Black and Latinx, have a life expectancy in some areas that’s 20 years less than areas with the least air pollution (all of which are predominantly white).

The fight for clean air for Fifth Ward and Pleasantville residents is far from over, but King believes the newly acquired monitors will provide the information needed for the battles that lie ahead.