After seeing a giant fireball launched 100 feet in the air after a gas explosion, residents of Freeport, Texas came together to fight the harmful industry plants polluting their home. Gwendolyn Jones of Citizens for Clean Air and Clean Water of Freeport and Brazoria County has been a leader in this work. Her family has lived in Freeport for generations and has been continuously disenfranchised by industry plants. Freeport is predominantly a community of color and 72% of the residents are considered low income. Like many others, it faces systemic environmental justice crises that the government ignores. It is a historically African American neighborhood. Over the last few decades, Port Freeport has been systematically displacing residents, and buying, and subsequently polluting, the land. Jones has watched her home be completely overturned while her community is treated as collateral damage. The residents face high risks of cancer and other health concerns, and Freeport is considered one of several “sacrifice zones” in the area. When the explosion came, the community was left on their own with no warning or support. After this, the community decided to take matters into their own hands. Jones and others are pushing for legal accountability, emergency response plans, and the phase out of plants and pipelines for future generations.
