Community Leaders from Elba, AL Shiloh Community Meet with USDOT Officials

Houston, TX, February 29, 2024 – On Tuesday, the Bullard Center at Texas Southern University sponsored a delegation of Elba, Alabama Shiloh leaders trip to Washington, DC to meet with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Assistant Secretary Christopher Coes and other officials at the federal agency. The Shiloh delegation included Pastor Timothy Williams, his daughter Melissa Williams and79-year-old Army veteran Willie Horstead, Jr.

“We made the “Journey to Justice” trip to the USDOT seeking real solutions to the multiple and converging problems created and exacerbated by a poorly designed highway infrastructure project. We call upon the USDOT to take the lead in deploying the Biden administration’s whole of government approach” using the Justice40 lens to convene the appropriate agencies (i.e., USDOT, HUD, USDA, EPA, DOE, Army Corps, FEMA, etc.) and help identify the appropriate pots of federal funds (i.e., Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflations Reduction Act, etc.) to solve the problems created by a the highway expansion project,” says Dr. Robert D. Bullard, who serves on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC), and is often called the “father of environmental justice.” 

Assistant Secretary Coes made it known in the meeting he is a native of Thomasville, GA, a predominately Black (55.8 percent) town in South Georgia. Thomasville is also located along same US 84 Highway that's flooding and destroying Elba, Alabama’s historically Black Shiloh community.  The Shiloh community has been plagued by constant flooding problems since 2018—after the US 84 highway infrastructure project elevated and expanded the road from two to four lanes—placing the Shiloh community in a hole. The community has endured conditions for six long years without relief.  “We need relief from this nightmare caused by US 84 highway expansion. We experience constant flooding, sinking homes, overflowing septic systems, sewer backups, cracked foundations, structural damage to roofs, walls, and floors, and loss of homeowners insurance coverage. It’s ruining our lives, homes and community,” says Pastor Timothy Williams, who inherited the home from his grandmother.   

His daughter Melissa Williams worries about her bedroom being less than 8 feet from the natural gas pipeline. “It’s very stressful knowing you go to bed every night with a gas pipeline outside your window. My twin sisters also worry about the pipeline. Fifteen year old kids should not be traumatized by a gas pipeline that’s outside their bedroom window. This is not normal,” says Melissa.     

Mr. Willie Horstead Jr., spent 33 years in the Army and came home to Shiloh to retire. His home is now being washed away by floodwaters from the highway.  “People often say thank you for your service .But usually, they don’t mean it.  The best way the government can thank me is to fix the flooding problem and make me and my community whole,” states Mr. Horstead.  

It appears the Shiloh residents’ horrific and painful stories were sufficient to get a commitment from Assistant Secretary Coes to make a “Journey to Justice” visit to the Shiloh community (located just 139miles from his hometown) and see firsthand the flood damage this inferior highway infrastructure project is causing this Black community.  The community leaders made it crystal clear to Assistant Secretary Coes and his team that visiting Shiloh was a good start—but that it was not enough.  They still want to see Secretary Pete Buttigieg visit their historically Black community, the poster child for “highway robbery, ”in the same way they’ve seen him on TV touring White communities hit with flooding.  They want to hear from him how the federal government can help with infrastructure needs to address flooding.  Thus, it is essential for him to see up close how a highway expansion project is drowning a Black community in South Alabama. 

The common theme voiced by USDOT officials at the meeting was, “the wheels of government move slow, and the Shiloh community will just have to wait a little longer.”  The Shiloh community is living proof of theslow pace of government response.  Six years is a long time for any flooded out community to wait for justice.  One must wonder if Shiloh was a rural White community that was constantly flooded by a highway expansion project, would the “wheels of government” make the residents wait for six years? I doubt it. This sounds like one of the titles of Dr. Bullard’s books, The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities (2023). 

The Shiloh leaders were excited to hear Assistant Secretary Coes indicate his office would initiate a “deep dive” investigation of “what went wrong” with the construction of US 84 highway.  He also asked the Bullard Center to assist with identifying other similar highway infrastructure projects that are currently causing flooding problems.  While the Bullard Center agreed to assist with this research, Dr. Bullard and the community leaders insisted the Shiloh case calls for urgent action now.

The community leaders requested an update report on the gas pipeline from the meeting held on January 19, 2023 (prompted by a gas leak on New Year’s Eve2023) with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Alabama Public Service Commission (APSC)and Southeast Alabama Gas District. Shiloh residents want the natural gas pipeline relocated away from their homes and moved closer to US 84 Highway—where it was before the new highway was built. Finally, Assistant Secretary Coes indicated this meeting would not be the last one held with the Shiloh community leaders.  The community leaders and the Bullard Center look forward to working collaboratively with USDOT and its partners in finding solutions to the problems facing the Shiloh residents.   

About the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice

The Robert D. Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University was launched in 2021 to address long standing issues of systemic inequality and structural racism that cause disproportionate pain, suffering and death in Black and other people of color communities. The Bullard Center works to promote environmental, climate, economic, energy, transportation, food and water and health justice. Texas Southern University is a student-centered comprehensive doctoral university committed to ensuring equality, offering innovative programs that are responsive to its urban setting, and transforming diverse students into lifelong learners, engaged citizens, and creative leaders in their local, national, and global communities.