Tank Farm: Organizing for Justice

With Austin’s rapid growth triggering many parts of East Austin to undergo redevelopment, including a Planned Unit Development (PUD) project proposed on the site of the former East Austin petroleum storage tank farm, it is essential that we understand the legacy of environmental injustice and racism that is the history of this location.

In 1928, Austin created a Master Plan that displaced and racially segregated Black and Hispanic/Latinx residents east of what is today Interstate 35 or outside of the city limits. This process, called redlining, intentionally allowed harmful industrial facilities to develop where Black and Hispanic/Latinx Austinites made their homes. For decades, the East Austin community was forced to live in polluted and hazardous environments with limited access to basic infrastructure such as utilities and public schools. Due to these racist policies and practices, industries such as the tank farm were able to exist along residential areas.   

The tank farm developed as a petroleum product storage facility in what used to be a pecan grove in East Austin in 1948. Over time, the tank farm expanded until it grew into a 52-acre industrial site at Springdale Road and Airport Boulevard. The site was operated by six co-located major oil companies: Chevron, Star Enterprise, Citgo, Coastal States, Exxon, and Mobil. Together, they housed more than 10 million gallons of toxic fuel, most of the fuel for the Austin area, in above-ground storage tanks adjacent to residential homes and within one mile of seven schools (1).  

For decades, residents who lived near the tank farms experienced acute and chronic health issues including headaches, nosebleeds, rashes, stomach illnesses, asthma, skin lesions, lung disease, cancer, and other ailments that were thought to be linked to air, water, and soil contamination originating from the tank farm (2). 

In 1991, two East Austin grassroots organizations joined together to advocate for the shutdown and removal of the tank farm. The East Austin Strategy Team (EAST), chaired by Ron Davis, was an umbrella of neighborhood associations formed by Black residents from East Austin. EAST had worked on environmental, economic, and social justice issues since the 1980s, including noise and safety concerns with the Mueller Airport, creating more stringent controls on companies receiving property tax abatements, and more environmental controls and hazardous waste reporting for high-tech companies in East Austin (3).  

People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER), co-chaired by Sylvia Herrera, Susana Almanza, and Antonio Diaz, was a newly-formed social justice non-profit organization focused on increasing East Austin residents’ participation in corporate and government decisions. According to Almanza, “PODER worked to redefine what environment was”, and “the environment is where people live, work, play, and pray.” PODER’s mission views environmental issues as economic and social justice issues, and addresses these issues through education, advocacy, and action” (4). Together, EAST and PODER launched a campaign to shut down and relocate the tank farm.  

In December 1991, Sylvia Herrera saw a public notice in the newspaper announcing that Mobil Oil had applied for a permit from the Texas Air Control Board to expand one of their facilities and that air emissions of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, would increase (5). 

PODER began to research the tank farm records at the Texas Air Control Board and found that the health department also had concerns about the impacts of Mobil’s expansion on nearby neighbors and the impacts from the harmful chemicals on the site.  

PODER and EAST began meeting with the community and lobbying local, state, and federal government agencies to take action. They asked the Air Control Board to complete a comprehensive study on the cumulative air emissions from the six sites (6).  

State regulatory agencies started examining the complaints and conducted soil and groundwater testing. Texas State Water Commission investigators found underground water and soil contamination had spread from beneath the tank farm and contaminated 71 of the 116 water wells tested in the area. The water quality sampling at one fuel site showed concentrations of a cancer-causing chemical 720 times higher than the federally acceptable level (7). 

On February 10, 1992, PODER partnered with the neighboring residents and other organizations including EAST and sponsored a “Toxic Tour” to bring attention to the suffering experienced by the neighbors adjacent to the tank farm. It was attended by residents and invited state and local government politicians, including state representatives Gonzalo Barrientos and Glen Maxey, and Travis County Commissioners Bill Aleshire and Marcos DeLeon.  

The Toxic Tours were extremely successful in bringing attention to the problem and galvanizing support from mainstream environmental groups that were predominately white and primarily focused on issues in West Austin, like protecting Barton Creek, Barton Springs, and the Edwards Aquifer. It was a significant moment for environmental activism in the Austin. However, it was very important to East Austin Leaders such as PODER to motivate the East Austin community to speak for themselves so they could tackle these problems on their own (8).   

State representatives Gonzalo Barrientos and Glen Maxey also became vocal proponents of shutting down the tank farm. They advised the Texas Air Control Board and Texas Water Commission to do testing, and Maxey helped the community to establish a 25-member Tank Farm Citizen Monitoring Committee that was charged with overseeing the county and state agencies that were investigating the tank farm (9). 

The Citizen Monitoring Committee was an important tool that uniquely flipped the usual dynamic between residents and government agencies, because the agencies were required to come to the community and give regular updates on the investigation of the tank farm rather than requiring the community to come to government (10).  

In March, it was reported that the Texas Water Commission repeatedly failed to notify the public about groundwater contamination at the tank farm four years earlier, despite state laws requiring disclosure (11). The levels of groundwater pollution indicated that the actual number of spills was higher than the number officially reported by the oil companies. Exxon had been cited for failing to conduct leak checks on pipes and valves for nearly five years, and for exceeding air emissions limits on storage tanks. State regulators said it would take years to repair the environmental damage to soil and water (12).  

Amid the investigations into pollution and contamination, the Travis County Central Appraisal District devalued more than 600 homes near the tank farm. Many property values dropped by 50 percent or more, exacerbating the impacts of the industrial zoning already imposed on these neighborhoods that prevented them from financing improvements to their homes (13).  

In April 1992, an estimated 250 East Austin residents brought their concerns about the tank farm to the Austin City Council and pleaded for the shutdown of the tank farm. However, the City Council did not take any formal action (14).  

The Austin American Statesman conducted surveys of more than 300 households within 3,000 feet of the tank farm. State medical records and survey results showed that people living in the area were experiencing higher rates of illnesses that were consistent with exposure to components in the fuel stored at the tank farm site (15).

Travis County Attorney Ken Oden, familiar with the area from his early work as a local beer company delivery driver, noted that many local officials were unwilling to take on six of the biggest oil companies in the world because they felt the fight was unwinnable. Oden was willing to fight and lose, instead of not fighting at all, and partnered with the East Austin activists by announcing an investigation into criminal and civil violations at the tank farm. County Commissioners approved $250,000 for experts to help Oden.  

East Austin community leaders continued to bring attention to the case by rallying outside of the tank farm and demanding that the tank farm to be closed, the contamination be cleaned up, a health clinic opened, a study on the health effects conducted, and that residents be compensated for their devalued homes (16). 

By the end of May, four of the six oil companies were proposing cleanup plans for the tank farm (17). 

On May 29th, the Texas Department of Health released a report on the health effects of the tank farm on nearby residents. The report drew criticism for inadequate information and downplaying the risks (18). Although the report said that exposure to gasoline vapors had “likely occurred,” it concluded that the risk of cancer was no higher than normal for the people living close to the tanks. The Department of Health claimed they had not detected air contaminant concentrations above normal. The report was sent to federal health officials for review. The Citizens Monitoring Committee and other environmental organizations found “serious scientific problems with those results” and called for more air quality testing around the tank farms (19).  

After the release of the Texas Department of Health report, five of the six oil companies launched a media campaign alleging that the report said there was no link between the tank farm and the health concerns of local residents. Although the Texas Department of Health stated that these claims were untrue, the oil companies persisted (20). 

In June, the Texas Air Control Board, chaired at the time by future Austin Mayor and State Senator Kirk Watson, approved an agreement with the oil companies to reduce tank farm fumes by more than 60 percent. Dr. Winston Warr, Travis County's public health chief, recommended that the storage facility be moved and that its location was "an unacceptable health risk." This was the first time that a state or local government official had stated a link between the complaints and the tank farm (21). 

At the same time that people were organizing to address acutely toxic pollution in East Austin, long-time environmental activists were protesting the Barton Creek PUD two years earlier at the famous “all-night” Austin City Council. In 1992, the citizen initiative of the Save Our Springs Ordinance was adopted. While the story of the opposition to the Barton Creek PUD preventing degradation of Barton Springs lives on in the legacy of the Save Our Springs Ordinance, the story of the tank farm and the decades of contamination to East Austin neighborhoods is less well known. 

Yet, the disparity between environmental protection in East and West Austin was stark. “There is a buffer zone when it comes to building in the Edwards Aquifer Zone or near Barton Creek, but there is no buffer zone to protect people against pollution,” said Susana Almanza (22).  

In August, Chevron announced that it would be closing its terminal.  

In September, Coastal States, Star Enterprise, and Mobil announced plans to close their terminals (23). Citgo also announced its shutdown later that month after failing an emissions test for equipment that collects and burns harmful fuel vapors, required by the Air Control Board in June. The companies agreed to leave by January 1, 1995 (24).

The last holdout was Exxon. 

That same month, the Texas Air Control Board proposed a $19,000 fine against Exxon for pollution violations at its fuel terminal. The proposed fine was criticized by the Citizens Monitoring Committee for being too low. Travis County Attorney Ken Oden asked the agency not to approve the fine, because it could prevent them from taking more meaningful enforcement action in the county’s investigation. The agency had been accused of letting oil companies off the hook and playing politics after the Texas Air Control Board dropped Citgo’s fine for pollution violations after Citgo decided to close their facility (25).  

Grand jury subpoenas seeking Exxon’s tank farm records were then served to advance the county’s investigation (26).   

Despite warnings that moving forward could negatively impact the grand jury investigation, the Texas Air Control Board voted to proceed with the $19,000 penalty against Exxon. To protect the investigation, Travis County Attorney Ken Oden filed suit against Exxon, seeking a court order for pollution violations with a penalty of $25,000 a day for each violation of the Clean Air Act (27). 

After months of inaction and reports of mishandling of data and withheld information, the Citizens Monitoring Committee demanded an investigation into the Texas Air Control Board. According to Chris Fanuel, EAST member and co-chair of the committee, “[t]ime after time, we have been misled by an agency of this state, whose obligation it is to protect the citizens from hazards in the air they breathe…The citizens of this state – whether rich or poor, black, white, brown, blue or green – must be assured that neither their health nor safety will be compromised” (28).

In response, the Texas Air Control Board established a task force to study changes in state regulation of nuisance odors in an effort to “...provide enforcement that is more efficient, more effective, and more equitable.” The task force consisted of residents, lawmakers, government officials, air experts, representatives of industry, and environmental groups (29).

Meanwhile, activists continued to put pressure on Exxon's refusal to move by starting a local boycott of its products (30).   

In December, the Texas Air Control Board also established an Enforcement Council to oversee high-profile cases and explore opportunities for improving enforcement management and policies, such as the East Austin tank farm case (31).   

That same month, the Texas Air Control Board and the Texas Water Commission established another task force to address environmental racism issues and pollution problems across the state. Among the 17-member task force were Austin City Council Member Gus Garcia and Antonio Diaz, one of PODER’s co-founders, was appointed to chair the panel (32).  

On February 18, 1993, Exxon, the largest of the six oil companies operating in the tank farm, agreed to close its East Austin gasoline terminal. In that agreement, Exxon paid $19,000 for violations as part of the lawsuit brought by Travis County Attorney Ken Oden. The agreement put an end to a months-long fight by community activists to shut down the last holdout. 

After the closure of the tank farm, it was found that pollutants and carcinogens had seeped 15 feet into the ground and migrated beneath Govalle Park and Boggy Creek. Soil analyses showed that benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, and MTBE, a carcinogen, migrated through the water table beneath the adjacent neighborhood. Despite these facts, the State did not require an immediate cleanup (33). 

Although the oil companies started dismantling the tank farm in 1992, it took many years for them to clean up the contamination around the site, and many more years of work from the East Austin community and local and state monitoring before the oil companies reached the cleaning requirements. 

The civil suit involving the more than 170 residents, whose homes were devalued because of contamination from the tank farm was not settled until 1996, and the City was the last plaintiff to settle in 1997 (34).  

In December of 2008, 15 years after the facility closed, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality declared that the oil companies had finished the cleanup requirements on the tank farm site.  

Some pollution remains on the tank farm property because the state does not require the companies to remove it all. State law sets two standards for such cleanups—the higher standard would require them to remove all of the pollutants to allow residential use on the property.  Alternatively, property owners can apply deed restrictions to prevent any future residential use on their contaminated property as a method to prevent future exposure in lieu of actually removing contamination. 

The tank farm oil companies mostly chose the lower standard, allowing the companies to leave more pollution on the site as long as the remaining chemicals would not migrate onto surrounding properties. This standard limits the property to non-residential uses only.   

Even after decades of clean up to the tank farm site itself, State regulations will not allow any future residential uses there because of the persistent levels of contamination. The Springdale Green PUD commercial redevelopment on the site marks a significant milestone in the journey of this site. 

The success of PODER and EAST is an exceptional environmental justice story of grassroots opposition successfully defeating global corporations. However, the circumstances in which Black and Hispanic/Latinx people were forced into a neighborhood that was zoned industrial, where such a polluting facility was allowed to be constructed next to residential homes, and where so few local officials were willing to stand up for the rights of people and the environment must never be forgotten.  We must remember our past, and avoid repeating our mistakes created through decades of city planning that systematically reinforced unequitable outcomes for people of color.  

Dedicated to the Memory of those Lost to the legacy of the Tank Farm, and special dedication to EAST founder and Travis County Commissioner Ron Davis (1946-2021).