In Industrial Southeast Fort Worth, Neighbors Say They've Had Enough Of Air Pollution, Health Issues

Arlington TX

24 March, 2022

3:35 PM

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By Haley Samsel, Fort Worth Report March 23, 2022 When Letitia Wilbourn gives a "toxic tour" of her neighborhood in southeast Fort Worth, she starts in her own backyard. She points to a small grass patch separating her property from a trucking facility on Parker Henderson Road, where echoing rumbles keep her awake and prevent her from sleeping in her master bedroom. Kids from across Echo Heights, where Wilbourn bought a house in 1985, used to spend time in the backyard while Wilbourn – better known as "Tee" to friends and family – cooked hot dogs on the grill. When the trucking facilities arrived, the fumes and noise made that impossible, she said. "I recently ended up calling the police because I thought someone was trying to break into my home," Wilbourn, a retired Tarrant County sheriff's deputy, said. "The trucking company, whatever they did, it gave off a sonic boom, and it actually knocked the stuff off my walls. I thought somebody was breaking into the back door, and it was just the noise behind my home." Just down the road from her home, Wilbourn takes visitors to Prairie Dog Park, where industrial facilities and natural gas drilling surround the green space in the majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood, located just west of Lake Arlington and Loop 820. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.