Proposed desalination development near a Northside Corpus Christi neighborhood has come under new fire on the heels of city officials taking their most significant steps to finance and construct the facility.

The local chapter of the NAACP recently weighed in, taking an official position on the project, proposed for construction on a 17-acre tract of land off the ship channel and adjacent to the historically Black Hillcrest neighborhood.

In it, the NAACP calls for “immediate action and response from City of Corpus Christi and its elected Council Members to halt such construction of any desalination plant.”

“Many environmental health hazards are located disproportionately in communities of color as a result of outdated and ineffective policies and the NAACP stands firm against the environmental impact of the  desalination plant being constructed within a radius of residential homes, specifically the Hillcrest, Washington, Coles community,” it states.

Read by Jeremy Coleman – Corpus Christi’s NAACP president – before the City Council last week, the organization urged “community input, city investments in local communities, and clear data metrics regarding the environmental impact to ensure accountability across the city of Corpus Christi,” the document shows.

The resolution has “been in discussion for several months, almost a year,” Coleman wrote in a message to the Caller-Times on Tuesday.

The local organization, like other chapters, is “governed by a National Board of Directors and President/CEO who set the policy on all activism, policies, responses and positions on human rights and civil rights matters,” he added, writing that it was important to have a full understanding of the national office’s position of environmental justice prior to issuing the resolution.

Opposition and approval

The proposed plant has been the source of rising scrutiny in the lead-up to city officials’ giving the go-ahead for new financing to back construction of the proposed 30-million-gallons-per-day plant.

Anticipation of a final decision to continue with development brought about 50 people last month to testify in sometimes in emotional appeals.

Opposition has included environmental questions, scrutiny of increased cost estimates – some saying it would be better for the city to invest in the existing aging infrastructure – and the concerns of how a desalination plant could impact Hillcrest and its residents.

Proponents have said environmental aspects have been studied and addressed and that desalination is the most cost-effective option in shoring up the region’s current and expected commercial and residential growth.

City data shows that as of Tuesday, the combined capacity of the city’s two main water supply sources – Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi – stood at 31.3%, what is considered Stage 1 drought. Stage 2 drought begins when the combined capacity drops below 30%.

Comparatively, the combined capacity was 30.8% one month ago, and 42.3% one year ago, according to records.

In 2019, the project was estimated to cost about $220 million.

It is now estimated that plant construction will run about $541.5 million, with about $216 million in additional ancillary costs not included within the scope of the original plans, such as development of infrastructure needed to deliver the water to the city’s distribution system.

The price jump is a result of inflation, city officials have said – the original estimate was calculated about five years ago and based on 2019 pricing – as well as increased capacity, from what was initially planned as a 20-million-gallons-of-water-per day facility to one capable of producing 30 million gallons of water per day.

In their recent split vote, the City Council authorized the acceptance of a $211 million low-interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board and pursuit of a new $535 million low-interest loan through same state program.

The prevailing vote also allows spending about $3.1 million for a power substation to supply the plant with electricity, as well as applying for a federal grant that may go toward as much as $180 million in development costs.

Communications

In a message to the Caller-Times on Friday, City Manager Peter Zanoni wrote that the NAACP’s resolution “demonstrates what the City and our consultant teams already are aware of and aggressively working on — that is, we need to do a better job communicating to the region what seawater desalination is and what it is not.”

Videos and PowerPoint presentations are being put together related to the Corpus Christi Water division, desalination and Hillcrest, he added in a message Tuesday.

The chemicals used will be the same as the water agents used at the existing O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant – approved by state and regulatory agencies as safe – he wrote.

Zanoni added that the plant wouldn’t pose environmental health hazards, noise would be mitigated, and “while on the edge of the Hillcrest subdivision, its location is not immediately near homes, and only a few homes remain within sight of the desalination plant site due to the recent voluntary home buyout program.”

“We look forward to working with the NAACP and Hillcrest community in the coming days to provide accurate information and dispel misunderstandings that may exist today,” Zanoni wrote, later adding that the city planned to schedule a briefing with the local chapter and hear concerns.

City officials have generally said that the location was selected, in part, “because of its immediate proximity to the residents and larger community of Corpus Christi.”

City officials are working on an artistic rendering that will show what the plant could potentially look like, said Corpus Christi Water COO Drew Molly.

Ensuring the plant’s exterior would have good aesthetics is important, he added.

What would be immediately visible would be a water storage tank and office buildings, said Water Resources Manager Esteban Ramos.

Among its community outreach efforts, the city is planning a presentation on the project before the United Corpus Christi Chamber Infrastructure and Mobility Committee at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Regional Transportation Authority, 602 N. Staples St., according to a flier.

Registration is available online at www.unitedcorpuschristi.org.

Federal complaint

In response to a formal complaint, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development opened an investigation last year into whether the city’s plans comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

A conclusion has not yet been reached.

Erin Gaines – an attorney with the nonprofit Earthjustice who has represented the Hillcrest Residents Association in the HUD complaint – said the environmental law group has been keeping HUD up to date on the city’s recent actions, she said.

“HUD has the authority and should put a hold on the city’s actions moving forward with the plant,” Gaines said.

It’s similar to how the Federal Highway Administration put the new Harbor Bridge project on hold pending resolution of a separate Civil Rights complaint several years ago, she added.

More: A neighborhood’s message to the city of Corpus Christi: ‘Hillcrest will not yield.’

More: Corpus Christi is moving forward with its desalination project. Here’s what’s next.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi NAACP demands halt to city plans for desalination