Alabama will take steps to limit flooding of predominantly-Black community following federal civil rights investigation
More than two years after residents of the historically Black Shiloh community in rural Alabama filed a civil rights complaint accusing a highway project of causing frequent flooding in their neighborhood, the federal government has reached an agreement with state officials requiring improved drainage in the area.
"It's a good start, but it's not enough," Timothy Williams, one of the community members who submitted the complaint to the Federal Highway Administration, told ABC News on Monday.
As part of the agreement, the administration will oversee the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) as it makes adjustments to the infrastructure near U.S. Highway 84.
"The agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to build a drainage project is a first step toward addressing broader needs of the community," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
"In addition to monitoring the state's progress on project construction, the U.S. Department of Transportation will continue to provide technical assistance, coordinate with our federal partners, and urge Congress as well as state and local governments to act to unlock further resources to help make the Shiloh community whole," Buttigieg added.
Shiloh residents said since the highway was widened from two to four lanes alongside their community in 2018, runoff has flooded their properties nearly every time it rains. The highway project was part of an effort intended to improve the South's economy, but for the people of Shiloh, they said it brought more problems than it solved.
"Homes are sinking. Houses are cracking," Williams said, saying that residents fear the property damage will wipe out generational wealth. "It has damaged the Shiloh community. We've been put in a bowl and it has damaged everything over here."
An ABC News investigation uncovered electronic diary entries showing that ALDOT was aware of residents' concerns as early as 2018, but the flooding persisted.
Records obtained by ABC News showed that through settlements with individual homeowners in 2020, the agency paid three Shiloh residents $5,000 or less each and placed restrictive covenants on their property deeds that "absolutely release, remise, acquit and forever discharge" ALDOT from responsibility for flood damage. The restrictive covenants remain in place.
In April, after Shiloh residents traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with USDOT executives, Buttigieg visited Shiloh to see the community firsthand.
While in Shiloh, Buttigieg told ABC News Senior National Correspondent Steve Osunsami that USDOT had "a significant and substantial concern about the impact of the highway on this community and about what members of this community are going through."
The agreement requires ALDOT "to construct infrastructure to mitigate the stormwater runoff," but it does not hold the state responsible for the flooding in Shiloh or require it to further compensate residents for damages they say have already occurred. The state maintains it did not violate residents' civil rights.
"ALDOT is pleased with this agreement and appreciates the hard work and leadership of the Federal Highway Administration," the agency said in a statement. "We look forward to working with our federal partner to implement the planned improvements."
Williams says the agreement does not address what he believes was the state's culpability in its design of the highway project. To him, mitigating the flooding without acknowledging its cause seems illogical: "If you don't admit wrongdoing, why are you out here fixing the drainage?" Williams asked.
Dr. Robert Bullard, a Shiloh-area native who some call "the father of environmental justice" for his pioneering research, believes ALDOT discriminated against the Shiloh community in its highway project design.
"Martians didn't do it. ALDOT did it," Bullard told ABC News. "There's a lot of fault that needs to be acknowledged."
To Shiloh residents, the agreement represents another instance of ALDOT dodging accountability for the flooding of their community. But the state insists it intended to address the community's concerns from the beginning.
"Early on, ALDOT showed its commitment by hiring an engineering firm to study the issues and look at options," the agency's statement said. "We are encouraged that the Federal Highway Administration recognizes ALDOT's commitment to resolving the concerns expressed by the Shiloh Community."
The Federal Highway Administration launched its investigation in 2022. The department aims to conclude civil rights investigations in 180 days, according to its website, but this case stretched on more than four times that long. During that time, Shiloh residents said the flooding continued to destroy their community.
The administration said that over the last two years, it has reviewed around 4,000 pages of documents, conducted multiple interviews, and extensive negotiations. But Shiloh leaders said the outcome is insufficient.
Williams sent a letter and petition to Buttigieg on Monday seeking the creation of a recovery fund "that would be used to make the affected Shiloh residents whole."
"The community wants to see a real comprehensive autopsy on what went wrong," Bullard said, "so they can ensure that what happened in Shiloh doesn't happen in any other community like Shiloh again."
