LUBBOCK, Texas — Various agencies along with residents of the East and North sides of Lubbock are filling a complaint against the city of Lubbock reporting discrimination, according to a press release from Texas Housers.

Residents along with the Lubbock branch of the NAACP, Texas Housers and Texas Appleseed filed a HUD fair housing complaint state the city ignored repeated environmental concerns from residents in the area of heavy industrial equipment, according to the press release.

The complaint is calling on the city to “address the discriminatory and unfair zoning practices that have led to their neighborhoods being overburdened by environmental hazards and nuisance conditions.”

The complaint says these discriminatory acts have been going on for almost 100 years.

The residents affected feel the heavy concentration of industrial equipment near their neighborhoods have led to health problems along with a hindered quality of life and lack of interest from commercial developers.

The press release from Texas Housing states residents in the affected area have educated themselves with the help of Texas Housers about the history of segregation in Lubbock and various other patterns.

The Fair Housing Complaint reports the black and Hispanic residents of various neighborhoods on the East and North side of Lubbock feel discriminated against due to the city’s comprehensive plan to concentrate industrial zoning in and around these specific neighborhoods.

The complaint states chemicals released from these factories produce cancerous fumes and cause adverse environment effects.

Residents that live on Chatman Hill, which is adjacent to a cotton oil mill, are subjected to unpleasant fumes, oily film that collects on car windows, clogged air conditioning systems and an annual infestation of boll weevils that are attracted to cotton seed, the complaint reports.

Along with negative health and environmental effects, these conditions also cause a reduction in the affected residents’ property value, according to the complaint.

An ordinance was passed in December 2018, but the complaint reports the most recent comprehensive land use plan (Plan 2040) will have the same “discriminatory and disproportionate impact on citizens of color and is a continuation of the City’s past discriminatory practices,” the complaint reports.