[Music] Male VO It really borderlines something almost inhumane. Why would you want to harm other human beings this way? When it comes down to number one, we're not at the table. Female VO The community's been lied to so many times. Another accident will happen. It will happen. [Music] Reggie Horton The plant's four units were built in years around 1960, '63, '68, and '76, I believe. And it probably was initially selected to be close to the demand, which was downtown for this power plant. Marcos DeLeon So if it's serving somebody else, then we have to carry the burden? We have to be sacrificed so someone else's electricity can be turned on? So someone else can have a nice air conditioning? So someone else can have a party back in their backyard? Susana Almanza The power plant had no business being in a residential area. And so we're really pushing forward the whole issue of environmental racism; of putting unwanted industry next to people of color communities. Raul Alvarez I feel that that was an ill-advised decision, I guess, to have located it in a residential area. Cuz it was a long time ago when maybe there wasn't as much public scrutiny, or political clout, that East Austin had. Susana Almanza The community was already established in that particular area and they put up the power plant without any regard to the community. Matter of fact, most of the community weren't even given notice that the power plant was coming in; they just saw something going up. So this power plant could have been put anywhere up and down the river. Reggie Horton Alright, I'm Reggie Horton, plant manager of Holly Street Power Plant. Holly Street Power Plant is a six-hundred megawatt generated station, employing about fifty-three employees. [Loud hum of machines] Reggie Horton Our only fuel is natural gas, and we can generate as little as twenty megawatts, up to a full six-hundred megawatts. So it's a very versatile power plant. So the operators interface now via the keyboard, and also the touchscreens. This is the highest level of organization of how you can control a power plant. You build a new one today, you have the same types of controls. [Loud hum of machines] Reggie Horton We're a lot more in the spotlight than the other two power plants. Events that occur here and make the news, could occur at other plants and nobody would ever know about it. [Traditional Mexican music] Male in blue I've been wanting them to close the power plant for years. And I'm sure the community as a whole would like to see them moved, and the power plant closed and turned into part of the recreation center. Female on microphone We're getting ready to play Bingo! Come on everybody, let's play Bingo! [In Spanish] Male in white The thing is, everywhere you go, they got something that people don't want. And, we got to live with it. That plant over there doesn't bother me, I live on second street. [Laughing] Woman in cap It sounded like-you know when you put air in your tires? And you let it go and it goes psst, like that? Okay, except but twice. I mean really, really, really loud. Man in blue If it wasn't detrimental to the health of the citizens, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I've lived in this neighborhood all my life and we've never had a problem with it, until they started having chemical leaks and the fires there. [Music] Reggie Horton On October 31st of 2001, we had a fire event initiated from a breaker. Susana Almanza This last fire that happened on Halloween night; you had all the children-I mean, everybody was out. And then the smoke and the smell was all over the city, especially there in the community, and no one really knew what to do. Woman in stripes That was very scary; especially that some of the residents were not notified right away. Reggie Horton The smell was from wood burning. It was plywood that generated all of the smoke that the people smelled. That would not have imposed a hazard to the neighborhood. It's essentially no more than a house fire. No more than like the roof of a house that has plywood on it burning. Marcos DeLeon There's all kinds of fears for the community there. Smoke was bellowing. Kids were walking into the smoke. There was no security planned. There was no evacuation planned. There was nothing telling people to go stay in their homes, or go to the center, which was in throwing arms of the Holly Power Plant. Susana Almanza It was the community that called the fire station, and not the power plant officials. Reggie Horton At the time, it was a small brick fire, and the plant employees here were in the process of trying to extinguish it. Someone initially called the fire department because they smelled gas. Four units were on their way to the Holly Plant. So there. The fire department had been called. Which meant there was no reason for us to call them again, because they were already on their way. Susana Almanza They had done a really poor job, and the series of testing that they should have done, they really didn't do. So they really couldn't say it hadn't caused any harm, because they hadn't tested for those particular things. [Piano music] Raul Alvarez The predominant view on the city council, if not the consensus view, is that we need to shut that plant down. In the next couple of years, there will be other opportunities that present themselves that could really bring that date up closer to 2005. It's the original promise made to the neighborhood. Susana Almanza I'm hoping that that is so, because the community's not going anywhere. Woman in stripes When it's across I-35, it seems like anything goes. Well, we have news for them. No, not everything goes here. And we do care, and we have pride here in East Austin. We feel strongly that these have not been met by the higher ups-I mean, the decision-making people. They just seem not to care, for whatever reason. [Piano music]