West Siders for Environmental Justice

Southport is not just storage yards, chemical labs, and processing facilities. It’s a West Side neighborhood, home to families, students, and churchgoers who care deeply about each other and the place they live.

But right now, residents feel isolated and trapped by the conditions created by industrial activity — including hazardous air causing repeated doctors visits, vibrations cracking home foundations, noxious smells and noise consistently disrupting the peace, and train and semi-truck traffic blocking access in and out of the neighborhood for prolonged periods.

Southport is noisy, isolated, and neglected.

Southport is full of air pollution, dirt, and traffic jams.

Southport is my home, but also my greatest fear, because I constantly worry about the health of my kids.

On the West Side, we know that when we come together to amplify our voices, we can influence the decisions that shape our neighborhoods. So in 2025, Southport neighbors started meeting to share their experiences and build a powerful campaign to address their concerns. In just a short amount of time, the campaign has already secured new, active air quality monitors, distributed safety and emergency equipment to area residents and laid out an actionable, community-led plan for change.

Join Southport leaders in creating the neighborhood they dream of and deserve:

Southport is a safe, healthy, breathable, prioritized, and stress free.

Southport is a beautiful place to live.

Southport is a place of sanctuary.

Current Campaign: Southport

For decades, West Side neighbors have been mobilizing against environmental harms and public health hazards surrounding the Southport Industrial District. Now home to 15 private companies, the 99-acre industrial area was built on the West Side Flats after the City of Saint Paul forced dozens of families to move from their homes — destroying a diverse, vibrant neighborhood to make way for private profit.

Since the 1970s, traffic in and out of Southport has steadily increased — trucks, barges, major highway, and rail all converging on a neighborhood that is also home to families, a school, and a church. Over the years, neighbors have come together to win important campaigns, blocking an asphalt plant, stopping a car shredding facility and advocating for the planting of more trees.

Building on that legacy, in 2025, neighborhood leaders began organizing with WSCO, coming together week after week to discuss serious concerns about air pollution, backed-up traffic, noxious smells, disruptive noise and more. In 2026, Southport leaders will continue to build their power by pressing city leaders to advance key policies like a dust, odor and noise mitigation ordinance and provide input on a federal study to create a safe way out when trains are blocking the road that exits the neighborhood.

Learn more in "Neighbors leading campaign for safe and healthy Southport"

Community Concerns

Now is the time to end the cycle of displacement and harm on the Flats and build a future that puts people above profit: To create the Southport Industrial District, the city forcibly displaced dozens of families in the 1960s, destroying and paving over a vibrant, diverse neighborhood. We’ve made progress securing resources for West Siders whose families were displaced — now we need to make sure this injustice ends for future generations by ensuring a safe environment for all.

"Our home has a lot of history. It’s the house my husband grew up in. So my father in law has been battling with these companies for over 35 years. And now we've taken it on." -Katie G

From the bluffs to the flats, all West Side residents deserve clean air: Across the West Side, our kids should be able to play in the yard and our elders should be able to walk to the store. But right now, Southport neighbors are breathing air that state agencies agree is hazardous — and the zip code has asthma rates that are twice as high as that of the city and state. This not only endangers our health but strains our household budgets with recurring urgent care visits and treatment for potentially terminal diagnoses.

"Back in 2022, I noticed I started getting more migraines when we moved here. I have three kids and I’ve been having to take one of my boys to urgent care more often, which is pricey. And, my second oldest has asthma—and the environment affects him a lot—so we always have to give him nebulizers and take him to the doctor.” -Jazzalyn B

"I don't have any peace of mind sending my children outside to play, and I have two little boys that should be outside all day. When they are outside, I'm scared, I'm angry, I'm stressed out, thinking ‘What's going to potentially happen to them in the future because of this environment?’” -Katie G

Our tax dollars pay for basic infrastructure and our streets should be for the people who live here first and foremost—not the corporations that extract profit from the industrial district: From saving lives in a medical emergency to protecting property from a fire, every Saint Paul resident pays for and needs access to services like ambulances and fire fighters. But right now, a constant stream of semi-trucks makes our roads unsafe for people and families walking and biking — and Southport residents can be cut off for hours when massive traffic jam and long trains block access to the roads in and out of their neighborhood.

“I don't have a place to walk and clear my head without having to put something in my ears, which is really hard. And how do I teach my kids to bike? I can't.” -Phil H

“I was on my way back home from dropping off diapers to my son’s daycare and Concord was backed up because of a train passing. I was surrounded in all four directions with massive semi trucks. There was no way to get around them so I’m stuck there with toxic fumes coming into my car. At least 45 minutes passed and we were all in the same spot. I was furious. I don’t live even 5 minutes away and I had no idea when I would make it home. Time went on. An hour and 25 minutes. 2 hours. I was beyond furious. I moved my car to the shoulder of the exit on Concord, and I walked myself home.” -Samantha S

Our homes are sanctuaries for our families and no company should have the right to compromise our peace or devalue our property: When we save up to buy a home, we’re investing in more than a roof over our heads. We’re creating a safe and precious space for our families, and cultivating property that can build up generational wealth and be passed down to our kin. But right now, Southport residents are bombarded with noise and vibrations from frequent trains and giant trucks that are cracking foundations, eroding backyards and compromising the equity we pour into our homes.

"Typically, our homes are shaking. The windows are rattling. I am in a completely different area of my home, and I can hear glasses in my kitchen cabinet rattling and clinking together. You can't open your windows because it fills your home with dust and the odor of whatever's burning." -Katie G

Call for Accountability and Action

When corporations impact our communities, they must correct and compensate residents for their harm. For too long, corporations have taken little or no responsibility for the pollution they put in our air or the disruptions they cause in our daily lives. It’s been nearly 10 years since the release of the Southport Industrial District Study, documenting hazards and recommending actions.

We know the solutions; we need stakeholders to listen to our lived experience and take action.

“We want a better quality of life. We want people to be held accountable. And, in a perfect world, we don't want these industries here, to be honest. In a perfect world, we would want that turned into something else as community based.” -Jazzalyn B

"Environmental justice means living in a neighborhood where we can gather outside as a community, breathing fresh air, having BBQs, and walking together to the river. It means spending long days with family in my backyard full of laughter and without fear of pollution. It means quiet nights in my hammock with my dogs playing in the yard and the only sound I hear is the wind." -Chloe K

When neighborhoods become unsafe because of pollutants, the burden should be on the polluter to reverse the harm, not on the community to move out of harm's way. This is an environmental justice issue that goes far beyond a single neighborhood — this impacts all of the West Side and Saint Paul, too. Together we can set a new vision for the future of our community! Get involved by taking our Pledge for Environmental Justice on the West Side!

West Side Community Organization