Reservoir Hill Association issues written complaint against Amtrak

Freda Fanning lives on the 2100 block of Mount Terrace, and her house is over 130 years old.

She says the tunnels will go directly under her home, and she is worried her house may sink.

“I support the city developing, it’s literally affecting our home personally, so I find that problematic," says Freda Fanning.

Another problem neighbors are worried about is the ventilation facility Amtrack is building right across the street from Dorothy Height Elementary School.

“To even propose putting a ventilation facility that would exhaust fumes and bi-products from the tunnels right across the street and not even be transparent or put freight off the table, I think that you know, is a testament to our experience as a community," says Carson Ward, Chairperson for B&P Working Group of the Reservoir Hill Association.

These are some of the reasons the Reservoir Hill Association filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation against Amtrak for what it says is racial injustice.

“We're basing that off of Amtrak’s own words, so they acknowledge that this project is going to have a disproportionate impact on black and low-income communities and that we are going to get very little benefit in comparison to how much they are spending on this project and how much they plan to gain over the generations," says Keondra Prier, President of Reservoir Hill Association.

David McClain, who lives in Reservoir Hill, says he is glad they are bringing attention to a problem he says he sees.

“I believe they thought that no one would say anything or that they could smooth things over with you know, saying the words fifty million dollars a bunch of times," he says.

People who spoke to WMAR-2 News say they hope the project won’t be like the "Highway to Nowhere", displacing another black community.

“This project really sets the tone for how all other projects will happen moving forward; we don’t want to continue to see this kind of highway transformational infrastructure projects coming through predominantly black low-income minorities, repeating the past sins, past racist sins of our country," says Ward.

The neighbors also say they're hoping Amtrak will rethink the location of the ventilation facility and not place it right next to the school.

WMAR-2 News reached out to the U.S. Department of Transportation for comment on the written complaint.

The department says it does not comment on pending litigation.

Amtrak is hosting two community meetings for people to give their feedback.

The first is a virtual meeting on Monday, May 6 and the second is an in-person meeting on Wednesday, May 8 at Mount Royal Elementary School at 6 p.m.