SAN ANTONIO – Members of the League of United Latin American Citizens gathered Wednesday to voice their anger at the San Antonio Housing Authority over Mirasol Homes, once a federally funded project designed to help public housing residents become full fledged homeowners.
A lawsuit over shoddy construction was settled in 2011 among residents, SAHA and home builders.
LULAC members said there are still victims whose voices haven't been heard.
"Today is about the victim. Of how SAHA did not do their job as the public housing agency to make sure these people that were on the lease-to-purchase program got treated fairly," said George Alejos with LULAC.
LULAC members were joined by current and former residents of the West Side neighborhood where those homes were built.
LULAC is asking Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, a former San Antonio Mayor, to open an investigation into the Mirasol Homes and their substandard living conditions.
One of the claims the group has is over contaminated soil that LULAC said is affecting residents' health.
SAHA said it has done several environmental studies on all four Mirasol neighborhoods and has never found any contamination.
"In fact, we hired Metro Health several years ago to meet with residents to see what kind of symptoms they have. They did not find anything that related to the soil condition," said Tim Alcott with SAHA.
HUD approved the demolition of homes in the Blueridge subdivision, the largest of the Mirasol neighborhoods.