#Downwinders #AtomicContamination #CancerCluster
They had a fairytale American childhood - but was radiation slowly killing them?
Some residents of Houston’s Fifth Ward, where there is ongoing soil and water testing for cancer-causing toxic chemicals, now have the opportunity to get free cancer screenings as part of a collaboration between city leaders and a nonprofit.
#CityOfHouston #EnergyEnvironment #EnvironmentalJustice #HealthScience #Houston #Local #News #CancerCluster #CancerStageShiftingInitiative #CouncilMemberLetitiaPlummer #Creosote #HoustonSFifthWard #NationalMinorityQualityForum
The cancer screening initiative comes weeks after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its first round of soil testing results from the area, which found elevated levels of highly toxic chemical compounds at some locations.
The results of the first round of residential soil sampling in Houston's Fifth Ward have been released, and the EPA will be holding office hours Wednesday through Saturday for residents to discuss their results.
#EnergyEnvironment #HealthScience #Houston #Local #News #CancerCluster #Creosote #Dioxins #Epa #FifthWard #UnionPacific
This Wednesday through Saturday, the EPA will be holding “open office hours” for residents to discuss the soil testing results from their private properties, which are being sent to them by mail.
A large swath of East Harris County along the San Jacinto River -- where toxic waste was identified more than a decade ago -- was found to have 'significantly greater' instances of some types of cancer compared to the state average.
#EnergyEnvironment #HarrisCounty #HealthScience #Houston #Local #News #Texas #CancerCluster #EastHarrisCounty #SanJacintoRiver #SanJacintoRiverWastePits #SanJacintoRiverWastePitsSuperfund #TexasDepartmentOfStateHealthServices
The Texas Department of State Health Services, at the request of the nonprofit Texas Health and Environmental Alliance, studied cancer rates in a 65-census-tract area in the floodplain surrounding the San Jacinto River, both upstream and downstream of toxic waste pits. Instances of leukemia were more than three times the state average, according to the study, which examined the period between 2013-21.
As the Trump Administration makes federal budget cuts and reportedly considers firing more than 1,000 EPA employees, there are concerns about what that could mean for a contaminated railyard site in Houston.
#EnergyEnvironment #Houston #Local #National #News #CancerCluster #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #Epa #FifthWard #KashmereGardens #UnionPacificRailroad
In 2023, the EPA directed Union Pacific Railroad to begin conducting investigations throughout the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens area to detect the presence of harmful chemicals in the soil of nearby homes and businesses.
The Environmental Protection Agency extended a deadline for Union Pacific to collect soil samples for potential cancer-causing chemicals near a contaminated railyard in Houston's Fifth Ward.
#EnergyEnvironment #Houston #Local #News #CancerCluster #Creosote #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #Epa #FifthWard #UnionPacific
The contaminated railyard has been the source of contention for years after creosote, a likely human carcinogen, was discovered in nearby groundwater. Fifth Ward residents have repeatedly raised questions about abnormally high cancer rates in the area.
Union Pacific -- under the oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -- began soil testing near the company's contaminated railyard in Houston's Fifth Ward this week.
#EnergyEnvironment #Houston #Local #News #CancerCluster #Creosote #FifthWard #KashmereGardens #UnionPacific
After deemed a cancer cluster, the city of Houston offered buyouts to relocate residents from the Fifth Ward. But many residents saw developers coming in and cleaning up the area. Now they ask is it a good time to move from the neighborhood that many have lived in for decades?
#CityOfHouston #CivilRights #EnergyEnvironment #Houston #Local #News #CancerCluster #Creosote #EnvironmentalJustice #FifthWard #KashmereGardens #UnionPacificRailYard
Community members living near a contaminated Union Pacific Rail Yard in Fifth Ward are outraged by the City of Houston’s lack of transparency.
#CityOfHouston #Development #Houston #Infrastructure #Local #News #CancerCluster #FifthWard #MayorJohnWhitmire #UnionPacificRailYard
The City of Houston approved a $5 million voluntary relocation program to help residents who've been fighting for years to get the area cleaned up. They live near a Union Pacific Rail Yard that is contaminated with creosote, but residents have been reluctant to move because of confusion about the city’s relocation plan.
MineEyesDazzle
BakersRelay
Houston Public Media
