Fifth Ward residents demand more testing after state finds no cancer concerns near HWPW site
HOUSTON - Residents of Houston's Fifth Ward are demanding more testing after the Texas Department of State Health Services found no cancer or other health concerns linked to the presence of chemicals, including dioxins, detected in soil near the former Houston Wood Preserving Works (HWPW) site.
The announcement was made in a recent press release by Union Pacific, which owns the property where HWPW was located. The company said it was "disappointed" that the Houston Health Department did not share the state's findings with the public. They also stated this bolsters the need for more testing in the future.
"The state conducted the review at the request of Dr. Loren Hopkins, chief environmental science officer for the Houston Health Department. Dr. Hopkins was notified of the state’s findings and recommendations in a letter dated Jan. 30, 2023, approximately four months after she raised concerns about dioxin in the area and six months before the city announced its intent to relocate residents based on the city’s soil sampling results," the release stated.
Cover letter of state report on evaluation of soil in Fifth Ward area adjacent to the UPR site - dated January 2023.
However, residents of Fifth Ward are not convinced.
"This doesn't change what's happened," said Joetta Stevenson, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood Council #55. "So many of our residents have died from cancer, and it's not a coincidence."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Fifth Ward residents want answers after cancer-causing chemicals found in soil
Stevenson and other residents are demanding that more testing be done in the area.
"Miss me with, 'they should've given us a letter and told us what they learned in 2022,'" Stevenson said. "Tell me what you (Union Pacific) learned in 2023. We're not playing with you, or any of our governmental entities. We are serious," says Stevenson.
FOX 26 is received a response from the Houston Health Department:
We strongly take issue with UPRR (Union Pacific Railroad) that the letter from the Texas Department of Health found no cancer or other health concerns. The state did a small assessment using generic equations to circulate the probability of developing cancer from exposure based on the average concentration of dioxin in the surface soil. The type of assessment done by the state health department is not applicable to the situation the community is dealing with around UPPR because there is absolutely no mechanism in the assessment to account for the fact that the community already has people diagnosed with cancer and continuing to die from cancer.
For UPPR to attempt to use this letter from the Texas Department of Health to state there are "no cancer concerns" is offensive to the Kashmere Garden Community and, at the very minimum, totally insensitive. It is undeniable by the state and city that there is a greater percentage of adults and children diagnosed and dying from cancer in Kashmere Gardens than any other area in Houston. UPPR's adverse presence in this community is undeniable. That is also why we asked the EPA to step in.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Cancer-causing dioxin soil sample found in Fifth Ward around Union Pacific rail yard
The HWPW site was used to produce creosote, a wood preservative that contains dioxins. Dioxins are a group of highly toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other health problems.
The city of Houston began testing soil in the area around the HWPW site in 2022. In April 2023, Houston and Harris County officials reported the EPA issued an order to UPRR providing that EPA will oversee the offsite investigative and cleanup process related to the creosote contamination in the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens area. In July 2023, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a voluntary buyout program that could help to relocate residents there. The program could impact over 100 lots and cost the city close to $30 million.
The state's most recent findings have only added to the confusion and anger among residents of Fifth Ward. They say they want more answers and more action from the government.
"We're not going away," Stevenson said. "We're going to keep fighting until we get the answers we deserve."