This browser does not support the Video element.
HOUSTON - The Houston Housing Authority has published the agency's plan to occupy 800 Middle Street - a controversial low-income complex in Second Ward adjacent to toxic landfills and a former State Superfund site.
What we know:
Occupancy of the $140 million project has been stalled since November 2024 when federal agents descended on the property with drilling equipment and environmental specialists.
Beginning in 2023, FOX 26 documented contamination surrounding the development which drew the vocal criticism of community activists, state lawmakers and then-candidate for Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
In addition to an adjacent lead smelting operation, 800 Middle St. (also known as the Pointe at Bayou Bend) is bordered by waste pits filled with refuge from City of Houston's long-shuttered Velasco Trash Incinerator plant.
Critics have claimed construction of the project in proximity to contamination violated U.S. Housing and Urban Development guidelines.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
July 2023
Starting back in July 2023, FOX 26 Political Reporter Greg Groogan reported a multi-million dollar affordable housing project being constructed at Houston's 800 Middle Street is coming under increasing fire after environmental watchdogs learned the complex is going up literally feet from a former state super fund site and near a lead processing facility.
"I'm concerned about the proximity to industrial facilities and being right across the street from a superfund site. We know these sites are not cleaned up well enough to put people living on top of. If our government puts hundreds of families living in this area, where we know there are high levels of lead, it's going to be on our radar as the next cancer cluster," said Jackie Medcalf, Director of the Texas Health and Environment Alliance.
August 2023
In August 2023, FOX 26 Political Reporter Greg Groogan spoke with a Houston lawmaker who was protesting the construction of the low-income housing complex due to heavy contamination.
State Representative Christina Morales said it is not safe to move hundreds of families into housing surrounded by legacy industrial landfills and a former State Superfund site.
Morales asked the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to take another hard look before allowing families to move in and potentially risk their health.
Two weeks later, FOX 26's Greg Groogan asked the Houston Housing Chair at the time, Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, if she would be comfortable having her family live in the 800 Middle Street housing project.
Thomas responded, "No, I wouldn't."
Thomas contended in 2023 that she and others on City Council have been assured by both the Housing Authority and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that the actual project site poses no safety risk to residents.
September 2023
Come September 2023, state regulators cited the Houston Housing Authority with four environmental violations, including the potential contamination of Buffalo Bayou.
An investigation conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found contractors working for HHA exposed toxic ash from the City's Velasco trash incinerator plant and then failed to inform the State - an omission that likely allowed contaminants to flow into the bayou in violation of the Texas Water Code.
Previous testing found the ash contains dangerous levels of Arsenic, Barium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, and Selenium.
The TCEQ also cited HHA for failing to properly document the hazardous waste displaced at the construction site.
By the end of September 2023, images showed the contamination near the development project.
The images depicted huge piles of dark black material unearthed during the recent construction process and identified as toxic ash from the City of Houston's old Velasco trash incinerator plant.
Drone footage indicated the ash running as deep as 30 feet below the surface.
Laboratory analysis of the material reviewed by FOX 26 indicates dangerous levels of lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxins.
October 2023
By mid-October, the state of Texas stepped in and ordered a new environmental study be conducted.
In a demand letter obtained by FOX 26, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has ordered a new Environmental Site Assessment of the low-income project to be conducted by independent third-party experts.
June 2024
Fast-forward to June 2024, FOX 26's Greg Groogan went back out the site and spoke with Alan Atkinson, a neighborhood activist and developer, who has been fighting the project for years.
"What's new is that they have knocked the trees down, and underneath the trees is all this exposed ash," said Atkinson in 2024.
"We are talking about ash with lead, with dioxin, with a whole range of ugly poisonous chemicals, right?" asked Groogan.
"Barium, arsenic, dioxins. So, this ash, which originated from the Houston Velasco incinerator where they burned the City trash for many decades, is right where that fence-line is. And it looks to me like they took the ash and used it to fill in the gully. So, this ash could be up to 30 feet deep and directly connected to Buffalo Bayou, which is only 200 feet away. Before the Clean Air Act, most cities, like Houston, burned their trash. It was the simplest way to take all this waste and reduce it to a very small volume. When they burned the ash, what they did was they concentrated it. All the nasty stuff that was in the trash, like lead and barium and arsenic and mercury, it got consolidated to a very toxic form," said Atkinson.
July 2024
By July 2024, a temporary halt on the project was issued by Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
"It is imperative that the full 21.68 acres property which includes the southern portion upon which the apartment complex is located, as well as the undeveloped northern portion, is determined to be safe and free of environmental dangers," Whitmire stated in a release.
August 2024
By August 2024, evidence emerged that the Houston Housing Authority and its developer knew property for the project was polluted, but broke ground anyway.
Longtime Houston investigator Wayne Dolcefino dislodged documents that appear to prove it. A 2019 letter from developer NRP to the Housing Authority President states that, "residual contamination does remain present" and also says property neighboring the project contains, "significant contamination...and is unsuitable for any type of development."
"Really? It's 2024, are we really going to put more poor people in a place that's contaminated?" said Dolcefino.
FOX 26 asked Dolcefino if HHA and NRP lied to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
"Sure it was a lie, and I've been investigating government corruption for almost 50 years, and there's a thing called tampering with government records. You make false statements on a government record, you can, and you should, in this case, be charged. They lied to HUD. They lied to the state. They lied to the public. They lied to pretty much everyone," said Dolcefino.
It was also learned that in 2021, when the Housing Authority applied for millions of dollars in state-backed bonds from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Development, neither HHA nor its development partner, disclosed any of the concerns.
Asked on the application if the development was within 300 feet of dumpsites, they failed to disclose.
October 2024
By late October 2024, law enforcement were reported to be at the site of the project.
Officers with clothing identifying them as federal agents could be seen at the complex as well as patrol vehicles from the constable's office were also at the scene.
More than a dozen agents, including specialists from the Environmental Protection Agency, served a search warrant on the eastside project.
November 2024
By November 2024, Houston Mayor John Whitmire spoke out about the project saying the project being constructed next to contaminate land is "a tragedy."
"I'm strongly of the opinion it should have never been built, would not have been built except for conflicts of interest," said Whitmire.
"We have $130 million investment of taxpayer monies, badly needed housing, that can't be used because of contaminated soil, not only around it, but it appears underneath that facility," said Whitmire.
The Source: FOX 26 Political Reporter Greg Groogan confirmed the new details, previous FOX 26 reporting.