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A new assessment by the state’s health department says Texans, who lives in a 250-square-mile area in Harris County, which includes dangerous superfund sites, has an unusually high incidence of certain types of cancer.
The study, published earlier this month, analyzed cancer rates in 65 census regions surrounding the San Jacinto River Waste Pit Superfund Site upstream and downstream. Between 2013 and 2021, people in the region showed cancer rates beyond the expected range of cervical cancer, leukemia, lung, bronchial cancer and lymphoma.
Superfund sites near Houston are contaminated with dioxin. This has stated that the Environmental Protection Agency is highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental issues, damage to the immune system and interfere with hormones.
The Texas Department of Health said cancer assessments are not intended to determine the cause of cancer or identify possible associations with risk factors. However, environmental advocates said the results of the assessment updated requests for cleaning the super fund site.
Jackie Medcalf, founder and CEO of the environmental nonprofit Texas Health and Environmental Alliance, called the state’s new research a wake-up call for state and federal officials.
“Our bodies are toxic soup and we can no longer ignore it,” Medcalf said at a press conference at the San Jacinto Community Centre on Monday.
The study also reviewed seven types of pediatric cancer. The results showed that cancer cases were within the expected range based on Texas cancer rates.
The pits on this site were originally built in the 1960s and disposed of solid and liquid pulp and paper mill waste from International Paper Co. and McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. During this time, the EPA was unaware of the risk of such contamination.
As many as 200,000 cubic yards of highly toxic waste were dumped into the holes and later eroded, allowing contaminants to leak into the San Jacinto River. In 2008, the site was added to the EPA’s national priority list for cleanup under the Super Fund Program, ranked as “the country’s most severely uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste site.”
For decades in the area, they say they have lived unconsciously, swimming, boating, fishing near and above dangerous waste sites.
Gene Hennigan is a longtime resident of Lynchburg, an unorganized community located near East Harris County and the Waste Site. At a press conference, Hennigan said he knows many people in the community who are suffering from cancer, including his wife and son who died of cancer.
“The list continues,” he said. “We know that the area is a cancer cluster based on research experience.”
Shia and local residents have requested the state to study cancer rates in the area.
In 2011, temporary armor caps were installed on the site to contain toxic sludge. However, six years later, Hurricane Harvey damaged the cap and exposed the waste. Environmentalists and lawyers argue that temporary caps are inadequate corrections and continue to promote rapid removal of waste to prevent further human and environmental harm. A full site restoration has a price tag of $115 million.
Medcalf with Thea said he was frustrated that the EPA has not taken more powerful actions to clean up the site. Agents can take over the cleanup. But she hopes that the Trump administration will prioritize cleaning of dangerous waste sites, as she said it did during her previous administration by creating a Super Fund Task Force.
Shia will meet with the state health department on Tuesday with the EPA later this week to discuss the results of the cancer assessment.
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