Families in Houston's Fifth Ward are still waiting for air, soil, and water testing results years after Texas designated their neighborhood a cancer cluster in 2019.
Residents maintain that federal officials are keeping them in the dark about conditions around their homes by withholding that critical information, according to ABC13.
Here's what to know
The public still cannot access an initial version of the findings, Congressman Christian Menefee disclosed at a news conference with residents.
He said more residents had died.
"I wish I could start out by saying, 'Good morning,' but as you can see, community members are quite literally learning about more people passing right now as we're standing up here for this press conference," Menefee said.
Union Pacific officials said the company sent a report to the Environmental Protection Agency in October and supplied more information in April.
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ABC13 has covered the two parties' plan to assess air, soil, and water conditions across the Greater Fifth Ward for three years.
"We've been doing everything we can to make sure everything moves forward, and they've been sitting on that information," Joetta Stevenson, chair of the EPA Community Advisory Group, said.
More background
Residents live near a 125-acre tract that Southern Pacific Railroad owned and operated before merging with Union Pacific.
The EPA warns that creosote, which was used for wood treatment at the site, is known to increase cancer risks. Agency officials said chemicals from the property contaminated groundwater over the years.
Annetta Dwellingham Humphrey's daughter, Aaniyah, is immunocompromised from chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma, ABC13 noted.
Born and raised in the neighborhood, Aaniyah is among the residents whose families worry that contamination could be connected to their cancers.
"It's overwhelming, it's heartbreaking. I can't even explain," Humphrey told ABC13.
What's being done?
The testing agreement between Union Pacific and the EPA is intended to establish conditions in the neighborhood and identify possible improvements.
Menefee and the community advisory group are pushing for the report's release.
"I want you to picture your family living here in Fifth Ward. A mother who wants to know if her backyard is safe for her kids," Menefee said at the news conference.
The EPA did not respond to the outlet about a timeline.
Stevenson called for answers for neighbors living with illnesses and families grieving losses.
"The people who are dying deserve it. The people with cancer deserve it. We need that report," she said, per ABC13.
Where can I learn more?
Residents in other communities are also pushing for answers about toxic exposure and stronger protections.
• The EPA's cancer risk estimates disappeared from public-facing data, weakening communities' efforts to challenge industrial polluters.
• Louisiana families who helped secure chemical plant pollution protections are now watching those safeguards unravel.
• New York's Love Canal residents say a backyard pool dig exposed waste, prompting testing demands.
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