Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, issued this statement following the transmittal of a letter to the EPA urging a federal investigation of the existence of cancer clusters in Houston’s Fifth Ward:

Through a major community meeting I held on this issue, I secured through the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) a major study on the incidences of cancer clusters, as a function of the operations of the of the Northeast Railroad Yard operated by Union Pacific. Earlier today, I wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency to urge a federal investigation into the existence of cancer clusters in the Fifth Ward, following the issuance of a report by the Texas Department of State Health Services—prompted by a town hall meeting held by my office—finding increased incidences of cancer clusters.

I am proud to be joined in my efforts, a noted environmental activist who became known to the nation and the world following her role as a consumer advocate, which was immortalized in an eponymous biographical film. Since then, she has continued her advocacy fighting for residents in significant environmental battles against major corporations and entities.

In April, I held a community town hall, related to this subject. As a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and a representative of Texas, this issue and the safety of my constituents is extremely important to me. Creosote is listed as a hazardous substance by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been found in the groundwater of the Kashmere Gardens community in Houston, Texas. This is due to years of wood treatments that contained Creosote by the Northeast Railroad Yard. The wood treatments in question ceased 12 years before Union Pacific acquired the Northeast Railroad Yard and the rail yard was closed in 1996. However, Union Pacific has since been required to conduct tests on the toxicity of the groundwater, monitor the chemical plume, and extract creosote through wells drilled on the property and in the surrounding area. Many years ago, “[t]he Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Union Pacific had worked to establish an environmental management zone where it would use “monitored natural attenuation” to address the contamination. This means their primary method of treatment is to let the contamination dissolve in the ground. There were two purposes of my April meeting; first, it was to learn more about the process because creosote is known to emit fumes and pass through ditches when it rains or floods, contaminating the groundwater; and, concomitantly, it was to allay fears, and provide the community with facts about the ongoing efforts to address the creosote contamination.

On the initiation of this town meeting held by my office, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) analyzed census tracts in Houston to determine the incidences of cancer. The analysis was to examine cancers—specifically those occurring due to creosote—which may be attributed to a facility operated by the Union Pacific Railroad Facility.

In August, at the request of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”), and pursuant to our meeting, the Environmental Surveillance and Toxicology Branch (“ESTB”) and the Texas Cancer Registry, the DSHS issued a report which examined the occurrence of cancer in Houston. “The study was comprehensive. It analyzed a half-dozen types of adults referencing cancers in the Texas Cancer Registry. It concluded that “the numbers of esophagus, lung and bronchus and larynx cancers were statistically significantly greater than is expected based on cancer rates in Texas [writ large].” The DSHS’s work was incomplete. It is clear that this report, however, confirmed the fears of constituents in my district, as expressed at my April town hall meeting.

Earlier this week, the DSHS issued the findings of its report. According to the report, incidences of cancer outside of normal probabilities. Specifically, the DSHS analyzed the Texas Cancer Registry available from 2000 to 2016,” as it relates to the affected areas, in which “[l]ung, bronchus esophagus, and larynx cancers were statistically significantly greater than expected.” The report also found that the types of cancers which were identified in the study are consistent with those present in arsenic, which comprises creosote. Given the findings of the DSHS report, and the impact this has on the health and wellbeing on my constituents in Kashmere Gardens, I urged the EPA initiate and conduct a comprehensive investigation and issue a thorough report on the incidences of cancer clusters in the Fifth Ward.

I remain concerned about the existence of cancer clusters in Houston’s Fifth Ward. The safety and well-being of the Kashmere Gardens Community and surrounding areas is my overriding concern. My advocacy on this issue and on behalf of those identified in the city is longstanding and unwavering, and I will not relent until the community and its citizens has answers about the impact creosote has in the lives and health of my constituents.”