Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis on Tuesday voiced support for the County Attorney’s Office legal action against Union Pacific, which owns a creosote-contaminated site that has been linked to high cancer rates in the surrounding community.

“For years, the people of the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens communities have known that the creosote-contaminated Union Pacific Railroad site was adversely affecting people’s health. Sadly, we now know with certainty that those concerns were well founded, as researchers have found a cancer cluster around the Union Pacific site that includes a childhood leukemia rate of 5 times the state average,” Commissioner Ellis said on Tuesday.

“The people of Fifth Ward have lost loved ones and buried children. They deserve a robust and timely cleanup of this site. We cannot wait on Union Pacific, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Environmental Protection Agency to take action.

At this very moment, another generation of Fifth Ward residents is being exposed to carcinogens while a corporation bides its time and protects its bottom line. I’m proud that Harris County has announced its intention to take legal action today against Union Pacific, and hope that this gives some semblance of comfort to impacted families.”