HOUSTON – People who live in neighborhoods known as the Fifth Ward cancer cluster voted in 21 members of the community who will be liaisons between people who live in the affected areas and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Union Pacific and the EPA are conducting sample tests to determine the prevalence of cancer causing toxins that were said to be the result of historic operations at a Union Pacific Railroad site on Liberty Road.
Three ballots had 22 names in total. On Tuesday, all but one were selected and another stepped down after being found to have a conflict of interest, because she works for Union Pacific.
That leaves 20 members of the new group, now their work begins.
“We as members of the community want to know what’s going on and make recommendations to the current issues at hand,” said newly elected Community Advisory Group member Carolyn Lopez.
Other members also spoke passionately about why they got involved.
“Corinthian passed away in 2021 from Leukemia,” said Latonya Payne whose son was just 13 when he passed away.
She herself has survived two bouts of breast cancer. All illnesses she believes were caused by Union Pacific railroad contamination.
“I’m very committed to this fight,” she said.
As the EPA and Union Pacific conduct sample tests to determine areas of contamination and what to do moving forward, the CAG’s duties will include learning and sharing site information with community members, attending CAG meetings, participating in committees, and providing information on site issues to the EPA to inform decision makers.
“We want to make sure that we are being as effective in our communication as possible, and they help us tailor communications,” said Casey Luckett with the EPA.
We’re told the full list of CAG members will be listed on the EPA website next week. The first order of business will be deciding when their first official meeting will be.
