TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

EPA Offers Patronizing Tips to Contaminated Houston Suburb

On Sept. 23, all 42 soil samples around the Union Pacific Rail Yard tested positive for cancer-causing chemical

Residents in the Houston suburbs of Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens are angered by a slew of EPA notices that arrived on their front porches in late September, offering them tips to avoid the top soil, ground soil and ground water—all of which tested positive in 42 separate samples on Sept. 23 for unsafe amounts of the cancer-causing compound known as dioxin. The toxin’s prevalence in the area is due to the Union Pacific rail yard, where workers had been using the toxin to treat wood for decades, according to the Houston Chronicle, though the rail yard has denied total accountability. Residents are looking for action, a path forward on a complete clean up or the possibility of being bought out. Meanwhile, the EPA’s guidance comes as a slap in the face to lifelong residents—don’t eat chicken eggs out of your yard, don’t let your children play in the dirt, make sure to take a shower after gardening.