Good Friday is known as a “slow news day” in media circles, but the Union Pacific chose that day to publicize the first phase of EPA testing near the railroad’s yard in Greater Fifth Ward/ Kashmere Gardens. The testing was prompted by continued presence of chemicals from old creosote operations on the railroad property and sampling last year by the Houston Health Department that found Dioxin in the neighborhood next to the rail yard.

Researchers in Houston, North Carolina and Puerto Rico are studying whether living near Superfund sites raises the risk for preterm and low-weight births.

In Houston, the Baylor-Rice Superfund Research Program is working under an EPA grant to study whether higher rates of preterm births may be connected to chemicals from the North Cavalcade and South Cavalcade Superfund sites in the Greater Fifth Ward. Harris County’s rate of preterm births is 11.6%, significantly higher than the national average of 10%, according to researchers.