Hi Jones Road. We Want To Stop By For A Visit!
THEA representatives will be going door-to-door in the neighborhoods affected by the Jones Road Ground Water Plume Superfund Site this month.
We have a regular presence at the Cypress-area site, but we have three very important reasons for making a big push to talk to residents this month.
Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle
1.How far are toxic chemicals spreading? The dry-cleaning chemicals that were dumped in an alleyway on Jones Road are highly toxic and take a long time to break down. The site is called a “ground water plume” because the chemicals seeped into the water table and have continued to spread below homes. We know the area covered by the plume has changed since the EPA mapped the plume in 2010 and we also know the area has been found to contain a cancer cluster.
THEA has partnered with the University of Texas Medical Branch to check the health of local families and take water and air samples from their homes. We’ll be out spreading the word and signing up participants.
2.How many people don’t even know they live over a Superfund Site? THEA has been pushing the EPA to do a better job engaging the community. There is very little signage to warn residents, many people still don’t know that they live over waste from a Superfund Site and, in this diverse and growing region, language barriers further complicate the effort to get the word out.
3.Even the EPA has problems with its remediation plan. EPA has just released a five-year update to its remediation plan at the site and, in it, EPA Region Six head John Meyer, writes, “I have determined that the remedy for the Jones Road Groundwater Plume Superfund Site is not protective.”
That’s agency-speak for “the current plan isn’t protecting people and we need to fix it.”
Here is the report if you would like to read it. As THEA’s subject matter experts review the five-year report, we will engage our Jones Road Coalition to develop our own recommendations for what the EPA needs to mitigate the risk of exposure and to engage the community while the risk is still so high.
So, look for us in the neighborhood this month.
Saturday, October 15 – We will be set up to meet people at 12022 Jones Rd.
Friday, October 21 and Friday, October 28 – We will go door-to-door to talk to residents.
If you have been looking for a way to help THEA’s work on Houston and Harris County Toxic waste problems, this would be a perfect opportunity to get involved. Email us at info@TXHEA.org for more information about volunteering.
