A life that was then these walls you know and now theres no live in the wall under the west grew up in this house in the 5th ward historically black neighborhood in east houston. For years residents here suspected that the number of cancer cases was unusually high. Is sad this is deb that way to me now where it used to be we were so happy running around the yard playing ball kickball ride in the little red wagon we was happy you got to find your own way you know because everybodys got home. Last december their worst fears were confirmed a cancer cluster was discovered in their community. The state of texas concluded that the 5th ward in a nearby neighborhood called cashmere gardens at higher than expected rates of certain cancers. But they didnt explain why. Its been 4 decades what a years we have been suffering we have our loved ones we have lost parents we have and i was furious we have. Some residents here blame the cancers on decades of possible exposure to korea so a likely human carcinogen. Nearby real yard use the chemical mix to to preserve wood for almost 75 years. Not one and now it looks a little bit. I want to know a lot of make them welcome back to. Maybe we need to know what is think its a way to make the. Fault lines travels to Houston Texas to follow a Community Search for answers and justice. Oriel babineau was diagnosed with a suffered your cancer in may of 2018. When you. Will tell you to start with. He said 19 with therapy treatments and Reconstructive Surgery on his esophagus how would you describe the kind of anything like that is for shaving thats all i can say and when you sit up there and you hear a person say come quick i feel like im gonna die need you here with me that puts big a lump in your throat and theyre going to change it to give you all and all along which were you know hes lived in kashmir garden since he was a child back to say he was Police Officer so he still has that spunk in him he just wants to be able to get back to his normal life is hard to think. Like that he just doesnt look like himself and i just try to make sure i see the man that i married the person that i know. He was no thin man he had someone on him that was before the diagnosis. Lost love when. You think he was 70 years old on the pitch. But hes no you dont fit the phone you can see his real in other words right you know. His dad had lung cancer his cousin that from lung cancer his uncles had throat cancer and all of them the right theyre always at his moms house right there on that industry. For years residents pressured the state to look into why so many people in the community had cancer. In 2019 the Texas Public Health Department Found elevated rates of the suffragists bronchus larynx and lung cancers and cashmere gardens in the 5th ward. A couple of nights ago when i got here from the hospital and i started counting the houses that the people just on my block that have cancer i have had cancer you know 8 people in one block and you know including those they have that from cancer you know so yeah something is definitely wrong. How many were you in this house 8 of us. One night with my mom it was an eye. On 3 west group with 7 brothers and sisters on Lavender Street in the 5th ward yeah this is the same street were stronger than or yellow wonderful memories here lot of good memories here lot of good people in the community a lot of love in the Community Lot of family you know family everybody was family bunch of kids you could hear kids laugh and run and play em on the bicycles in the way again just fun. It got bad out there everybodys getting sick. This is my sister sent to georgia to oneness the things with the lung cancer this is carolyn her and cynthia a year part 2 years of boy and she passed away when lung cancer also in 2015 andres oldest sister cynthia died from lung cancer at 63 years old 2 years later her sister carolyn also passed away from lung cancer my sisters wasnt smokers. And for them to get lung cancer. It was the smell of. My sister cynthia. She retired from punch no. Deferred no. The father year she had kids. Hard working. Mother figure. At the bottom of the pen. My sister curled lives which was next. To the very hard work. Very loving mother and grandmother. Under his family moved to the 5th ward in 1963. Her childhood home was a few 100 feet from a rail yard owned by railroad giant Union Pacific. From 1911 until 1984 Railroad Ties and telephone poles were preserved using creosote. Creosote is a mixture of hundreds of chemicals many of the toxic. Fumes can irritate the skin and eyes and make breathing difficult. The smell is real strong. Irritate your throat burn. Smell like toy and you definitely have to go inside but going is that didnt happen we are living in poverty stricken neighborhood you know we dont have air conditioning we have a little still in fans those up in the attic that blew the cool air down into the house the guest macbook air could hardly breathe like i said i had balls to come up on my body rashes i have the marks from scratch and. Why do you think your familys been so affected by cancer because of the crystal. Because of the crystal. Because of it. Theres nothing else. Thats not the deal. Is the chris cell is the rail yard. The rail yard stopped treating wood with creosote in 1984. But now the groundwater under more than 100. 00 Properties Near the site is contaminated with chemicals found in creosote. This is the actual site but these are the 110 properties that have grown contamination underneath dr Lauren Hopkins is leading a Community Survey to learn more about the people within the cancer cluster of the 30 households or teams surveyed 43 percent reported the cancer diagnosis the city average 6 percent renewable determine precisely where the cancer is in the cluster look and we know which census tracks are elevated and the census tracks that. Are elevated out of the 10 are surrounding the Union Pacific Railroad Site do you think research contamination has anything to do with this cancer cluster i dont know what is causing the cancers we do know that those those are the kinds of cancers you would expect with exposure to those chemicals. I think because of all of the chemicals that hes been living around being a little boy growing up living around roach frags the air pollutants the water instead of all that had a lot to do with his cancer. How does it feel now knowing that you spent a lot of your life growing up in the area where youre more likely to get cancer terrified. Terrified because no one what i know now and if my mother would have no she probably would never want to see a truly. Sandridge words grew up on Lavender Street next door to andrea. Shes part of a group called empower which formed in 2016 to pressure the state to study because answering to the community would feel good to him in his coma the impact is also demanding that Union Pacific which owns the real yards address the pollution of neighborhoods in pacific you just you know youre really in a band that you cant come out of the mag on the way out we stayed in a building to listen to let me thank you that people all littles what they stand up to you. But i am ready to fight and i am going to fight you say ill go underground tell im dying and you had better hope i dont that no times. Union pacific made nearly 6000000000. 00 in profits in 2019 its one of the biggest Railroad Companies in the world the crease all thing they could to have straight down my street across that tray straight or he was where the thing was with a cookie so we know when your mind is out in the neighborhood. Is everywhere. In january sandra spoke at the 1st Public Meeting about the cancer cluster since the study was released. It was organized by congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee who asked the state to study the cancer rates in kashmir gardens in the 5th ward in early 2019 i dont want to be full of bad news but i do want to say that it is serious found way i know that we have an uptick. In some way now someone was someone thats something we have been making and sound way 3 on other baddies and if we all stick together c were not gonna make why everybody is here well intentioned to help find out the answers weve been waiting a long. Time nationally renowned environmental activist Erin Brockovich was also there to support the community so tonight when everyone is here could i hear from you are you frustrated. Are you getting answers are. You in this room has cancer or knows of someone that lives here that has cancer. Is normal i dont c know what else we have to. Take. And. The Community Wants Union Pacific to either clean the contaminated groundwater plume or move people out of the neighborhood my name is barbara i was diagnosed with a one month and. 27 days ive been trained and im in remission i want to know if there is some kind of funding they have me low im on the phone to out of the fade away from the. The elbows elbows we will see only. Our work to restore normal youre all right you know youre out ive got prostate and ive got 5 is. A Union Pacific representative was up to town hall but left before we could ask any questions you know where its jason mark was so we got her on the phone and weve just been to some of the streets near the site most of the houses are vacant just a handful of people still there you know if they were talking to you would you tell them its still safe to live in these homes. And there still will be. Once creosote 60 hp into the earth its extremely difficult to take out. You know. Pacific is removing only whats closest to the surface but leaving the rest behind. One of the things that Union Pacific had proposed for the korea so basically just wait and see let Mother Nature do her thing Rodrigo Cantu is an environmental lawyer is advising impact the chemicals and it can actually see through the soil and they can come into the atmosphere and if there is someone living above or recreating above or simply walking on their property they may be breathing in those vapors. You know this is how the chemicals and creosote behave and they havent done the testing to see whether or not that mechanism is taking place according to state records regulators have known about the contaminated groundwater since at least the 1980 s. But residents we spoke with said they didnt hear about the contamination until decades later. The state Environmental Agency in charge of overseeing the site and the state Health Department both declined our interview quest. Even though you were on a Railroad Track now it will follow. It will follow. It. Well lets just see just how much i missed. My father gather. Eggs which can also kill us and 2 months later he was the day he. Just made me so angry. At the everybody old industry is the no fantastic fams lets just go is no way you dont know you can that make me believe you dont know that you were killing. They look dated is what pub in a community they didnt care they just say forget it im down. Across the United States communities of color are more likely to breed polluted air than white ones. And black residents in particular are the most likely to live your polluting industries and toxic sites. Why is it that contaminated sites are disproportionately found in their communities of color the historical institutional racism that has gone on in this country that has the lead to a sort of the limiting of where black and brown people call balms a lot of. Stephen lester is a toxicologist with nearly 40 years of experience helping people in contaminated communities find answers. And its probably no coincidence that many of these communities many of these cancer clusters that we see many of the industrial clusters that exist in this country today happened to be around in the midst of communities of color. We tracked down some of the men who used to work in the creosote facility at that real yard during the 1960 seventys and eightys how many of you have Health Problems that you think were caused by korea so. I had to go look up to him or you. Lung cancer. Ill find out on the sale to you know just my we have i have Prostate Cancer so what was it like working with a terrible. Smell matter we get a nice man we go back home with it. Priscilla very strong it would burn your skin you know to somebody you know. The bone only if it hit your skin it would make that it would make woodward to get water it would make him without it that we could but of water fall into the drink the water if in the water it was a real dove you know the ground. When it would rain you know the ground knew it would bump you know it just like it was i dont know what we never did know what it was it was like gas you know it just bump all over your you know we had chris runnin down suddenly or from one end we were to the other you know into the river to actually into the neighborhoods back there where the where the hells were today anyone ever complaining what happens if you did no i did. Not hide and you know all the danger that we was under that you know to breathe in this in the air and no no nothing now we know no protective gear no no no suits and no nothing you know because we use you need i guess we just had to work in order to support our family and so they didnt say no and i guess we. Didnt even had you know we didnt know we didnt actually know question and you know how many people here think the cancer cluster in this community was caused by christopher tempest. And all of the i didnt know. How to do all react when you learned about the cancer cluster here yet or lives with everyone you do know you think if there was an error that got acid there they added up. Say the government says they cant prove whats caused the higher rate of cancer here what do you do next its now way this whole neighborhood with the d. S. And like nothing else out there but the question really. And yet i f. They come back to this not youre lying and youre not going to tell my people theyre in they gonna believe you. The texas Health Department could conduct enough to do me a logical study that could explain whats causing the harder to answer it. But it hasnt yet to started if you will. With the people of the 5th ward of kashmir gardens ever find the answers theyre looking for theres no clear way to distinguish whats causing it without investing a great deal of money and governments not doing that and then of course you have the corporate side of this whos was putting pressure on government to say well lets are certain that these chemicals or these how thought comes related to this chemical then you cant. So it sounds like people are on their own yes unfortunately people are wrong and until theres a change in this country until people stand up and say enough people get involved and and force government to address these questions people are going to start on that. A a lot. Of. The. Like look. Like thinking what. Youre. Thinking what account. They want. What the. My chick. Is a killer. Put in feel toward these people were affected but they brought the chaos of the thing they didnt go out and they didnt expertise its only right for you to bring a symbol to them to get here yeah thats not it is right yes ok good im trying to be. Yeah yeah you know i didnt gone on too long its gone on too long oh well were gonna do it so you know we are merely. I dont live in this area anymore but i came back to fight because this is a part of my Humble Beginnings and you never see the good job of beginning and always say when you cant go nowhere you can always go home. But thats not home over there anymore just like its like a day its all over there. Its a dead zone over there and its just it breaks my heart but it makes me angry its time for them to make it right make it right with the people in fear for warning can go on. And all these different places its time to give the shit up. Is the company doing enough to address your concerns they not doing things theyve got a hotline. They have a hotline they dont humans have under of compassion to talk one on one with the people they give us a hotline. Union pacific didnt agree to our quest for an on camera interview instead they sent a written statement saying in part for decades of testing show there is no creosote pathway to reach Property Owners in recent Health Studies lack scientific testing needed to make any firm conclusions about the cause of her medical conditions. Once everything comes out and chris so is the reason behind this they can see the toll that its taken on me its more so especially my husband and how you know loss of income increased medical bills all the pain and suffering you know. Plans that we had to do things are just on hold right now. Are you optimistic that youll ever get answers about whats causing that maybe once we start getting of our role then yes eventually ill get some answers and ill push until i get answers. 2 weeks after we met stronger and her husband oriel died from complications related to cancer. He was 55 years old. After oriole died joined about 500. 00 other residents of kashmir gardens in the 5th ward in a Class Action Lawsuit against the sisters. I dont want to give that this isnt a game ill cover for you because if i walk a lot im going to try to get a little get im going to get. Where do you feel when you look out across this really. Is a lot of hurt very not a lot of damage to the community its just since lou. Uncultured. You know we matter. We manders. As bombs continue to rain down on afghanistan civilians are paying the ultimate price they are completely forgotten and no one is listening to these people while those responsible operate with impunity this is about owning your mistakes is about saying sorry and this is about accountability in a largely on account or as anyone from the us military been in touch with you since the new. Folk lines investigates of gonna stand civilian loss in the us air war on a. Water scarcity has become a major global issue the demand is going straight up and the supply is going straight down turning an essential Natural Resource into a commodity traded for profit just because its lawyer doesnt mean it cannot be priced what about the guy that can afford it guys tell these water in a new 2 part series aljazeera examines the social financial and Environmental Impact of water privatized nation loads of water coming soon. We want a fair bring your people back to life im sorry but date on the best of aljazeera is documentaries in living close the books and know all you like and the others through the green line continues with kosovo i feel the fear and hope this was my return to kosovo and the Little Village of book of a one decade on ive come back to find out what happened to those hopes and dreams we want on aljazeera. Aljazeera. Where every. Im Richelle Carey and doha this is al jazeera bringing you continue coverage of the unrest in the United States there have been protests across the country for a 4th day over the death of an unarmed black man in Police Custody and minneapolis he died after being restrained by a Police Officer who was kneeling on his neck is followed now curfews are being enforced in more than a dozen cities minneapolis where george ford died Officials Say they have succeeded for now in stopping the violence the governor mobilized the states entire National Guard for the 1st time minnesotas history john hendren has this up to
vimarsana.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.