Thread by @pubhealthwatch

In June 2022, Public Health Watch learned that Channelview, Texas, has been exposed to high levels of cancer-causing benzene for nearly two decades — and @TCEQ knew about it.

18 months later, our investigation is out. The results are shocking: 🧵

publichealthwatch.org/2023/12/13/hou…

This story was sparked by a tip from longtime state employees who had tried — and failed — to raise the alarm about @k_solv, a chemical facility in the middle of a neighborhood.

This wasn’t just hearsay, we were told. There was proof.

So we started digging.

@k_solv We filed public-information requests with @TCEQ.

We sorted through nearly two dozen boxes filled with thousands of state documents. And we consulted independent scientists.

It became clear: Channelview residents are in danger.

@k_solv @TCEQ Among our most damning findings:

@TCEQ documented high levels of cancer-causing benzene downwind of K-Solv in 2005 + 2006.

And yet, the facility has been allowed to expand four times. It can legally release nearly 20x more volatile organic compounds today than it could in 2005.

@k_solv @TCEQ This is part of a larger issue in Texas, where regulators rarely rein in polluters. Residents of places like Channelview, an unincorporated community east of Houston, are the ones who suffer most.

It was once a riverside enclave. Now it’s besieged by petrochemical companies.

@k_solv @TCEQ It’s been 18 years since @TCEQ first discovered Channelview’s high benzene levels.

But state monitoring data suggests that the problem hasn’t gone away. In fact, it may be getting worse.

And residents have been breathing the cancer-causing chemical all along.

@k_solv @TCEQ According to @EPA, the environmental cancer risk for people living in Texas is 30 in one million.

In the neighborhood where K-Solv and other industrial facilities are located, the cancer risk is double that: 60 in a million.

@k_solv @TCEQ @EPA Carolyn Stone lives less than a mile from K-Solv.

She said her community has felt abandoned by @TCEQ for years — but even she was shocked when she saw our findings.

“We’re good people. We’re not trash,” she said. “The people here are worthy of some kind of intervention.”

@k_solv @TCEQ @EPA Cynthia Benson, a three-time cancer survivor who lives a quarter of a mile from K-Solv, said her community’s plight brings her to tears.

“I have a great, great nephew that was just born. I worry about him growing up here... How do I make peace with that?”

@k_solv @TCEQ @EPA How can this happen?

@TCEQ leadership has systematically weakened its community protections for chemical exposures.

That’s made it easier for companies to pollute in greater amounts — and left everyday people defenseless against onslaughts of pollution.

@k_solv @TCEQ @EPA That’s what makes stories like these so critical. They don’t just identify specific polluters — they expose a regulatory system that’s failing the people it’s supposed to protect.

Stay tuned for more stories on this topic. We’re just getting started.

publichealthwatch.org/2023/12/13/hou…

@k_solv @TCEQ @EPA Written by @DavidJLeffler + @SavannaStrott + @arredondosalina + @jcholakovska.

Additional reporting by @jgasspoore. Editing by Susan White. Portraits by Mark Felix. Graphics by @texaschnews.

Co-published with @thisisinsider, @palabranahj, @Hou_Landing and @irworkshop.