Congressional leaders call for removal of Dioxin dump

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Demands for complete removal of the Dioxin dump known as the San Jacinto River Waste Pits are growing louder and more potent.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee is the latest voice in what's become a united Congressional chorus calling for the 17,000 truckloads of cancer causing toxin to be dug out of the river and transported away from the people it threatens.

"I think there has to be a full and complete remediation. I want to emphasize that this about human life. This is about children. This is about Flint almost," said Jackson Lee who is issuing a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pressure on the EPA to order full remediation is proving truly bi-partisan. Republican Randy Weber, who represents communities along Galveston Bay, says the Superfund site's critical exposure to hurricanes, flooding and marine mishaps amounts to a massive and unacceptable risk no protective cap can eliminate.

"It would be bad for the food chain, bad for the industry, bad for our area, bad for tourism, I mean the economic impact would be huge. People first, industry second, but that's part of our concern," said Weber.

Jackson-Lee and Weber are joined by fellow members of Congress Gene Green and Brian Babin who have also forcefully called for the dump's removal.

The EPA is set to make its long awaited decision in a matter of weeks.