EPA says protective cap missing, Dioxin exposed in San Jacinto River

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The Environmental Protective Agency’s dive team discovered that the protective cap at the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site is missing and the underlying waste material was exposed.

“The EPA dive team has just found astronomical levels of Dioxin, which is a highly-toxic waste, exposed to the San Jacinto River," said Jackie Young with the Texas Health and Environment Alliance. "We don’t know how long the waste has been there and where it has potentially traveled.”

Young added that this has been an ongoing issue at the Superfund Site.

“They have made numerous repairs to this site and it keeps failing," described Young. "The rocks keep getting displaced. We have high rates of cancer in our surrounding communities and having this waste exposed is completely unacceptable." 

The EPA says the Dioxin does not dissolve easily in water and the levels are 2,000 times more than what would be considered safe.

“We’ve been going through this process now for nearly a decade and it is time this waste is removed once and for all,” said Young.