Houston housing: Images reveal tons of contamination near development project
HOUSTON - FOX 26 has obtained never-before broadcast images of toxic incinerator ash being dug up by the ton just feet from Houston Housing Authority's newest low-income project.
The East Side project known as 800 Middle Street is a 400-unit affordable housing complex being built with federal funds on property surrounded by toxic landfills and legacy, industrial pollution.
The images aired by FOX 26 were gathered less than a year ago and depict huge piles of dark black material unearthed during the recent construction process and identified as toxic ash from the City of Houston's old Velasco trash incinerator plan plant.
RELATED: Houston Housing Authority hit with environmental sanctions by state
Drone footage indicates the ash runs as deep as 30 feet below the surface.
Laboratory analysis of the material reviewed by FOX 26 indicates dangerous levels of lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxins.
Residents also provided earlier photographs of incinerator ash exposed on the banks above Buffalo Bayou where it likely leached into the water that flows into Galveston Bay.
FOX 26 shared the images with State Representative Christina Morales who was shocked by the sheer volume of contaminated soil on the property which will neighbor housing for hundreds of families.
"All you have to do is ask yourself, would you want your family to live under those conditions? I would think that the answer is no. So why would we put folks who have no other choice but to live there in this terrible toxic condition," said Morales.
DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP BY CLICKING HERE
The Houston Housing Authority has constantly claimed THE $100 million federally funded project will pose no health risk to residents, citing analysis by their consultant InControl Technologies.
In the recently revealed sanctions by the Texas Commission On Environmental Quality, InControl Technologies was cited for violating multiple standards.
In the meantime, Morales and others are seeking to stop construction on the controversial complex.
"I want it to be on record that years from now we will hear about families getting sick and we will know that something should have been done right now," said Morales.