'At what cost?': Residents call for action as report deems Houston Ship Channel as 'sacrifice zone'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- In a new 131-page report, human rights non-governmental organization Amnesty International deemed the Houston Ship Channel and the communities that border it a "sacrifice zone."

According to the United Nations, a sacrifice zone is an area where residents are subject to heavy pollution, resulting in "devastating" health consequences and "human rights violations."

"I get it. People are making money. People are making a living. I get it. But at what cost?" Juan Flores, who was interviewed by researchers for the Amnesty International Report, asked.

The report, based on research conducted in 2023, states that there are more than 600 petrochemical facilities in the Ship Channel, meaning the area is home to more than 44% of the nation's petrochemical production. The plants convert oil and gas into chemicals that help create products like plastics, fertilizers, and pesticides. The report also states that they harm human health, the environment, and the climate.

Flores lives in Galena Park, where dredged material from the Ship Channel is dumped in a field three blocks from his home. The site borders the Galena Park Little League Field. Kinder Morgan, Shell Oil, Alamo Cement, and Enterprise Products all have facilities a few blocks in the other direction.

Researchers analyzed zip codes near the Houston Ship Channel and found the average life expectancy was about 20 years less than that of those living about 15 miles west.

"The chemical companies and all that, they're all profit-driven, so we're just a sideline casualty to them," Channelview resident Greg Moss said.

The report also found that about 80% of people who live in Houston's "most polluted areas" are people of color.

"My dad worked at a refinery over 20-plus years trying to take care of us. I remember my dad would always tell me growing up, 'Mijo, don't do what I do. Don't work at a refinery like I do. Try to do something different.'" Flores said.

Flores has since dedicated his life to documenting and fighting industrial pollution. He currently runs the Community Air Monitoring Program for the nonprofit Air Alliance.

"All these years, we've always known there's a pollution problem. But in the past, we never had the technology as citizens to be able to defend ourselves because it was always our word against the industry's word," he explained.

Flores helps manage a network of air monitors for Air Alliance around the Greater Houston area. One hangs in Moss' yard.

"I really wanted to see how bad the air was around here," Moss said.

While the report examined the impact of all industries along the Ship Channel, it focused on four facilities as case studies: ExxonMobil Baytown Complex, ITC Deer Park, LyondellBasell Channelview Complex, and Shell Chemicals Deer Park.

The report found that ExxonMobil's Baytown complex had 1,013 air pollution violations over the past two decades, 77 of which occurred since 2020. ITC Deer Park had 49 violations, with 10 of them happening after 2020. LyondellBasell Channelview Complex had 463, including 61 since 2020. Shell Chemicals Deer Park had 790 violations, 19 of which occurred after 2020.

The report accuses the U.S. government of failing to protect its citizens from corporate abuse.

"After decades of inhaling (industrial pollution), eventually your body will start breaking down," Flores said.

Flores was recently diagnosed with MGUS, a condition where the body produces an abnormal protein, elevating the risk for myeloma.

"Which is a blood cancer, which is pretty prevalent in areas that have a lot of benzene pollution, and this area is one of them," he explained.

He told ABC13 that many of his friends have cancer.

"People calling me worried, and it's like, 'Yeah, it's here,'" he said.

Flores' daughter was born with a tumor in one of her kidneys, requiring multiple rounds of chemotherapy and surgeries.

"It's making me have to make a hard decision that I might have to leave my neighborhood. My community," he said.

Moss, whose home is nestled between the San Jacinto waste pits Superfund site and barge-packed Houston Ship Channel, said leaving is easier said than done.

He asked, "If you want to buy my place, and I tell you there's a waste pit, a waste dump right down the road, and every time it floods, the water comes over the top of it and comes into your property, are you (going to) be interested in buying it?"

"We had no choice but to go public," Carolyn Stone, who participated in the Amnesty International report with Flores and also lives in Channelview, said.

Stone, who founded the advocacy group Channelview Health and Improvement Coalition, also known as C.H.I.C., says the industrial boom trapped her in Channelview, too.

"In '88, we bought our house. We paid off our house, and then all of this comes in. What we paid for our house, and what we could sell our house for? We can't move," Stone said. "I would go in debt for the benefit of (industry) and not because of anything I did wrong. We did what you're supposed to do."

ABC13 reached out to the four facilities singled out in the report. ITC did not reply to ABC13, nor did they reply to Amnesty International researchers, according to the report.

LyondellBasell said they are dedicated to protecting the environment, employees, contractors, customers, and the public, something the report disputes.

Shell made a similar statement, adding that their "employees and contractors are empowered with the authority and responsibility to stop work if they feel conditions are unsafe."

ExxonMobil simply said they disagree with the report's conclusion. They would not elaborate but added that they're committed to human rights.

The report's conclusion states that the U.S. government is failing to protect communities along the Ship Channel from corporate abuse, adding that companies like ExxonMobil should work to reduce their impact.

It reads in part, "This report demonstrates how irresponsible business practices by petrochemical companies along the Houston Ship Channel contribute to a range of human rights, environmental and climate harms. The communities who live, work and go to school alongside this petrochemical cluster are impacted by decades of cumulative pollution from chemical fires, explosions, spills, and routine releases of pollutants that exceed permitted levels. At continual risk of exposure to harmful chemicals in the air they breathe - putting their health and lives at risk - these communities are predominantly low-income and racialized, amounting to an egregious form of environmental racism. Their right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment has been infringed upon to the extent that Amnesty International considers the Houston Ship Channel to be a "sacrifice zone". The petrochemical industry's burgeoning expansion threatens to further undermine human rights, cause environmental destruction and exacerbate the climate crisis. The US government is failing its duty to protect fenceline communities against human rights abuses by the petrochemical industry and hold the perpetrators accountable. The government must take urgent action to facilitate the enjoyment of human rights for all people along the Houston Ship Channel. To do so, the government needs to take immediate action to enforce compliance and effectively regulate the industry to put an end to the harms."

These are the full statements from facilities used as case studies:

"We are committed to being a responsible, good neighbor and respecting human rights in the communities where we operate, including at our Channelview Complex. We comply with all relevant local, regional, and national environmental regulations and are dedicated to conducting our business in a manner that protects the environment and provides for the safety and health of our employees, contractors, customers and the public. We operate with a GoalZERO mindset, which is our goal of operating safely with zero injuries, zero operational incidents, and zero environmental incidents and have a robust operational excellence management system designed to proactively identify and manage potential environmental and safety risks." - LyondellBasell Channelview Complex.

"At Shell, we remain committed to delivering energy responsibly and safely, with the goal of zero harm to our employees, contractors, local communities and the environment. Specific to Deer Park, we maintain a stringent and proactive safety policy - training our workforce to minimize risk, respond to, and mitigate the potential impact of any incident. Our employees and contractors are empowered with the authority and responsibility to stop work if they feel conditions are unsafe. We take seriously our responsibility to comply with all federal and state regulations, including reporting incidents and unexpected emissions." - Shell Chemicals Deer Park.

"We disagree with the conclusions of this report. Our commitment to respecting human rights is embedded throughout our corporate policies, practices and expectations." - ExxonMobil Baytown Complex.

For more updates on this story, follow Shannon Ryan on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.