'Highly toxic' cancer-causing compounds outside Fifth Ward recreation facility, according to EPA

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- New Environmental Protection Agency and Union Pacific Railroad test results show elevated levels of "highly toxic" compounds, known as dioxins, outside the Julia C. Hester House.

The dioxin levels found in the dirt outside the Fifth Ward recreation center exceed the EPA's screening standard for children by five times.

The EPA website states, "Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones."

The Hester House was founded in 1943, and for decades, children have been encouraged to play in the contaminated dirt. The contaminated area is surrounded by a basketball court, playground, public park, and swimming pool, which is located across the street from an elementary school.

In 2023, the EPA first ordered UPRR to conduct testing for dioxins and other harmful compounds in the neighborhood after state officials identified a cancer cluster in the same area where the railroad had spent decades using cancer-causing chemicals to treat wood.

After the Hester House results were released Monday, the EPA and UPRR promised additional testing. Officials also marked the contamination with orange spray paint, which they promise will soon be replaced by a fence to prevent children from playing in the area.

"You think (the contamination) just, poof, went away? Testing is just another stall game until they figure out what they're going to do, but it's all just some bullhorn," Joe Ballard said.

Ballard, who is 60, has lived in the Fifth Ward his entire life. He played at the Hester House as a child.

"We all went to the Hester House, which was the only recreation center house where you could go and read books, play a little bit, and get an after-school lunch, a summer lunch, something like that, you know," Ballard said.

In a statement given to ABC13, the EPA first wrote, "Dioxin in soil can be potentially harmful when someone frequently touches it or ingests it over a long period of time. A few areas showed contaminants above EPA residential screening level."

However, a few sentences later, the agency then went on to claim, "These dioxin levels do not pose an immediate risk to people's health."

"Same old game, they can fool whoever they're trying to fool, but they can't fool us," Ballard said. "How can it not have a health risk? Do the research; it shows you that it has a health risk."