Deadline approaches for homeowners in known cancer cluster to allow soil testing for contamination

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- An important deadline is here for people living in a known Houston cancer cluster.

The deadline this Saturday, Nov. 30, is for property owners in Houston's Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens to allow their soil to be tested for contamination.

The area has been known as a cancer cluster because of an old rail yard, and it has been highly talked about. For years, ABC13 has reported on the issue impacting people who have long said that something in the soil is making them sick.

SEE MORE: EPA testing finds higher-than-normal chemical levels in soil and water in Fifth Ward

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already found higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals at the rail yard that used to burn wood with creosote.

Activists and politicians have partnered with Union Pacific Railroad in an attempt to get all residents in that area to have their soil tested and sign access agreements to do so.

The agreement would allow Union Pacific to collect the soil from private properties and test it for contamination at no cost.

SEE ALSO: City of Houston greenlit hundreds of development projects in cancer cluster area, report shows

EPA leaders hope that everyone who signs an agreement to have their soil tested will have results by the middle of next year.

Families will have until Saturday to sign the access agreement.

If you're unsure whether you're in the testing zone or what the process will be like, contact Union Pacific by calling 1-800-823-6070 or emailing hwpwforward@up.com.

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