John Bogna
Though the floodwaters of Harvey have receded and recovery is in full swing, dangers may still lurk in the mud that absorbed the pollutant-ridden runoff.
Videos by Rare
RELATED: EPA confirms another dangerous leak from toxic site after Harvey
Several Superfund sites were flooded during the storm, releasing a cocktail of hazardous materials like dioxin into the floodwater, spreading into places like the shipping channel and Galveston Bay.
According to NPR, ten feet of mud was washed into the Houston shipping channel as a result of the storm, and it most likely carried with it petrochemicals, dioxin and other pollutants from areas like the San Jacinto Waste Pits and U.S. Oil Recovery.
Tim Dellapenna of Texas A&M University is one of the scientists studying the layer of sediment, which he calls the “storm layer,” thrown into the shipping channel by Harvey. “We’re actually going to try to do a full screening for dioxins, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons,” Dellapenna said in an interview.
The EPA is planning to remove roughly 212,000 cubic yards of contaminated material from the San Jacinto Waste Pits site after high levels of dioxin were found in soil samples there. Dellapenna’s group also plans to compare present and past levels of contaminants to see what changed as a direct result of the storm layer.
Other teams will be testing around Buffalo Bayou, closer to where Houstonians live.
Work like this means exposure to toxic elements, and it can be harmful to those involved in collecting samples and cleaning up polluted sites if they aren’t properly protected. According to a report by the Guardian, not enough is being done to ensure safety for the people doing cleanup.
Workers hired for cleanup are exposed to mold, toxins and, in older homes, asbestos. If they aren’t properly safeguarded this can lead to long term health problems and even death by accidents on the job.
According to the Guardian, more than 1,000 people died during the cleanup after the 9/11 terror attacks, and those were all highly-trained workers like firefighters and demolitions experts. The people cleaning up after Harvey are largely undocumented laborers working with little training and low pay.
These workers may be afraid to speak out about their employers cutting corners due to fear of deportation, and also not be using proper equipment.
Advocate groups are educating workers on proper safety during cleanup, in an effort to mitigate these hazards and keep workers safer on the job.
