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Creosote Contamination In Houston’s Fifth Ward
Historic treatment of rail ties in the Houston, Texas Fifth Ward, Houston, Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens, Houston, Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods has exposed residents to cancer-causing soil contamination. Creosote and its extenders were used in wood preservation processes at a nearby rail yard and have been identified as carcinogens that are hazardous to human health. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA have advocated alongside the community for environmental justice. As of 2015, the Greater Fifth Ward neighborhood had a majority population of color: 48% non-Hispanic Black, 46% Hispanic or Latinx, and 4% non-Hispanic white. As of 2015, the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood had 10,055 residents, 67% of which were non-Hispanic Black, 30% were Hispanic or Latinx, and 1% were non-Hispanic white. For decades, the defunct Southern Pacific Railroad wood-preserving facility dumped chemicals into an unlined pit for disposal, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifth Ward, Houston
The Fifth Ward, nicknamed the Nickel, is a community of Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ..., Texas, United States, derived from a historical political district (ward (politics), ward), Retrieved on June 25, 2009. about West, Richard.Only the Strong Survive ( ). ''Texas Monthly''. Emmis Communications, February 1979. Volume 7, No. 2. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p94 CITED: p181 northeast of Downtown Houston, Downtown. Its boundaries are Buffalo Bayou on the south, Little White Oak Bayou on the west, Collingsworth Rd on the north, and Lockwood Drive on the east. The Fifth Ward, one of the six wards of Houston, was created partly from two other wards, the First Ward, which ceded the area to the north and east of White Oak Bayou and Little White Oak Bayou, and the Sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is designed to pay for investigating and cleaning up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as Superfund sites. Of the tens of thousands of sites selected for possible action under the Superfund program, 1178 (as of 2024) remain on the National Priorities List (NPL)The EPA and state agencies use the ''Hazard Ranking System (HRS)'' to calculate a site score (ranging from 0 to 100) based on the actual or potential release of hazardous substances from a site. A score of 28.5 places a site on the National Priorities List, eligible for cleanup under the Superfund program. that makes them eligible for cleanup under the Superfund prog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railroad Tie
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge. Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but prestressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. Tie spacing may depend on the type of tie, traffic loads and other requirements, for example on North American mainline railroads to on London, Midland and Scottish Railway joi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company. The original Southern Pacific began in 1865 as a land holding company. The last incarnation of the Southern Pacific, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, was founded in 1969 and assumed control of the Southern Pacific system. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the Union Pacific Corporation and merged with their Union Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in San Francisco, Tucson, and Houston. In the 1970s, it also founded a telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone. This telecommunications network became part of Sprint, a company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyvinyl Chloride
Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of PVC are produced each year. PVC comes in rigid (sometimes abbreviated as RPVC) and flexible forms. Rigid PVC is used in construction for pipes, doors and windows. It is also used in making plastic bottles, packaging, and bank or membership cards. Adding plasticizers makes PVC softer and more flexible. It is used in plumbing, electrical cable insulation, flooring, signage, phonograph records, inflatable products, and in rubber substitutes. With cotton or linen, it is used in the production of canvas. Polyvinyl chloride is a white, brittle solid. It is soluble in ketones, chlorinated solvents, dimethylformamide, THF and DMAc. Discovery PVC was synthesized in 1872 by German chemist Eugen Baumann after extended investigation and experimenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. The U.S. was strongly influenced by the British who used Agent Orange during the Malayan Emergency. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D. Agent Orange was produced in the United States beginning in the late 1940s and was used in industrial agriculture, and was also sprayed along railroads and power lines to control undergrowth in forests. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military procured over , consisting of a fifty-fifty mixture of 2,4-D and dioxin-contaminated 2,4,5-T. Nine chemical companies produced it: Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto Company, Diamond Shamrock, Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Hercules Inc., Thompson Hayward Chemical Co., Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance faster than it can be lost or eliminated by catabolism and excretion. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of a toxic substance, the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of the toxin are not very high. Bioaccumulation, for example in fish, can be predicted by models. Hypothesis for molecular size cutoff criteria for use as bioaccumulation potential indicators are not supported by data. Biotransformation can strongly modify bioaccumulation of chemicals in an organism. Toxicity induced by metals is associated with bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Storage or uptake of a metal faster than it is metabolized and excreted leads to the accumulation of that metal. The presence of various chemicals and harmful substances in the environment can be analyzed and assessed with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persistent Organic Pollutant
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic and adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because they can be transported by wind and water, most POPs generated in one country can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released. The effect of POPs on human and environmental health was discussed, with intention to eliminate or severely restrict their production, by the international community at the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001. Most POPs are pesticides or insecticides, and some are also solvents, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. Although some POPs arise naturally (e.g. from volcanoes), most are man-made. The "dirty dozen" POPs identified by the Stockholm Convention include aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, HCB, mirex, toxaphene, PCBs, DDT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dioxins And Dioxin-like Compounds
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environmental pollutant, environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl, PCBs and polybrominated biphenyl, PBBs, unwanted minor components of intentionally produced mixtures. Some of them are highly toxic, but the toxicity among them varies 30,000-fold. They are grouped together because their mechanism of action is the same. They activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AH receptor), albeit with very different binding affinities, leading to high differences in toxicity and other effects. They include: * Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, Polychlorinated dibenzo''-p-''dioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins. PCDDs are derivatives of dibenzodioxin, dibenzo''-p-''dioxin. There are 75 PCDD congener (chemistry), congeners, differing in the number and location of chlorine atoms, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, lead is a shiny gray with a hint of blue. It tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. Lead has the highest atomic number of any stable nuclide, stable element and three of its isotopes are endpoints of major nuclear decay chains of heavier elements. Lead is a relatively unreactive post-transition metal. Its weak metallic character is illustrated by its Amphoterism, amphoteric nature; lead and lead oxides react with acids and base (chemistry), bases, and it tends to form covalent bonds. Lead compounds, Compounds of lead are usually found in the +2 oxidation state rather than the +4 state common with lighter members of the carbon group. Exceptions are mostly limited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
