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Reuters

Business

Loren Elliott

These Houston residents dream of moving to where the air is clear

On the east side of Houston, the white plumes of the Texas oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents of the Manchester neighborhood.

Late at night or early in the morning when plants burn off excess gases, the flames light up the whole sky in the neighborhood.

The Fernando family moves out of their home in the Manchester neighbourhood of Houston, Texas, U.S., October 3, 2018. They were bought out by Valero as the refinery plans to expand operations. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Some residents say the air has a chemical-based smell that they find hard to describe but disappears once they drive a few miles away from the homes that stretch along the Houston Ship Channel, a waterway connecting the plants to the ocean. They claim that the pollution is taking a toll on their health, although the scientific evidence does not prove that.

"I want to get out of here and go to the country and find some cleaner air," said Eugene Barragan, a 56-year-old electrician who has lived most of his life by the refineries. "It would be better for me and the kids."

Doctors have found four lumps in his lungs and now more growths, according to the chest X-rays and medical records he showed Reuters. The first ones were not cancerous. Barragan says he has not been able to afford imaging of the new growths. He hopes they are benign so he can watch his children grow up.

A house stands in the Manchester neighborhood in Houston, Texas, U.S., September 8, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

"When I work hard, I start coughing and coughing and can't stop," he said. "I know a lot of people who have problems like that."

POLLUTION REDUCED

Irma Garcia holds her eight-month-old grandson Efrain Rodriguez on the front porch of her home in the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, Texas, U.S., June 2, 2019. Garcia is a lifelong Manchester resident, she complains of persistent respiratory problems which she believes results from the neighborhood's air pollution. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Lillian Riojas, Valero Energy Corp's chief spokeswoman, said the company has worked to reduce pollution at its refinery since purchasing it in 1997.

In the 22 years since Valero took over the refinery, ambient benzene levels have dropped 63% to 0.34 parts per billion, according to data from 1997 to 2019 from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

"There's a narrative that air quality is getting worse, but that's not what the emission data is showing," Riojas said.

A quinceanera dress is displayed on a sidewalk in front of a shop in the industrial east end of Houston, Texas, U.S., September 9, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "POLLUTION HOUSTON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which enforces federal and state environmental laws, gives Valero's refinery the top compliance level possible, said Andrew Keese, a spokesman for the agency. The other nearby refineries and chemical plants earned a compliance rating of satisfactory.

Of the other plants bordering Manchester, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co has the second highest-rating for compliance with environmental regulations, Keese said.

Goodyear "implemented several changes that resulted in lower emissions from our facility," said Connie Deibel, a company spokeswoman.

The annual town Christmas parade, organized by the local Catholic church and sponsored by Valero, takes place in the Manchester neighborhood in industrial east Houston, Texas, U.S., December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

LyondellBasell Industries, TPC Group [TPCL.UL] and Flint Hills Resources, which operate facilities near Manchester, did not reply to requests for comment about pollution in the area.

NO MONEY TO MOVE

Dennys Nieto does routine health checks on herself at home in the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, Texas, U.S., September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

A 2007 study, the most recent available, of nearly 1,000 childhood cancer cases by the University of Texas found children living within 2 miles (3 km) of the Houston Ship Channel had a 56% higher risk of contracting acute lymphocytic leukemia than children living within 10 miles (16 km) of the Ship Channel. Researchers' analysis suggests an association between childhood leukemia and air pollution. However the study, funded by Houston's health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could not prove the pollutants caused the illnesses.

For years, Dennys Nieto wanted to leave the neighborhood but was only recently able to afford to move her and her family to a different part of Texas.

"I suffer from asthma and pain in my lungs. It feels like I'm being hit in the lungs,” Nieto said of her old neighborhood. "Headaches, inflammation and pain in my throat. And also I have erratic blood pressure and heartbeat."

David Liceaga stands in the kitchen of his home in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 2, 2019. Liceaga lived in the Manchester neighborhood for much of his life before moving a few miles away. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

She checks her blood pressure and listens to her heart beat regularly.

"In the air I feel it's this we're all breathing. This is why I want to leave from here," Nieto said of the Manchester area. "I want to go somewhere that is far from the refineries so that I can repair my life, repair my health and live better."