HIGHLANDS, Texas (AP) - The Latest on Harvey-related flooding and highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston (all times local):
10:55 p.m.
The flooding of Superfund sites in and around Houston caused by Harvey has raised concerns about whether floodwaters had also washed in pollution from the sites.
The Associated Press visited several highly toxic waste sites in and around Houston. All had been inundated with water, in some cases many feet deep.
On Saturday, hours after the AP published its first report, the EPA said it had reviewed aerial imagery confirming that 13 of the 41 Superfund sites in Texas were flooded by Harvey and were “experiencing possible damage” due to the storm.
4:55 p.m.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it has reviewed aerial imagery showing 13 Superfund sites in Texas that have been flooded by Harvey and are “experiencing possible damage” due to the storm.
EPA’s statement comes hours after The Associated Press reported that its journalists had visited seven Superfund sites in the Houston area in recent days. They found the sites to either be underwater or showing signs they were inundated before floodwaters receded.
The EPA statement confirms the AP’s reporting that the federal agency has not yet been able to physically visit the Houston-area sites, saying the sites have “not been accessible by response personnel.”
The AP used a boat to visit one site, and it accessed others with a vehicle or on foot.
The EPA hasn’t immediately responded to questions about why its personnel have been unable to do so.
___
4:45 p.m.
Houston’s mayor says he would like U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials to come to the city after The Associated Press reported that a number of polluted waste sites have been affected by flooding from Harvey.
The AP has found that flooding caused by Harvey has swamped at least seven highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston.
Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke to reporters at a news conference on Saturday after the AP report was published. He says he wants EPA “in town to address the situation.”
Turner says he didn’t know about the potential environmental concerns soon enough to discuss them with President Donald Trump during the president’s visit.
___
4:25 p.m.
Flooding caused by Harvey has swamped at least seven highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston. That is raising concerns the pollution there might spread.
The Associated Press has visited the sites - some still only accessible by boat.
More than a dozen Superfund sites are in the Houston metro area, which has long been a center of the U.S. petrochemical industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency says Superfund sites are among the most contaminated places in the country.
An EPA spokeswoman says agency experts won’t begin assessing the damage at the sites until the floodwaters recede.
Among the Superfund sites completely flooded are the San Jacinto River Waste Pits, the site of a 1960s paper mill. Soil there is contaminated with dioxins - toxic chemicals linked to birth defects and cancer.
___
12:20 p.m.
Floodwaters have inundated at least five highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston - and that’s raising concerns the pollution there might spread.
The Associated Press has visited the sites - some still only accessible by boat.
The Houston metro area has long been a center of the U.S. petrochemical industry, and is home to more than a dozen Superfund sites.
The Environmental Protection Agency says Superfund sites are among the most contaminated places in the country.
An EPA spokeswoman says agency experts won’t begin assessing the damage at the sites until the floodwaters recede.
Among the Superfund sites completely flooded are the San Jacinto River Waste Pits, the site of a 1960s paper mill. Soil there is contaminated with dioxins - toxic chemicals linked to birth defects and cancer.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.