Photos: Houston residents dream of cleaner air away from refineries

Updated On Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

In industrial Houston, white plumes from oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents in neighbourhoods such as Manchester. 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.

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The Fernando family moves out of their home in the Manchester neighbourhood of Houston, Texas. They were bought out by Valero Energy Corp as the refinery planed to expand operations. On the east side of Houston, the white plumes of the Texas oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents of this neighbourhood. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

The Fernando family moves out of their home in the Manchester neighbourhood of Houston, Texas. They were bought out by Valero Energy Corp as the refinery planed to expand operations. On the east side of Houston, the white plumes of the Texas oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents of this neighbourhood. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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A police officer drives past a refinery in the industrial East End in Pasadena, Texas. Some residents have told Reuters that 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

A police officer drives past a refinery in the industrial East End in Pasadena, Texas. Some residents have told Reuters that 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Eugene Barragan washes his van in his yard. Residents 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,” Barragan, a 56-year-old electrician who has lived most of his life by the refineries told Reuters. “It would be better for me and the kids.” (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Eugene Barragan washes his van in his yard. Residents 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,” Barragan, a 56-year-old electrician who has lived most of his life by the refineries told Reuters. “It would be better for me and the kids.” (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Local residents fish in a bayou across from an industrial plant. Doctors have found four lumps in Barragan’s lungs and now more growths, according to the 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Local residents fish in a bayou across from an industrial plant. Doctors have found four lumps in Barragan’s lungs and now more growths, according to the 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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The annual town Christmas parade, sponsored by Valero, takes place in the Manchester neighbourhood. “There’s a narrative that air quality is getting worse, but that’s not what the emission data is showing,” Riojas told Reuters. 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

The annual town Christmas parade, sponsored by Valero, takes place in the Manchester neighbourhood. “There’s a narrative that air quality is getting worse, but that’s not what the emission data is showing,” Riojas told Reuters. 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. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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A quinceanera dress is displayed on a sidewalk in front of a shop in Houston. 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,” Connie Deibel, a company spokeswoman told Reuters. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

A quinceanera dress is displayed on a sidewalk in front of a shop in Houston. 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,” Connie Deibel, a company spokeswoman told Reuters. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Natalie Contreras and her daughter Rosalina Chronister stand by a tribute to Contreras' deceased daughter Ciera Rose, who died aged four of cancer. A 2007 study, the most recent available, of nearly 1,000 childhood cancer cases by the University of Texas found children living within 3 km of the Houston Ship Channel had a 56% higher risk of contracting acute lymphocytic leukaemia than children living within 16 km of the channel. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Natalie Contreras and her daughter Rosalina Chronister stand by a tribute to Contreras' deceased daughter Ciera Rose, who died aged four of cancer. A 2007 study, the most recent available, of nearly 1,000 childhood cancer cases by the University of Texas found children living within 3 km of the Houston Ship Channel had a 56% higher risk of contracting acute lymphocytic leukaemia than children living within 16 km of the channel. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Environmental advocates from the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Series organization put up an anti-Valero sign before a public hearing regarding a Valero permit to legally release hydrogen cyanide. Researchers’ analysis suggests an association between childhood leukemia and air pollution. However the study could not prove the pollutants caused the illnesses. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Environmental advocates from the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Series organization put up an anti-Valero sign before a public hearing regarding a Valero permit to legally release hydrogen cyanide. Researchers’ analysis suggests an association between childhood leukemia and air pollution. However the study could not prove the pollutants caused the illnesses. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Dennys Nieto points to daughter Reyna Nieto, 14, while addressing representatives from Valero during the public hearing. For years, Dennys Nieto wanted to leave Manchester but was only recently able to afford to move 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 told Reuters of her old neighbourhood. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Dennys Nieto points to daughter Reyna Nieto, 14, while addressing representatives from Valero during the public hearing. For years, Dennys Nieto wanted to leave Manchester but was only recently able to afford to move 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 told Reuters of her old neighbourhood. (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

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Dennys Nieto does routine health checks on herself at home. 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. “I want to go somewhere that is far from the refineries so that I can repair my life, repair my health and live better.” (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 05, 2020 08:16 pm IST

Dennys Nieto does routine health checks on herself at home. 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. “I want to go somewhere that is far from the refineries so that I can repair my life, repair my health and live better.” (Loren Elliott / REUTERS)

News / Photos / News / Photos: Houston residents dream of cleaner air away from refineries

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