Hazardous Substance Research Centers/South & Southwest

Site description

This community is affected by over 40 landfills and also by refineries. Not all problems come from within Nueces County, but also from adjoining counties.

Summary of assistance (through June, 2005)

TOSC began to work with Citizens for Environmental Justice (CFEJ) in 2001, a group representing a largely Hispanic community in Corpus Christi, Texas. Corpus Christi is a city of some 380,000 residents on the Texas Gulf Coast. CFEJ members are worried about the environmental impact on their community of contaminants from oil refineries and approximately 40 old landfills.

The outreach team has provided assistance to the community with numerous efforts including an environmental workshop and facilitation of federal, state and community meetings. TOSC has provided the seed funding for the design of a health study on elevated heart birth defects in Corpus Christi. The health study was being undertaken by two professors from Michigan State University; Dr. Karen Chou who is also a LSU TOSC affiliated Adjunct Research Professor of Toxicology, and Dr. Wilfried Karmaus, Physician and Professor of Epidemiology. The researchers worked to pursue external funding for the health study.

TOSC has reviewed referenced documents in the PA/SI and entered into a new LOA (June 2004) outlining new and continuing activities with CFEJ. TOSC assisted CFEJ in reviewing documents for a press release requesting residents living within a 1-mile radius of the sites to have their wells tested. All of this information was the topic of discussion during a January 2005 meeting facilitated by TOSC between EPA and the community to discuss some of their longstanding environmental concerns.

The community is still evaluating its options for these sites. TOSC is waiting to hear if CFEJ would like to discuss options that may be available to the community.