CRISIS/EPA/HHS/TEXAS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Water is subsiding in flooded neighborhoods, the mayor is insisting Houston ‘is open for business,’ and shelters are emptying out, but Texans returning to flood-damaged homes face plenty of obstacles: the threat of toxic pollutants in the air and drinking water, and even hungry, dislocated animals seeking shelter.
On Monday [9-4-17], authorities lifted an evacuation order in Crosby, site of the Arkema Inc. chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston. Containers of the chemicals, which are unstable if not kept refrigerated, started igniting on Thursday after power outages cut off cooling systems. On Monday, the company said the Crosby Fire Department had lifted a 1.5-mile evacuation zone around the plant, allowing neighbors to return to their homes.
But concerns about the long-term environmental damage to the area remain high, and the Houston Health Department is overwhelmed. The two employees who routinely test the city’s waterways aren’t enough to quickly monitor the storm’s effects across Houston’s vast network of bayous, said Loren Raun, chief environmental science officer for the health department…
Floodwaters also have inundated at least five toxic-waste Superfund sites near Houston, and some may be damaged, though Environmental Protection Agency officials have yet to assess the full extent of what occurred.”
-Douglas Belkin and Tawnell D. Hobbs, “Houston’s Environmental Threats Come Into Focus,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 4, 2017 06:17pm