News Articles

At the request of Union Pacific and our community partners, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a general notice letter outlining a path toward future activities at the former Houston Wood Preserving Works (HWPW) site.

Historical operations at the Union Pacific Railroad site at 4910 Liberty Road resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reviews, approves, and conducts oversight of investigations and cleanup at the site.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is committed to advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of our work, including permitting, enforcement, and cleanup activities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to ensure that historic and ongoing impacts of contamination on overburdened communities are fully considered and addressed.

Days after tests confirmed cancer-causing chemicals are present in soil around the Union Pacific Rail Yard, neighbors in Houston's Fifth Ward are speaking out.

The city’s health department found dioxins in soil samples along the fence line of a Union Pacific rail yard. Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival that plans to clean up the contamination should now include relocating residents.

The Houston Health Department announced Friday it notified residents that surface samples collected in July around the Union Pacific rail yard in Fifth Ward contained cancer-causing chemicals.

The city of Houston found dioxin in 42 soil samples from around the long-contaminated Union Pacific site near Kashmere Gardens and Fifth Ward, adding to concerns there could be ongoing risk for those who live nearby.

The Houston Health Department on Friday notified Fifth Ward residents that dioxin — a highly toxic chemical compound — was found in dozens of soil samples collected near the Union Pacific railyard in Kashmere Gardens.

On Friday, the Houston Health Department announced it has already started informing families that all 42 soil samples collected in July around the contaminated Union Pacific Rail Yard in the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens tested positive for cancer-causing chemicals.

ABC13 has been following for a while the reports of cancer-causing chemicals and its effects on the residents of Fifth Ward for decades.

Union Pacific has joined Harris County, the city of Houston and a local nonprofit to ask state environmental regulators to pause the process for approving the company’s controversial plan for cleaning up the contaminated rail yard in Fifth Ward.

The City of Houston, Harris County, and nonprofit Bayou City Initiative have started negotiations with Union Pacific related to its remediation plan for the creosote contamination at the Houston Wood Preserving Works Site (HWPW) impacting the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods.

The City of Houston, Harris County, and nonprofit Bayou City Initiative have started negotiations with Union Pacific related to its remediation plan for the creosote contamination at the Houston Wood Preserving Works Site (HWPW) impacting the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods.

Union Pacific Railroad and representatives from the City of Houston, Harris County and the Bayou City Initiative said today they started discussions in an effort to reach agreement on measures needed to remediate a former wood-tie preserving site.

The City of Houston and Harris County have announced they plan to sue Union Pacific over a cancer cluster in the Fifth Ward.

After continuous concerns about an alleged cancer cluster in Houston’s Fifth Ward, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee announced July 5 intentions to sue Union Pacific Corp.

Houston and Harris County leaders said they're suing Union Pacific Railroad for what they say is the company's role in creosote contamination in the Fifth Ward.

Today, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the City of Houston has delivered to Union Pacific Railroad a Notice of Intent to sue under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The city of Houston and the Harris Co. attorney intend to file a lawsuit against Union Pacific over a toxic site allegedly causing cancer in nearby communities.

HOUSTON - Harris County Attorney Christian D Menefee and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner will each submit Notices of Intent to Sue pursuant to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to Union Pacific Railroad (“UP”) in connection with long-standing contamination in Houston’s Fifth Ward from UP’s Houston Wood Preserving Works creosote treatment facility. The Texas Department of State Health Services found significant increases in cancer rates around the UP rail yard.

Residents, elected officials and environmental advocates spoke out against Union Pacific's proposed cleanup plan of a contaminated rail yard in Fifth Ward during a public meeting Tuesday night, calling on the company to do more for the community.