A huge swathe of land in Texas is a hotbed for deadly cancers that has sickened or killed scores of locals.
Texas officials recently designated the region a ‘cancer cluster’ after more than 20 years of shockingly high rates of the disease.
The roughly 250-square-mile area of east of Houston is around the same size as the entire country of Singapore.
In a February study, the state of Texas looked at 29 types of cancer over nearly a decade for residents in that area.
While the report did not look for what caused the cancer in the land that makes up the San Jacinto River Waste Pits, an EPA superfund site, it did find that diagnosed cancers were ‘significantly greater than expected.’
Its results came as no surprise to locals.
‘All the people, including the responsible parties, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the many lawyers involved have done is talk, while the people in our community are dying,’ said Gene Hennigan, whose son is among those killed by cancer.
The cancer belt starts in Atascocita in east Harris County and runs down through Channelview, Lynchburg and Baytown in the south.
An area the size of Singapore in east Harris County makes up the San Jacinto EPA superfund site. A recent study by the State of Texas confirmed people in the area are dramatically more likely to contract leukemia, lymphoma, cervix, lung and bronchus cancers
The cancer cluster designation is just the latest development in a saga that began in the 1960s, when the area first became polluted, according to the Environmental Protection Ageny, and decades after locals started getting sick.
International Paper Company, Inc and McGinnes Industrial Management Corporation have been named as the legally responsible parties for the clean up, according to the EPA, who first asked them to take responsibility for the clean up in 2009.
International Paper, which was then known as Champion Papers, Inc. disposed of carcinogenic waste close to the San Jacinto River during the 1960s, the feds allege.
Later, McGinnes, a subsidiary of Waste Management, was hired by the paper mill. McGinnes dumped even more waste in the river pits.
Eventually, the toxic chemicals began to leak and seeped into the surrounding land and water, the February government report states.
Once they got into the water, locals were unknowingly exposed to the dangerous dioxin and furan every time they bathed, drank water, fished or swam in the river, the EPA report found.
‘They found unusual patterns of leukemia, lymphoma, cervix, lung, and bronchus cancers,’ Jackie Medcalf of the Texas Health and Environment Alliance or THEA said in reaction to the state’s February investigation.
‘While the findings are not a surprise to those of us living in the shadow of contamination, they are a sad vindication for what far too many of us have experienced.’
The San Jacinto River Waste Pits are an EPA superfund site encompassing 250 square miles east of Houston, Texas
Three Texas men are among the hundreds who have died of cancer in an area east of Houston where the EPA has declared a Superfund Site. Texas officials have announced the area is is cancer cluster region– meaning people there are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the rest of the population. Pictured above: Reggie Nailey, (left) Jeff Hennigan (middle) and Randy Nalley (right)
The EPA superfund site straddles the San Jacinto River in East Harris County, however, the contaminated water from the San Jacinto flows south to Galveston Bay and later to the Gulf of Mexico
The San Jacinto River EPA Superfund site has been deemed to be a cancer cluster – an area where residents are dramatically more likely to be diagnosed with a deadly illnesses, according to Texas officials
Children growing up near the San Jacinto Waste Pits Superfund Site are over sixteen times more likely to develop a rare eye cancer, according to THEA.
It’s unknown exactly how many people have become ill in the area in East Harris County, or succumbed to a disease since no government agency has released a tally.
‘Our bodies are toxic soup, and we cannot ignore that any longer. The water, the air, the soil, and the seafood in our community are contaminated. And it should not be acceptable that our communities live with disproportionately high rates of cancer,’ Medcalf added.
It is easy to find people in the area who have been touched by cancer.
‘I personally know this because my son, Jeff. He played and swam in these waters. He fished as a kid, and has died from two kinds of lung cancer,’ Gene Hennigan told the Daily Mail.
Jeffrey Hennigan died three years ago at the age of 50, leaving behind two children.
‘My wife has had breast cancer. My youngest son…his father in law passed away this year ago with cancer. These are people that live around. The list goes on, my friends. We’re not special.’
Hennigan also shared photos of other relatives and friends who have died in recent years with Daily Mail.
His wife’s brothers Reggie and Randy Nalley, who lived in the same blighted neighborhood, also died of cancer.
Reggie died in 2020 at the age of 69, while Randy lost his short battle with cancer in 2014.
The human toll has been made worse by years of battling the companies who polluted the area to force them to clean up their mess.
Despite being found responsible for the clean up in 2000, the two companies just submitted an acceptable plan of action in September- 25 years later.
The EPA threatened to mandate their clean up plans unless the companies could take show they have a plan.
McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corp, paid a $29.2 settlement for pollution, according to the Houston Chronicle.
‘The responsible parties keep throwing out lame plans for cleanup to stall the process. Well, Lee (Zeldin, EPA Administrator), here’s your chance to show people you mean it. You can stay at my house and drink some of my water,’ Gene Hennigan said.
Jeffrey Hennigan, 50, died three years ago of lung cancer tied to the San Jacinto Waste pits superfund site east of Houston, Texas, according to his father Gene Hennigan
Charles ‘Pistol’ Fitzgerald, 75, of Baytown, TX passed away January 5, 2025 of liver cancer believed to be tied to the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund site, located in Harris County, outside of Houston. Fitzgerald was a brick mason for more than 50 years and left behind a wife, three children and several grandchildren.
Patti Hennigan survived breast cancer believed to be related to the pollution in the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site, however, her son Jeffrey died from lung cancer three years ago. Patti is pictured here with her husband Gene
Hennigan plans to travel to Washington DC later this month to testify in front of the EPA.
He hopes his words will spur the federal agency to take action against the two companies, fining them.
‘Those people only understand one thing – money,’ he said.
The grieving father says he plans to take water from this neighborhood with him and present to EPA administrators at the hearing and ask them to drink it.
When asked if he’s ever considered moving, Hennigan says the area is home for him and his roots are too deep. For others, moving is not a financial option.
‘The people most affected are poor,’ he explained.
Neither International Paper Inc. or Waste Management responded to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Their EPA-approved clean up plan is expected to take another five years and address about 60% of the pollution in the area, according to Houston station Fox 26.
