After Harvey, Texas Left With Toxic Soup of Sewage, Spilled Fuel, Pesticides, and More.
Public health experts are urging residents to take precautions.
"Residents attempting to return to flooded homes may have to contend with contaminated water and air because the city’s sewer systems overflowed during the floods," Reuters reported Saturday.
"Fire chief Samuel Pena said people returning home should wear breathing masks and consider getting tetanus shots."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 40 of 1,219 wastewater treatment plants in the area were not working as of Monday, and Times test results revealed "water flowing down Briarhills Parkway in the Houston Energy Corridor contained Escherichia coli, a measure of fecal contamination, at a level more than four times that considered safe."
The Times describes Briarhills Parkway as "an upscale development in Houston’s West Oaks/Eldridge neighborhood."
As the results revealed, sewage contaminents are among many contributors to the tainted waters in Texas.
AP reports that "also stirred into the noxious brew are spilled fuel, runoff from waste sites, lawn pesticides, and pollutants from the region’s many petroleum refineries and chemical plants."
Following the hurricane, EPA review of aerial footage revealed that at least 13 toxic waste sites in Texas were damaged by the storm, and an explosion at an Arkema chemical plant in Harris County caused smoke to billow through nearby neighborhoods, triggering evacuations.
Even in regions where the flooding has receded, access to safe drinking water remains a concern.