Tour highlights environmental costs of Houston’s energy industry

Houses and parks border chemical storage tanks, billowing stacks and flares — just one of the many negative consequences of the region’s booming energy industry showcased during a four-hour “Toxic Tour” of east Houston on Saturday.

The Rothko Chapel partnered with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services — known as TEJAS — to give the tour from Baytown to the Ship Channel to about 50 participants.

“Even in a first-world, developed country, we have the types of human rights violations people would expect to see in the third world,” said Yvette Arellano, tour guide and TEJAS’ policy, research and grassroots advocate. “At the cost of the economy and so much wealth being generated, sacrifices are being made at the fence line.”

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Attendees exited the bus in parks and wetlands and were asked to pay attention to the smell and noise that people in the neighborhoods hear and smell every day. Many who live there do not even notice them anymore, Arellano said.

Rothko Chapel’s climate change-centered program began last fall and will culminate in spring 2020. A symposium, scheduled for Feb. 28 to March 2, will focus on climate change, its impact on vulnerable communities, and local and national mitigation efforts.

“(The symposium) will bring together an array of different individuals who often aren’t in the same room together having this discussion, including artists, religious leaders, scientists, elected officials and young activists,” said Ashley Clemmer, Rothko Chapel’s director of programs and community engagement. “The symposium will range from presentations to panel discussions to interactive breakout discussions and film screenings and art exhibitions.”

Many who attended learned about the tour because they follow the Rothko Chapel on social media or heard about Toxic Tours from friends.

“We were waiting for this mysterious Toxic Tour we had heard about to come up, and this was the first time that I saw one running and we signed up for it immediately,” said attendee Michael Kubo, 40.

The tour highlighted communities like Harrisburg/Manchester along with parts of Baytown and Deer Park, focusing on low-income areas of the towns.

“It’s so easy to see all of Houston’s oil and gas development in the distance, and I think I just had no clue about the proximity of residential areas to all of that,” said attendee Nisa Ari, 32. “I thought surely there was some sort of barrier between these plants and parks and homes.”

TEJAS offers Toxic Tours for free. Organizations are asked to provide transportation.