ECIC 2026 Session Details

Thursday, October 15, 2026
Hilton Garden Inn Houston Medical Center

Select a time below, then tap a session to view its abstract and speaker information.

About the Session

Determining whether a stream or feature qualifies as a relatively permanent water (RPW) has become a significant technical challenge in Clean Water Act jurisdictional evaluations. Following Sackett v. EPA and subsequent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) implementation guidance, whether a feature qualifies as an RPW has become central to whether many non-navigable streams and tributaries qualify as waters of the United States.

Although agencies have developed guidance and resources for evaluating streamflow duration, determining whether a stream qualifies as an RPW requires consideration of the totality of available evidence rather than application of a single metric or bright-line test. Consequently, practitioners must weigh multiple lines of evidence and apply professional judgment to develop technically defensible jurisdictional opinions. This presentation will explore tools for evaluating flow regime, with particular emphasis on the EPA/USACE Streamflow Duration Assessment Method (SDAM). The session will discuss practical application of the SDAM, including interpretation of biological, geomorphic, geospatial, and climatic indicators and their contribution to streamflow duration classifications. Illustrative examples will demonstrate application of the SDAM while integrating complementary resources, including historical aerial imagery, LiDAR-derived topography, hydrologic datasets, and other publicly available information into a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach for evaluating flow regime and supporting jurisdictional opinions.

About the Speaker

Ryan Gilbert, M.S., is a Natural Resources Project Manager at ESE Partners specializing in wetland delineations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting, and ecological resource assessments throughout the Gulf Coast and southern United States. His work integrates applied environmental science with regulatory compliance. He holds master’s degrees in Environmental Science and Environmental Management from the University of Houston–Clear Lake and a B.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University.

About the Session

Historical use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) at a firefighting training facility resulted in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) impacts to both the vadose zone and underlying groundwater. The conceptual site model (CSM) identified two primary, uncapped source areas associated with past operations: a fire training pad used for AFFF-based suppression of simulated burns and a vehicle wash pad where fire apparatus was decontaminated. Effective risk mitigation at this site required reducing PFAS mass flux from these source zones to groundwater. A remediation approach utilizing micron-scale activated carbon (1–2 µm), commonly referred to as colloidal activated carbon (CAC), was implemented to target PFAS retained at and above the capillary fringe near the air–water interface. The injected CAC provided adsorption capacity to stabilize PFAS in the vadose zone, thereby reducing mass loading to groundwater and enhancing downgradient natural attenuation processes.

The small particle size facilitated uniform distribution throughout the treatment interval. Performance was evaluated through pre- and post-treatment groundwater monitoring. Results demonstrated up to 99% reduction in PFAS concentrations following soil treatment. These findings highlight the effectiveness of targeting the capillary fringe and achieving homogeneous amendment distribution to control source strength. This carbon-based approach represents a practical and cost-effective strategy for stabilizing PFAS in source areas and mitigating plume migration.

About the Speaker

Tommy Kim is a District Manager with REGENESIS specializing in groundwater and soil remediation. With more than 20 years of industry experience, he supports consulting, industrial, and government clients with in-situ treatment technologies and remediation strategies for PFAS, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, and other contaminants. Before joining REGENESIS, he worked as an environmental consulting project manager leading due-diligence assessments and managing remediation projects from initiation through closure.

About the Session

As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, developers, energy providers, and technology companies are seeking energy and water-resource solutions that can support large-scale data-center deployment in an increasingly resource-constrained environment. Cooling infrastructure can represent a major water demand; the submitted abstract notes that a typical mid-sized data center may require approximately 300,000 gallons per day for cooling.

This presentation proposes a tiered approach to water-resource assessment that progresses from desktop review and modeling to more complex numerical modeling and field testing. The approach is intended to provide decision-useful data at each step while increasing complexity, time, and cost only as needed. It can support site screening and selection, cooling-technology design, operations, environmental-impact reduction, stakeholder concerns, and ESG goals.

About the Speaker

Kenneth “Neth” Walker, Jr., PE, PG, is a Senior Geologist and Engineer with GSI Environmental Inc. with more than 15 years of experience in environmental and water resources work. His experience includes site investigation and risk assessment, PFAS and other contaminant classes, remediation support under state and federal programs, water-resource evaluations focused on availability and quality, and Class VI Underground Injection Control permitting for carbon capture and storage projects along the Texas Gulf Coast. He has also helped develop training materials for ASTM’s Moving Sites to Closure guidance.

About the Session

The Clean Water Act (CWA) allows states to assume administration of the Section 404 permitting program for certain waters within their boundaries. For decades, federal wetland policy emphasized achieving no net overall loss, and ultimately a net gain of wetland acreage and functions. At the same time, a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions has progressively narrowed the scope of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) protected under the CWA. These developments include Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) in 2001; the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Rapanos v. United States and the resulting 2008 consent decree resolving the remanded enforcement action; and Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency in 2023. Following Sackett, federal jurisdiction generally extends to traditionally navigable waters, relatively permanent bodies of water connected to them, and wetlands having a continuous surface connection with those waters. Consequently, many isolated wetlands, ephemeral streams, and other aquatic resources may no longer receive federal protection under the CWA. What does this mean for Texas? Should the state assume administration of the Section 404 program or establish complementary protections for waters no longer covered by federal law?

About the Speaker

Jim Herrington, PWS, is a wetlands consultant with Benchmark Ecological Services, Inc. in Brookshire, Texas. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Range Science and Temple College in Biology, with graduate studies at the University of Idaho. Mr. Herrington transferred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2000 after working eight years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Regulatory Program as a Regulatory Project Manager. He retired from his position as a Life Scientist in the Wetlands Section of the Water Quality Protection Division, EPA Region 6 in Dallas, where he provided technical and regulatory guidance concerning stream, riparian, and wetland issues to Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and federally recognized Region 6 tribal environmental programs. Mr. Herrington has 34 years of professional experience in wetlands.

About the Session

This presentation provides an overview of PFAS chemistry and analytical methods for municipal and environmental professionals, including the carbon–fluorine bond, chain length, functional groups, and precursor behavior. It focuses on six PFAS with established Maximum Contaminant Levels—PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (GenX), and PFBS—and reviews analytical approaches including EPA Methods 537.1 and 533.

The session also addresses site-assessment testing following the designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, including EPA Method 1633 and ASTM D8421 for multiple matrices. Screening approaches such as the Total Oxidizable Precursor assay and Adsorbable Organic Fluorine by EPA Method 1621 will be discussed, along with growing interest in ultra-short-chain PFAS (C1–C3).

About the Session

Water, data centers, and the state budget are hot topics around the Texas Capitol. This presentation will recap the major environmental legislation passed by the Texas Legislature in 2025, provide an update on current legislative activities, and preview what might be in store in 2027.

About the Speaker

Brian Christian has 35 years of experience working in the fields of regulatory and legislative communications. He established Brian Christian Consulting, LLC in 2018. He helps a variety of regulated entities navigate the Texas Legislature and the state’s environmental permitting and enforcement systems. Brian served in various front-line staff and management positions at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for over 24 years.

About the Session

The development and reliability of electric utilities are critical building blocks of modern society, and these foundational elements can be significantly impacted by the federal listing of species under the Endangered Species Act. In this presentation I will examine this through the lens of three species currently proposed for listing: the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), and the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). These species have the potential, without carefully crafted guidance, to create major impediments to necessary electric utility functions in three distinct types of habitats: forests, waters, and grasslands.

About the Speaker

David Ozro Woods is an Environmental Specialist with CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric. His professional background includes wetland delineation, threatened and endangered species surveys, and environmental and biological sampling. At CenterPoint Energy, he is responsible for environmental permitting for high-voltage electric transmission projects, avian protection and mitigation, and development of threatened and endangered species programs. He studied natural resources and environmental topics at the University of Arizona, including environmental permitting, ecological climatology, fire ecology, and mycology.

About the Session

During this short form presentation, we will provide a brief introduction to the powerful combination of real time feedback providing the means to monitor for real time and in-situ remediation of Hydro-carbons, PFAS/PFOS and Chlorides. The Hanby Environmental Field Test Kits have been utilized The World over for the last 40 years. OMG Solutions is a manu-facturer of ready to use remediation solutions that upon contact remediate contaminates. A little over 10 years ago, Hanby and OMG teamed up introducing The New Remediation Paradigms to The World combining real time feedback with real time remediation. The key to using Hanby’s field test kits is to knowledgeably know when a desired threshold has been met, to know when to send samples off to a Third Party Lab as confirmatory samples, confirming what you already know from accurate field data.

The key to OMG’s remediation products, is that they remediate upon contact of the contaminate. These real time and reliable response, create the powerful combination of changing how remediation is performed. The New Remediation Paradigm is actual remediation, not relocation of contamination. Hanby and OMG have these remediation solutions to address, Hydrocarbons, PFAS/PFOS and Chlorides. At our table, we will provide live demonstrations, come see “The Paradigm Shift” in remediation.

About the Session

The rapid expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is driving a new class of air permitting challenges for regulators, developers, and environmental professionals. While data centers are often perceived as low-emitting facilities, the scale, redundancy, and operational profiles of emergency generators, turbines, boilers, and thermal management systems can trigger complex federal and state air permitting requirements. This presentation provides a practical overview of air permitting considerations specific to data centers and AI-driven computing facilities, with an emphasis on New Source Review (NSR), Title V applicability, and common state-level permitting pathways.

Key topics include emissions characterization for large fleets of diesel and natural gas-fired generators, aggregation and project phasing considerations, emergency versus non-emergency operation limits, temporary engine exclusions, and applicability of NSPS, MACT, and NESHAP standards. We will also look at common pitfalls such as permitting timelines, air dispersion modeling, NAAQS attainment, and BACT review. The presentation also explores emerging issues such as increased generator run hours for grid support, evolving regulatory scrutiny as data centers scale rapidly, and strategies for permitting flexibility while maintaining compliance. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of how air regulations apply to modern data centers and AI facilities, common pitfalls to avoid, and best practices for aligning permitting strategies with fast-paced development schedules.

About the Speaker

Kai Greywall, EIT, is a Senior Consultant with Trinity Consultants in Houston, where he specializes in air-quality permitting and compliance for power-generation projects. He supports natural-gas-fired generation projects across multiple states, including emerging data-center and microgrid markets, evaluating permitting pathways, developing emissions calculations for turbines and reciprocating engines, and advising on compliance strategies for aggressive project timelines. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.

About the Speaker

Gordon Magenheim, P.G., C.P.G., C.H.M.M., CGeol., is the Compliance and Outreach Program Manager for the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists. A practicing geoscientist for more than 47 years, his background includes coal and lignite resource assessment and mining, environmental geology, stratigraphy, groundwater contaminant delineation, field safety, and health and safety. He served 28 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. His graduate education includes environmental science/environmental geology, emergency and disaster management, public administration in emergency management, and occupational safety and health.

About the Session

This presentation focuses on national trends observed during EPA Facility Response Plan reviews and Government-Initiated Unannounced Exercises. It highlights recurring issues rather than providing an exhaustive program overview and shares best practices, practical tips, and tools intended to help plan holders maintain compliance with OPA 90 requirements.

The session also considers the current regulatory landscape and observations from a team responsible for overseeing hundreds of plans in an evolving environment. The submitted material notes recent leadership changes within the EPA programs as another factor affecting national implementation.

About the Speaker

As Managing Director of Compliance Services at Witt O’Brien’s, John K. Carroll III leads the strategic growth, regulatory oversight, and daily operations of the Compliance Group. He brings more than two decades of experience in multi-media environmental compliance, program management, training, quality control, and auditing across diverse industries. His experience includes OPA 90 compliance and regulations issued by EPA, PHMSA, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as a range of federal and state regulatory frameworks.

About the Session

Following the 2025 Eaton and Palisades Wildfires where thousands of structures and acres were destroyed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led a complex clean-up and removal effort at impacted residential properties, prioritizing the health and safety of both workers and the surrounding communities. To foster public confidence and ensure transparency throughout the remediation process, a real-time particulate monitoring system was deployed and data from those systems was integrated into a publicly accessible website.

This platform provided continuous updates on air quality conditions, allowing residents and stakeholders to monitor environmental safety in real-time and to minimize dis-information. This presentation will detail how the strategic use of live data visualization and open communication enhanced community engagement and trust. It will cover the technical implementation of the monitoring system, the design and functionality of the public-facing interface, and the collaborative efforts between federal agencies, local governments, and community organizations. Lessons learned from the Wildfire response will be shared to inform best practices for future environmental remediation projects, emphasizing the critical role of transparency and data accessibility in protecting public health and supporting public confidence.

About the Keynote Speaker

Craig J. Pritzlaff serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, where he helps oversee national environmental compliance and enforcement activities. Before joining OECA, he served as Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. He previously served as Chief of the Administrative Law Division and Deputy Chief of the Environmental Protection Division at the Texas Office of the Attorney General, where he managed environmental litigation and appellate matters, including State v. Morello before the Texas Supreme Court.

About the Speaker

Gordon Magenheim, P.G., C.P.G., C.H.M.M., CGeol., is the Compliance and Outreach Program Manager for the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists. A practicing geoscientist for more than 47 years, his background includes coal and lignite resource assessment and mining, environmental geology, stratigraphy, groundwater contaminant delineation, field safety, and health and safety. He served 28 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. His graduate education includes environmental science/environmental geology, emergency and disaster management, public administration in emergency management, and occupational safety and health.

About the Session

At Terracon, I led field investigations and reporting for the Port of Corpus Christi's Pre-Dredge Characterization Sampling program. This work involved the collection of environmental samples (sediment, water, and elutriate) across numerous dredging prisms within the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Inner Harbor and outer channel offshore extensions. Sampling efforts consisted of collecting sediment and water samples for physical, chemical, toxicological, and bioaccumulation analysis. The field sampling for these projects have demanded rigorous quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) protocols, requiring meticulous organization in challenging environments.

During the planning of projects, vessels and sampling equipment are selected based on the total depth of the water column and total depth of the dredge prism. Different vessels and sediment sampling equipment are selected based on their capabilities for the depth of the water column and required sediment sampling protocols. Vessels can include liftboat/crew boat, spud/deck-barge, or a survey boat. Sediment collection equipment can include a sonic drill rig equipped with various size core barrels, a drill rig equipped either hollow-stem auger (HSA) and/or direct-push technology (DPT), drop tube sample barrels with an A-frame and hoist mounted on a boat, or a ponar grab sampler dropped from a boat.

About the Session

The release of petroleum hydrocarbons into soil and groundwater poses an immediate risk to human health, disrupts economic stability, degrades surface and subsurface landforms, and endangers ecosystems across both terrestrial and aquatic environments. With the multitude of services available at each stage of the site lifecycle, minimizing damage while efficiently performing remediation must be driven by the site data. A Case Study Presentation showcasing four sites; contamination/event, site specifications, initial ideas, additional testing, final ideas, remediation/recovery success stories. Case studies will highlight specific remediation projects from pipelines releases, LPST/UST, abandoned infrastructure, and natural gas pipelines.

About the Speaker

Lisabeth “Lis” Abrams is Vice President of Business Development at AcuVac Remediation, which specializes in site assessment and in-situ soil and groundwater treatment technologies. She leads strategic growth, client partnerships, and market development for projects addressing petroleum hydrocarbon and chlorinated solvent contamination. She has more than 25 years of experience in the environmental services industry working with environmental consultants, industry leaders, and regulatory stakeholders.

About the Session

This presentation provides an overview of key terminology associated with acoustic emissions, including fundamental definitions of sound and its distinction from noise. The discussion then focuses on sound emission considerations in Texas and Louisiana, emphasizing typical outdoor noise regulations and how these standards are applied at both state and local levels. Differences between state guidance and municipal ordinances are highlighted, including variations in allowable sound level approaches.

The presentation further examines how these regulatory frameworks influence onshore sound emissions related to emergency response efforts, water resource infrastructure, and broader environmental design efforts. Attention is given to the need for field and designers to balance operational requirements with community noise limits and environmental considerations. Federal regulations, including OSHA standards, are intentionally excluded to maintain a focused discussion on state and local requirements.

About the Session

To streamline environmental data collection, BGE's Environmental and Technology Solutions departments collaborated to develop technology-forward workflows for SWPPP and Phase I ESA projects, improving efficiency both in the field and in the office. Initial workflows relied on physical checklists and follow-up questions for field staff to utilize during SWPPP inspections and Phase I ESA site reconnaissance's, which resulted in unsystematic field work and required manual digitization for deliverable creation. In the effort to make field work more efficient, thorough, and consistent, BGE's Environmental staff partnered with the GIS team to simplify the reporting process.

Leveraging Esri products, BGE's Technology Solutions department developed field applications, geospatial surveys, and data processing tools to digitize field data collection workflows; with these improved methods of data collection, the Environmental team is equipped to create a working database of spatial inspection points to identify and visualize potential areas of concern during inspections. Further, BGE implemented automated deliverable generation using field-collected data, enabling the production of consistent, efficient reports throughout the life of a project. As a result, BGE's Environmental department can provide clients with in-situ field data that integrates directly into project deliverables.

About the Session

Houston Wilderness created the Riverine Targeted-Use-of-Buyouts (TUBs) Program with local, regional, and federal partners to develop large-scale nature-based infrastructure on contiguous FEMA-qualified public buyout properties bordering riparian corridors. Working with public landowners, corporate volunteers, and public and private funding sources, the program uses targeted native tree plantings and native grass bioswales to replace non-native turf grass.

The submitted abstract reports 21 completed TUBs sites on 11 waterways in the Greater Houston region. Annual analysis indicates benefits including flood mitigation, air- and water-quality enhancement, riverine erosion control, productive green space, and a low-cost approach to reducing disparities in highly flood-prone communities. Case examples will be presented.

About the Speaker

Deborah January-Bevers, J.D., is President and CEO of Houston Wilderness and has been involved in public policy in the Greater Houston region and Texas for more than 40 years. Her work has included the Freeway Forestation initiative, Bayou Greenway Initiative, Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan, Houston Ship Channel TREES Program, Riverine Targeted-Use-of-Buyouts Program, and TxCoast Targeted-Use-of-Beneficial-Uses Initiative. She earned a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and is a co-author of publications addressing ecosystem services, urban tree planting, and post-buyout properties.

About the Session

Microplastics are everywhere: in our water, our food, our air, and increasingly, ourselves. Over the past three years, this subfield of emerging environmental contamination has crossed a threshold that is difficult to ignore. Microplastics and nanoplastics have now been detected across a notable breadth of environmental and human tissue samples. We are no longer asking whether exposure occurs. We are asking what it does.

The emerging toxicological evidence points toward several mechanisms of concern: oxidative stress, inflammatory cascades, endocrine disruption, and gut microbiome dysregulation. Recent studies have linked microplastic burden in cardiovascular tissue to elevated risk of heart attack and stroke. Nanoplastics, smaller and more biologically mobile than their microplastic counterparts, appear capable of crossing cellular barriers once thought protective. Yet the field remains genuinely uncomfortable, not because the findings aren't alarming, but because the analytical methods aren't standardized, the dose-response relationships aren't established, and significant discourse exists among leading researchers. We are making health risk judgments in real time, with incomplete data, under significant public pressure. This presentation surveys the state of microplastics science as of 2025, covering what the most recent literature tells us about human exposure, internal body burden, and biological effects, while being honest about the methodological gaps that make definitive conclusions elusive.

About the Session

Historically, subsurface delivery of remediation amendments has relied on vertical injection wells and Direct Push Technology (DPT). While these methods are effective in many environmental applications, they can be limited when treatment zones are located beneath existing structures, within congested utility corridors, or at complex industrial and legacy manufacturing sites where surface access is restricted. In such settings, conventional vertical drilling approaches may be difficult to install or unable to achieve targeted amendment placement. Horizontal wells have emerged as an effective alternative for distributing remediation substrates across large or otherwise inaccessible treatment areas.

However, a common concern regarding horizontal injection systems is whether injected fluids preferentially exit near the beginning of the screened interval, resulting in non-uniform distribution. Effective horizontal well performance depends on project-specific screen design that incorporates fluid dynamics principles, formation characteristics, and injection requirements to promote balanced amendment delivery throughout the target interval. This presentation will discuss best practices for horizontal drilling and well installation and will include a case study demonstrating the application of engineered screen design to achieve effective injectate distribution. In addition, the presentation will introduce an emerging advancement in remediation delivery using horizontal directional drilling (HDD): direct substrate injection into directionally drilled boreholes.

About the Speaker

David Bardsley, PG, brings more than 40 years of experience in geotechnical, water-supply, and environmental drilling across a wide range of site conditions in the United States. He began his career as a drill-rig helper and progressed through technical and leadership roles in both small and large drilling companies. He was an early leader in the design and application of horizontal directional drilling and horizontal well installation methods. He holds a B.S. in Geology and Geophysics with a minor in Communications from the University of Missouri–Rolla and holds drilling and geologist credentials in multiple states.

About the Session

This presentation will explore how NEPA practitioners can navigate the evolving regulatory landscape with respect to NEPA and WOTUS changes.

About the Session

The success of in-situ remediation depends on accurately defining subsurface conditions and effectively delivering treatment reagents to impacted zones. This presentation reviews best practices for remedial design characterization (RDC) and its role in improving injection-based remediation performance. Topics include treatment technology selection, reagent delivery methods, and the geologic and hydraulic factors that influence amendment distribution.

Emphasis will be placed on using high-resolution site characterization (HRSC) to better define contaminant architecture, improve conceptual site models, optimize injection targeting, and reduce uncertainty associated with heterogeneous soil and bedrock conditions. The presentation will also summarize practical lessons from recent ITRC guidance on advanced site characterization and injection strategies, illustrating how higher-density, three-dimensional datasets improve contaminant-reagent contact and treatment effectiveness. A case study will demonstrate how integrating HRSC with remedial design can significantly enhance in-situ remediation outcomes.

About the Speaker

John V. Fontana, CPG, CWD is President and CEO of Vista GeoScience with 40 years of experience in advanced environmental site characterization technologies, laboratory management, and in-situ remediation injection methods. A Certified Professional Geologist and Certified Well Driller licensed in multiple states, he specializes in conceptual site model development and the design and implementation of injection-based remediation projects. John has authored or co-authored more than 100 technical papers, presentations, and training workshops and has supported complex DoD, DOE, and commercial remediation projects. He currently serves on the ITRC Advanced Site Characterization and Optimized In-Situ Injection guidance teams.

About the Session

How can environmental professionals turn digital capabilities into better decisions? This panel examines how artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), geospatial technology, and digital twins can support environmental monitoring, predictive analysis, and scenario planning. Panelists will explore applications in assessment, permitting, and risk management, alongside questions of data quality, validation, and integration.

Participants will gain practical insights into where these tools can add value, what implementation requires, and how to use their outputs critically while maintaining sound professional judgment.

About the Session

The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) maintains the Texas Cancer Registry, which collects occurances of many types of cancer, including the date of diagnosis and the age and home census tract of the patient. The database, stripped of personalized information such as names or specific addresses, is not publicly available. At the request of the Texas Health and Environment Alliance (THEA), in 2015 and again in 2025, the TDSHS prepared reports summarizing the occurrence rates for specified types of cancer in a 257 square mile area in East Harris County. Both reports confirmed and raised concerns about localized cancer clusters. Neither report assessed the possible causes for the increased cancer rates.

Such assessments provide additional information for a community, but also raise new questions to be addressed. The study area for these two reports surrounds the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site and includes four other Superfund sites. Yet other possible causes of higher cancer rates also occur in the study area, including air emissions of toxic pollutants from multiple sources, additional environmental exposures, and reported social determinants impacting health. What was learned from these two assessments and other available data related to cancer incidence rates in Harris County? What are the limitations of such reports?