Houston, Texas' concentrated regions of hazardous chemical facilities are a result of environmental racism.
Houston, Texas' Harrisburg/Manchester neighborhood comprised of 98% Hispanic residents, with many falling below the poverty line is a region with a high concentration of oil refineries, chemical plants, sewage treatment facilities, and hazardous waste sites, and has been ignored by the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Harrisburg/Manchester neighborhood air and water are heavily polluted, with garbage and litter scattered in the streets as a general sight to see. A Superfund site replaced an old elementary school which was forced to shut down due to high concentrations of lead found in children. Children and residents are now exposed to toxic chemicals in the air from vehicle emissions. An average of 484,000 lbs of toxic chemicals are released into the air each year in this neighborhood, and the area has a 22% higher cancer risk than any other region in Houston. As of 2020, there seems to have still been nothing done to reduce the amount of toxic pollutants in the region, and the neighborhood has little press about what's happening. Systemic racism plays a role in the concentrated hazardous facilities that hover over Harrisburg/Manchester neighborhood.