KVOA

Posted: Nov 2, 2009 10:12 PM
Updated: Nov 18, 2009 8:52 AM

CORPUS CHRISTI - The federal government plans to help with a pollution study on the North side and it's in response to a study conducted by local environmental group, Citizens for Environmental Justice.

The group's study in 2007 tested blood and urine samples from 96 people in the Hillcrest neighborhood and found high levels of benzene in the samples. The state, with the help of federal agencies, plans to conduct a similar study but the environmental group has a problem with that, saying the agencies have turned their back on the community for 10 years now.

So, the head of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) met with North side residents Monday night. He said the formal results of the environmental group's survey have never been released, but if they are true, then it would be cause for concern.

"We'll take a very objective careful look at the sampling of the community. We'll be sure that the technical methods that are used to collect the blood and urine and to analyze are just right, and at the end of the day, we'll tell the truth about what they show,” ATSDR Director Dr. Howard Frumkin said.

"Why would we trust them to redo a study that we did ourselves? Just because the levels of benzene were so high? The government doesn't like that cause they have a stake in it. You see, if there is a lot of benzene here then that says they're not doing they're job,” Citizens for Environmental Justice’s Suzie Canales said.