Speakers at the public-comment portion of the Houston City Council meeting urged officials to stop or delay housing moves to a proposed redevelopment site at 800 Middle Street, citing long-standing contamination, cancer-cluster concerns and incomplete cleanup.

Sandra Edwards told the council she opposes allowing new residents into the site and warned of a potential recurrence of past industrial contamination. "I don't wanna see another cluster arise in Houston in on my time," Edwards said, asking the city to "clean up the area before anybody go over there." Pamela Vonta of Texas Health Environment Alliance said residents near other contaminated sites have experienced elevated rates of cancer and warned that toxins can persist in body tissues and across generations.

Vonta said the alliance had satellite imagery and EPA vapor-mapping data and warned the council that moving dioxin-containing material to a nonhazardous classification could create future public-health liabilities. "This is a huge environmental injustice," she said.

Council response and follow-up: Council member Tarsha Jackson and Council member Greg Carter said they wanted to review the materials and meet with the speakers; Jackson invited the presenters to the community update meeting scheduled for Jan. 30 on cancer-cluster issues and asked for the contact information and satellite imagery.

What the speakers asked: The public asked the city to stop resident relocations to the site until an independent environmental review is complete, to consult EPA vapor and dioxin sampling data and to prioritize cleaning the site before occupancy to avoid future lawsuits and health harms.

Status: Council members acknowledged the concerns and said staff and council offices would follow up to review the data and provide community updates at scheduled cluster meetings.