80R18163 CL-D
 
  By: Flores H.R. No. 1844
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, From 1945 to 1968, the Hayes-Sammons Chemical
  Company operated pesticide formulating and storage facilities on a
  six-acre site located in a residential area near downtown Mission,
  Texas; during decades of pesticide production and storage,
  constituent chemicals contaminated the surrounding neighborhood
  through the ventilation of a chemical fog, the release of toxic
  fumes resulting from the "melting" of pesticides, the open storage
  of dry pesticides, and nearly daily chemical spills; and
         WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency
  (EPA) tested the area around the facility in 1980 and found at least
  10 different chemicals with concentrations several times higher
  than levels the agency considers safe for human exposure; the
  pesticides discovered at the Hayes-Sammons plant, which include
  DDT, toxaphene, chlordane, BHC-lindane, and dieldrin, have been
  banned in the United States because of their chronic toxicity and
  ill-effects on human health and the environment but remain present
  in the neighborhood where the plant was once located; and
         WHEREAS, In September 2006, the EPA declared that the former
  plant site posed "unacceptable threats to human health and the
  environment"; in fact, hundreds of residents now suffer from health
  problems known to be associated with long-term exposure to the
  pesticides found at the site, including cancers, birth defects,
  neurological disorders, skin disorders, and other illnesses; and
         WHEREAS, In 1998, more than 1,800 Mission residents filed a
  class-action lawsuit against the chemical companies who supplied
  the products that contributed to the contamination; the District
  Court of the 332nd Judicial District in Hidalgo County was
  subsequently set to hear the consolidated case of five of the
  residents exposed to pesticides while living in close proximity to
  the site, but Allied Chemical and other pesticide defendants in the
  case appealed the court's consolidation order; on March 28, 2005,
  the Texas Supreme Court entered an order staying all underlying
  proceedings in the lawsuit pending future orders of the court; and
         WHEREAS, While awaiting a decision from the Texas Supreme
  Court, the affected Mission residents are prohibited from taking
  any further action in the case; these citizens have been denied the
  use of the judicial system for more than two years while many are
  gravely ill and some are dying, and it is urgent that the court make
  a ruling as soon as possible before more residents die and are
  unable to see their cases go to trial; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas
  Legislature hereby request the Texas Supreme Court, in the interest
  of justice, to rule on the pending mandamus appeal filed by Allied
  Chemical Corporation et al.; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the chief clerk of the house of
  representatives forward an official copy of this resolution to the
  chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court.