Fumed
Fumed is an investigative podcast about two stubborn Texans trying to salvage what's left of their working-class community. That’s a problem, though, because they live in East Harris County, where the petrochemical industry calls the shots — and where pushing back can be dangerous. A four-part series from Public Health Watch.
Host: David Leffler
Editor: Susan White
Executive Producer: Jordan Gass-Pooré
Senior Producer: Salina Arredondo
Assistant Producer: Savanna Strott
Reporting: David Leffler, Savanna Strott and Salina Arredondo
Additional Research: Jana Cholakovska and Jordan Gass-Pooré
Sound Engineer: Mark Bush
Original Music: Michael Ramos
Jim Morris is the executive director and editor in chief of Public Health Watch
Latest Episodes
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Greg’s house is burned down and his video camera shows the face of the suspected arsonist — a man he doesn’t know. Greg thinks the barge company he’s been monitoring is behind the fire, but he has no proof. Greg carries a gun wherever he goes, and Carolyn and her husband make sure their guns are always nearby. Neither she nor Greg can afford to move away from the dangers that surround them — so for now, they’ll keep fighting to preserve what remains of the community they love. -
Greg is rescued from his home when Hurricane Harvey hits Channelview. The floodwaters gash a temporary cap that covers the Superfund site, unleashing chemicals into the river. Carolyn and Greg join forces to create the Channelview Health and Improvement Coalition. Greg campaigns publicly — and successfully — against a barge company’s plan to dig up tons of river sludge to make way for more barges.
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Carolyn’s neighborhood becomes ground zero for Channeview’s rapid industrialization. A fire engulfs a nearby chemical storage facility, and a barge company builds its headquarters across the street from her house. Greg uses drones to keep tabs on the chemical barges that are moving into his neighborhood, close to a Superfund site filled with cancer-causing dioxin.
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It’s the 1980s. Carolyn Stone and Greg Moss have settled into quiet lives in Channelview — an unincorporated community outside Houston, in the heart of the nation’s petrochemical industry. But within a few years, petrochemical plants and chemical barges move in, and air pollution and industrial accidents become routine. When they realize that state lawmakers and regulators aren’t going to protect them, Carolyn and Greg start fighting back themselves.
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“Fumed,” an investigative podcast by Public Health Watch, will debut on March 7, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen along as we unpack the stories of people who live in the shadows of America’s chemical plants and oil refineries.