Fumed is a must-listen podcast about people living in the shadows of America’s chemical plants and oil refineries. For host David Leffler, it’s a very personal project. He spent two years reporting and recording it, getting to know the residents of Channelview, Texas, in the process—hanging out in bars, homes, and community meetings in this largely Latino suburb of Houston overrun by the plastics and petrochemical industry. Over the course of four episodes, David, who is also a senior staff writer at Public Health Watch, unwinds a tale of two advocates fighting for the safety and health of their community in the midst of a complex web of federal and state regulation, corporate deceit and greed, and a touch of true crime.
“Channelview is one of so many places that are starving for their stories to be told in an honest and empowering way,” David says. The people there care deeply about what is happening in their own backyards. “They just don’t always have the capacity to fight back. They’re incredibly overmatched by, not just companies, but a larger system that relies on the industrialization of their homes.”
Tell Congress: Protect Families From the Plastics and Petrochemical Industry
We chatted with David about his inspiration and approach to journalism and why telling stories of everyday people battling industrial operations for basic human rights like clean air and water is so important.
How did you start reporting about toxic chemical pollution?
I’m from Austin, Texas. I remember driving through the Houston area when I was growing up and seeing all these industrial facilities. It was very striking and even more so when I realized that people live near these places. So when I got into investigative journalism a half decade ago, I was really drawn to the environment—not necessarily from an environmentalist perspective, but from the basic idea that everyone should be entitled to clean air and clean water.
For me, industrial pollution in the Houston area is one of the most tangible examples of what goes on in this country and specifically in Texas. The petrochemical industry transformed Texas over a century ago from a very agrarian place into an economic powerhouse that is the seventh largest economy in the world. That growth comes at a cost. Populations in our state have been taken advantage of and left behind in different ways for generations.
How do you hold this power to account? You first go to the state’s biggest source of power, and then you look at who’s suffering the brunt of that. Once you start looking, you meet advocates and experts who’ve been studying this for decades—and it’s really hard to look away.
What do you hope listeners will take away from Fumed?
The two main characters of Fumed, Channelview residents Carolyn Stone and Greg Moss, are Trump supporters. At a time when it’s so easy to put people in boxes politically, it’s important to see that caring about what happens to a community’s health when corporate interests are the only things being prioritized is not a political thing. At the same time, talking with Carolyn and Greg gave me perspective about why someone living in Channelview isn’t like, “The government’s gonna come save me.” They are sitting there thinking, “Well, we’ve never been helped by EPA or these places.” How can they believe in a system when all they’ve seen is themselves be taken advantage of by it?
Do you consider yourself an environmentalist?
I remember asking Carolyn and Greg that same question. They didn’t want to identify as environmentalists. They didn’t want to identify as an advocate or an activist specifically because they think of an activist as someone who’s willing to blow up a train car to prove a point—very out there. But what’s the difference between an activist or an environmentalist and a conservationist? It’s just packaging.
I would say I do identify as an environmentalist. And I would also say that most people want a happy and healthy environment for themselves. The key is getting people to think beyond their own initial community and be concerned for the welfare of others. Environmental issues do not always remain confined to specific communities; as industry continues to take hold in different places, they will spread.
What film best captures environmental issues today?
That’s a hard one! Erin Brockovich is incredible and definitely the movie most commonly referenced to me by interview sources, but the film that will forever stand out to me is Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo. The way it captures the struggles of normal, everyday people against powerful petrochemical corporations is disturbing, and its ability to show just how long most people have to wait to get justice—if they ever get it—is haunting.
What’s one thing that you think everyone should know about the petrochemical industry in Texas?
Petrochemical corporations see the writing on the wall: The more green energy coming in, the less the need for gasoline. So we’re seeing the expansive changing of resources into petrochemicals, and specifically plastics, as opposed to oil. Plastics is the future of the oil industry. We are on the precipice of a massive plastics production boom in Texas. Not only is this going to threaten the safety, health, and well-being of communities living near industry for generations to come, but it’s also going to add a lot of new facilities in places that have previously been untouched.
Listen to Public Health Watch’s Fumed here or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned: they are getting ready to release new episodes.
Tell Congress: Protect Families From the Plastics and Petrochemical Industry