FORT WORTH — New details are emerging about elevated levels of benzene found in Fort Worth.
On Monday, State Senator Wendy Davis released a map showing where elevated levels of the cancer-causing toxin have been found.
She says it proves a long-term air monitor is needed in at least one part of town - southeast Fort Worth.
Takice Stewart's sons and daughters are some of the children Davis wants to protect. They live in southeast Fort Worth, an area that Davis says is home to many hard-working minority families.
"My four-year-old, he has asthma, so we have to keep on top of that," Stewart said.
Sen. Davis's concern stems from elevated levels of benzene found in samples in four areas in and around Fort Worth since December. State scientists get concerned about benzene levels when they're higher than 1.4 parts per billion continuously, over the course of years.
"Representative Veasey and I are concerned that this may be a community that's overlooked,if we don't make sure that we're bringing their voices to the table and demanding accountability on their behalf," said Davis.
TCEQ Executive Director Mark Vickery responded to the air monitor request by saying, "We will make every effort to accommodate Senator Davis and Representative Veasey's request for an autogc monitor in southeast Tarrant county. Prior to this request, staff had already been evaluating several sites south of Fort Worth to place an additional monitor. It is our goal to identify the area and have the monitor fully operational my the end of the summer."
Stewart's glad to hear a long-term air monitor is in their future but still signed a petition against a Chesapeake-proposed gas well across the street from her house. Her neighborhood association president, however, says she believes most of the neighborhood supports it.
Chesapeake tells us that "repeated testing conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has revealed there is no immediate health risk for residents in Tarrant County."
The big question investigators have to figure out now is whether elevated levels are just a spike. If they're not sustained over the course of years, they could still be safe.
State toxicologists say long term monitors are essential to answer that question.
E-mail: chawes@wfaa.com
