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Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Image 2 of 17 Image 3 of 17 Image 4 of 17 Image 5 of 17 Image 6 of 17 Image 7 of 17 Image 8 of 17 Image 9 of 17 Image 10 of 17 Image 11 of 17 Image 12 of 17 San Jacinto River Waste Pits full-page cartoon San Jacinto River Waste Pits full-page cartoon Image 13 of 17 Image 14 of 17 Image 15 of 17 Image 16 of 17 San Jacinto River Waste Pits, full-page cartoon - how it looked in the paper. San Jacinto River Waste Pits, full-page cartoon - how it looked in the paper. Image 17 of 17 The San Jacinto River in Peril - Part One 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

I spent the last few months researching the San Jacinto River Waste Pits and how they affect the residents of the immediate area and the entire Houston community. This is something very different for me – rather than rely on the reporting of others and commenting on it, I’ve done my own reporting.

The result is equal parts editorial cartoon, investigative journalism and graphic narrative. Today I bring you the story of Jackie Young, a former resident of Highlands Texas and 2013 Houston Rodeo Queen. Jackie has suffered many mysterious illnesses at a very young age. This cartoon can be seen in a full-page display in the Outlook section of the Sunday, June 15 edition of the Houston Chronicle.

Here, you can watch a video of a Jan 30, 2014 EPA community meeting regarding remediation options for the San Jacinto Waste Pits. Jackie can be heard addressing the crowd at about 59:14.

Next week I will take a closer look at the toxic legacy the Waste Pits leave behind.

How it was presented in today’s paper: