The Chemical Disaster Prevention Campaign coordinators:
Richard Moore
Los Jardines Institute
ljinewmexico@gmail.com
(505) 301-0276
Michele Roberts
Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform
mroberts@comingcleaninc.org
(202) 704-7593
To learn more or get involved with Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform
Visit ej4all.org for detailed information and resources.
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Chemical Disaster Prevention Program
The people most at risk from chemical disasters are communities of color and low income communities.
West, Texas. Louisville, Kentucky. Richmond, California. Charleston, West Virginia. Wilmington, Delaware. What do these communities have in common? They have all experienced chemical plant or storage explosions, leaks, and spills that threaten the health and safety of thousands or millions of people nearby. These cities are not alone; every day, millions of people live and work in the shadow of high-risk chemical plants that store and use extremely hazardous chemicals. In fact, 124 million Americans live within three miles of a chemical facility that threatens their lives with a potential chemical disaster. For too long, chemical companies have escaped responsibility for protecting workers and local residents by blocking efforts to prevent these disasters before they happen.
Who’s in Danger from chemical incidents? Our research shows that the people most at risk from chemical disasters are communities of color and low income communities. What is Life at the Fenceline of chemical facilities like? Risk of chemical disasters, poverty, limited access to healthy food, and cancer and respiratory illness linked to air pollution abounds.
Fortunately, inherently safer and cost-effective chemicals or processes are widely available. And, through the work of Coming Clean and our partners, we're working to develop and implement protective policies which will benefit everyone in the U.S.—and especially people most vulnerable to chemical disasters.
Through our Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Coming Clean is working with partner organizations to demand action from the White House, EPA and other federal agencies to save lives and prevent chemical disasters, including a requirement for chemical companies to switch to safer chemicals and processes wherever feasible. We’re also pursuing new standards to prevent leaks and contamination of our drinking water from above-ground chemical storage tanks following a legal settlement with EPA. Our work will help protect drinking water, air, and even the very lives of millions of people who live near hazardous chemical facilities across the nation.
Recent Reports & Resources
- Life at the Fenceline report.
- Who’s In Danger report.
- The Louisville Charter. A platform for creating a safe and healthy environment through innovation.
Related News
Release: Environmental Justice Council Urges EPA to Change Course
May 9, 2019
Washington, DC — The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) issued formal recommendations to EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, urging the agency to address two issues vital to environmental justice communities and public health. Grassroots organizations and people who live in impacted environmental justice communities praised NEJAC's recommendations to the EPA. Read More
Watch: Life at the Fenceline - Our Video Collaboration with NRDC and Rashida Jones
April 22, 2019
See our stunning new animated video collaboration with EJHA, NRDC and Rashida Jones: Life at the Fenceline.
High-risk chemical facilities threaten the lives of nearly 40% of all US residents with catastrophic explosions or poison gas leaks — do you live in a potential chemical disaster zone? Read More
News: One dead, two seriously injured in fire at KMCO specialty chemical plant in Houston area
April 4, 2019
“From Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Harvey, we’ve repeatedly witnessed communities inundated by toxic flood waters—laced with an unknown concoction of hazardous chemical substances. Black, brown, and poor communities are more likely to be impacted by chemical spills and suffer the health impacts of pollution,” says Michele Roberts, National Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance. Read More
News: Environmental justice advocates have questions after Croda settlement
April 3, 2019
Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice (an EJHA affiliate) is featured in this piece about the toxic ethylene oxide leak eminating from Croda Industries.
“Fines are meant to discourage polluters from violating again,” said Lambert. “If you look at that fine, if it were doubled or even tripled, it would still be a slap on the wrist. So with that being said, that fine isn’t acceptable.” Read More
OpEd: Industry growth must also address emergency response
April 2, 2019
OpEd by Pam Nixon, spokeswoman for People Concerned About Chemical Safety, an EJHA affiliate in Charleston, WV.
"We have known for years that chemical emergencies disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color and result in cumulative health problems. Yet, emergency response concerns remain unaddressed in the unincorporated fenceline communities of Institute and Jefferson, and others like them in the Kanawha Valley." Read More
Release: Houston Chemical Fire and Spill Bolsters Case for Needed Reforms
March 29, 2019
The aftermath of a horrific fire at the ITC chemical plant in Houston has reinforced ongoing oversight and enforcement gaps, according to a coalition of groups that filed suit last week in federal court to force the chemical industry to undertake “worst-case scenario” planning. Read More
Advisory: People Impacted by Carcinogenic Ethylene Oxide to Attend EPA Hearing
March 26, 2019
Both before and after a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public hearing on hydrochloric acid production and ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions, people from communities which have been exposed to ethylene oxide emanating from nearby industrial facilities will be available to tell their stories–some of which have suffered cancers and other health problems linked to the carcinogenic and extremely explosive chemical. These impacted people will be urging the agency not to risk public health by undermining a new assessment from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which found cancer-risk from EtO exposure to be 30-times worse than previously estimated. Read More
Blog: The Stories We Bring
March 22, 2019
Over the past two weeks, our colleague, Michele Roberts, had the distinct honor of participating in the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women as a member of the national Episcopal Church’s delegation. Read More
Release: Groups Sue EPA Over Decades-Long Failure to Protect Communities from Most Dangerous Chemical Spills
March 21, 2019
New York, N.Y. – The Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Clean Water Action, and Natural Resources Defense Council today filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to pass regulations requiring the most dangerous chemical facilities to develop plans to prevent and respond to worst-case scenario spills of hazardous substances, including spills triggered by natural disasters that put people’s health at risk. Congress mandated such regulations in 1990 – but more than 25 years later, EPA has failed to act. Read More
Release: Victory for Environmental Justice Communities as Court Orders Disclosure of Emissions from Chemical Facility Incidents
March 12, 2019
Environmental justice community members celebrated a ruling which will require chemical facilities to disclose unpermitted toxic chemical emissions to the public. Read More
News: Croda gas leak reportedly among worst of its kind in country this year
December 22, 2018
It took nearly a month after a toxic gas leak shut down the Delaware Memorial Bridge on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year for company and state officials to shed some light on what went wrong.
It remains unclear who will pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tolls, who will fix any environmental harm, and who will address any lingering health effects that travelers, first responders and neighbors may have been exposed to that Sunday night... Read More
Blog: Fighting for Chemical Security - Raising Our Voices for Health & Justice for People at the Fenceline
November 15, 2018
Imagine being woken up early in the morning by a siren blaring loudly. You turn on the news to learn that there is a massive fire at the oil refinery in town. Residents are instructed to “shelter in place,” so you make sure all the windows are closed, but you know there is not much more you can do. You realize that your 8-year-old child is having a very hard time breathing, so you head to the hospital as soon as you can. It turns out that sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide gases were released from the refinery because of the fire. Read More
The Manchester neighborhood in Houston, Texas
The Chemical Disaster Prevention Campaign coordinators:
To learn more or get involved with Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform
Visit ej4all.org for detailed information and resources.
Share this page: |