The chemical industry needs to switch away from its major building-block petrochemicals so it can transform into a sector that no longer harms people’s health or the environment, according to a July 13 report from activists. Lower-hazard substances that are not derived from fossil fuels should replace benzene, butadiene, ethylene, methanol, propylene, toluene, and xylene, says the report by the group Coming Clean. It is a US-based network of community activists, environmental justice organizations, and policy, science, and market experts. “The petrochemical sector’s reliance on fossil-fuel feedstocks and manufacturing processes that have evolved little in a hundred years is a massive barrier for change,” Beverley Thorpe, program manager at Clean Production Action and author of the report, says in a statement.
Read MoreChemical Disaster Prevention Program
A joint project of Coming Clean & the Environmental Justice Health Alliance
Chemical fires, explosions and toxic spills are shockingly common in the US. Communities of color and low-income communities are most at risk.
Across the United States, over 12,000 high-risk chemical facilities put 39% of the US population (124 million people) who live within three miles of these sites at constant risk of a chemical disaster. The full vulnerability zones for these industrial and commercial sites can extend up to twenty-five miles in radius. Many communities of color and low-income communities face disproportionate risk from these facilities, and often face other health hazards as well, such as high levels of toxic pollution, and higher rates of hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19.
But commonsense solutions exist that can prevent chemical disasters and protect workers and communities at the fenceline.
The EPA’s Risk Management Plan (RMP) Rule regulates these 12,000 high-risk chemical facilities nationwide and is currently being updated. Coming Clean and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) are mobilizing a broad coalition of stakeholders to demand a stronger rule that will protect workers and communities, and prevent chemical disasters.
Op-eds
Strengthening this one rule could keep frontline communities safe from their toxic neighbors
By State Representatives Attica Scott (KY) and Larry Lambert (DE)
"For decades our constituents have lived under the constant threat of explosions or toxic releases in our neighborhoods, never knowing what or when the next disaster will be... This week we joined more than 70 elected officials from 16 states and territories nationwide in writing a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan urging him to place disaster prevention and environmental justice at the center of an updated rule."
It's time to stop rolling the dice on chemical disasters
By Pam Nixon (WV, People Concerned About Chemical Safety)
"Have you ever watched somebody shake a can of soda, and then get ready to crack open the top? You know it’s going to explode, but you don’t know when, or how bad it will be. That’s what it’s like living near a chemical plant. Except the consequences can be deadly. As a lifelong resident of Kanawha County, West Virginia — an area that has been home to dozens of industrial facilities making everything from pesticides to plastics — I know this uncertain feeling all too well."
Reports & Resources
- Transitioning to Safer Substitutes. Our infographic shows how a water reclamation plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico was able to stop storing dangerous quantities of chlorine gas on site by switching to an ultraviolet light disinfection system, after residents took action.
- The Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters maintains an ongoing list of chemical incidents in the United States- there have been over 600 dangerous chemical incidents since 2020. Learn more.
- Unprepared for Disaster: Chemical Hazards in the Wake of Hurricane Ida. In this 2021 report, we profile three facilities in Louisiana that put communities at risk by releasing toxic chemicals into the environment after being hit with high winds and flooding from Hurricane Ida. We recommend several ways the EPA could meaningfully update its Risk Management Program to prevent chemical disasters from happening in the first place.
- Read our 2021 public comments to the EPA, calling for a stronger Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule.
- Life at the Fenceline. Our research shows that people on the fenceline live under the threat of chemical disasters, have limited access to healthy food, and experience higher rates of cancer and respiratory illness.
- Who’s In Danger? Our research shows that the people most at risk from chemical disasters are communities of color and low-income communities.
- The Louisville Charter is our roadmap for transforming the chemical industry, endorsed by over 125 organizations. Safer chemicals and processes exist. We must phase out the production of chemicals that put communities in danger and contribute to climate change - and take immediate action to strengthen and restore communities that have have borne the brunt of legacy and ongoing contamination by the chemical industry.
Related News
May 10, 2022
Faith leaders call on EPA to strengthen chemical disaster rule
Over 100 faith leaders and organizations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan today, urging the agency to strengthen and expand its Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule, which is intended to prevent chemical disasters at high-risk facilities nationwide and is currently being updated. Chemical releases, fires, and explosions are shockingly common in the United States. In just ten years, there have been over 1,500 reported chemical releases or explosions at facilities regulated under the RMP rule, causing 17,000 reported injuries and 59 reported deaths. But deadly chemical incidents could be prevented if RMP facilities were required to transition to safer processes, faith leaders state in the letter. Their calls echo those of health professionals, security experts, and members of Congress who have also demanded meaningful reforms to the RMP rule in recent months. Read More
April 26, 2022
EPA faces pressure to tighten chemical disaster rules
Pressure is mounting on EPA to strengthen oversight of chemical facilities to better prepare them for disaster risks at the sites. Experts, former agency leaders and lawmakers are calling on EPA to tighten loopholes and beef up its risk management plan, or RMP, which instructs certain facilities to develop contingency plans in case of a crisis. Those sites, which handle high-risk chemicals, are vulnerable to climate impacts and other events that can imperil their surrounding communities and environment. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said last month that the agency plans to update the RMP and issue a new rule by this September. Now, EPA is seeing an uptick in calls for the regulations to address a range of concerns, stemming from environmental justice to national security. Read More
April 20, 2022
Health Experts and Healthcare Workers Call for Strong Chemical Safety Safeguards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the Risk Management Plan (RMP) Rule, a policy meant to protect community members who live and work near high-risk chemical facilities. In a new letter, hundreds of health professionals are calling on EPA to set the strongest possible standards, demanding reforms that bring chemical-safety rules in line with the demands of both science and justice. While more than 200 million people in the U.S. live, work, or attend school near an RMP-covered facility, the threat these facilities pose is more severe for low-income households and communities of color, who are more likely to live near the fence line of one or more hazardous facilities. Read More
March 31, 2022
Environmentalists Clash With Industry Over EtO Risk In Chemical Rule
Environmentalists and state regulators are clashing with industry over the legality of EPA’s plan to reaffirm a stringent risk assessment for the solvent ethylene oxide (EtO) in a chemical sector air toxics rule, with environmental groups defending the assessment and warning industry’s preferred use of a weaker Texas alternative would be unlawful....The IRIS analysis found health risks from EtO far greater than previously thought... The Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform in its March 24 comments also supports use of the IRIS risk assessment, but further presses EPA to address issues it has placed outside of the scope of the current rulemaking.“It is time for EPA to fully follow the science and strengthen the MON emission standards to finally protect communities who live, work, worship, go to school, and breathe air near these chemical plants as the Clean Air Act requires,” the group says. EPA should tighten the rule “by reducing flaring, leaks, and other fugitive emissions to eliminate unacceptable cancer risk and provide an ample margin of safety to protect public health from the cumulative health risks and impacts caused by MON and collocated and nearby chemical and petrochemical sources,” it says. The group also urges EPA to update its “outdated cancer risk policy benchmark and the risk assessment approach to account for the real-world cumulative health harms experienced by communities.”
March 7, 2022
Congressional watchdog warns of climate threats to chemical plants
Chemical companies are required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Plan rule, or RMP rule, to develop programs that help reduce the risk of accidents. There are 10,420 facilities nationwide that are required to submit plans under the rule. A growing threat to these facilities is coming into focus: climate change. More than 3,200 of these sites are in areas where natural hazards like storm surges, wildfires, and flooding are being exacerbated by global warming, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, the U.S. Congress’ investigative arm. In January, more than 70 state and local officials sent a letter to the EPA administrator citing these facts and calling for stricter RMP rules. Read More
February 2, 2022
Disaster at Winston-Salem Fertilizer Plant Is Unacceptable, Unnecessary, and Entirely Preventable
A fire that erupted Monday night at a fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, NC continues to burn endangering thousands of people in the area who have had to evacuate or shelter-in-place. The threat of a deadly explosion remains as the fire continues to burn out of control, threatening the health and safety of the nearby communities. This tragic chemical disaster poses unacceptable risk to those who live, work, or go to school near facilities like this, yet they regularly happen all over the United States, despite being entirely preventable. Communities at the fenceline of the chemical industry in other communities live daily with similar harm and threat due to major gaps in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) federal rules on hazardous chemical storage, use, and industrial facility safety. It’s time for the EPA to prevent these harmful chemical disasters once and for all. Read More
January 28, 2022
Strengthening this one rule could keep frontline communities safe from their toxic neighbors
We grew up in or near predominantly Black communities surrounded by heavy industry. As children in Louisville, Kentucky, and Claymont, Delaware, we knew something was amiss when so many friends and family members developed dense coughs, asthma, cancer, and other diseases. What we didn’t know at the time is that we were among many low-income communities of color across the country suffering from toxic chemical exposure. For decades our constituents have lived under the constant threat of explosions or toxic releases in our neighborhoods, never knowing what or when the next disaster will be. Parents must weigh the benefits of allowing their children to go outdoors with the risks of being exposed to harsh chemicals. We recently saw air pollution in our communities lead to disproportionate rates of severe illness and death during this pandemic, a trend that has been observed across the country. Read More
January 29, 2022
Local officials call for tougher chemical safety regulation
More than 70 elected officials from 16 states and territories are urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to toughen and issue a stalled regulation intended to protect communities, workers, and chemical companies from chemical disasters. The risk management plan (RMP) regulation requires 12,000 high-risk chemical producers to examine and institute safe manufacturing processes to prevent accidents and aid emergency responders. The RMP provisions were modified by the Barack Obama administration but weakened by the Donald J. Trump administration. Read More
January 27, 2022
EPA Under Renewed Pressure To Strengthen Chemical Facility Safety Rule
EPA is under renewed pressure to significantly strengthen protections under its chemical facility safety rule for communities living near industrial facilities, with state and local lawmakers from more than a dozen states citing environmental justice (EJ) concerns and urging measures beyond those established by the Obama administration. In a Jan. 26 letter, more than 70 state and local lawmakers urge EPA Administrator Michael Regan to revamp EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) rule in order to better protect communities near chemical facilities. “As elected officials representing many communities across the U.S., we are writing to urge [EPA] to adopt a strengthened [RMP], or chemical disaster prevention rule, to protect communities across the United States,” the legislators from 16 states, territories and local governments write. Stephanie Herron, national organizer with Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) -- which is an advocacy group that organized and distributed the lawmakers’ letter -- told Inside EPA in response to a question that the lawmakers are weighing in now in order to influence EPA before it proposes the rule. “Now is a critical time to weigh in with EPA on these key provisions” needed to make the rule more stringent, she said. Read More
January 27, 2022
Louisville officials sign letter to strengthen chemical disaster prevention rules
Elected officials in Louisville are joining lawmakers from around the country in calling for stronger federal rules to prevent disasters at high-risk chemical facilities. The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing Risk Management Plan (RMP) rules for more than 12,000 high-risk facilities around the country. The facilities covered by the rules contain highly corrosive, explosive and toxic chemicals that present a danger to the public when disasters strike. Kentucky has more than 200 RMP facilities, according to a Houston Chronicle database. Around two-thirds of Louisville residents live within three miles of one, according to a 2018 study from the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform. Read More
January 27, 2022
Advocates ask EPA to tighten chemical disaster prevention rule to rein in possible polluters, including Suncor
More than 70 elected officials in states including Colorado are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen the chemical disaster prevention rule in order to protect communities from toxins at high-risk facilities, like the Suncor oil refinery in Commerce City. The EPA’s “Risk Management Plan,” or RMP, rule is meant to prevent disasters at chemical facilities across the country — more than 200 exist in Colorado — but advocates say the rule is lacking. “Chemical releases, fires, and explosions occur across the United States almost constantly,” the letter said. “In just ten years, there were over 1,500 reported chemical releases or explosions at RMP facilities nationwide. These caused over $2 billion in property damages; evacuation or ‘shelter in place’ of half a million people; over 17,000 reported injuries; and 59 reported deaths.” Read More