Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. This decreased by over 90% to 6 in the 2010s and remains at a similar level for the current decade. Support our mission by making a gift today. Around 124 million people, or 39 percent of the nations population live within 3 miles of an industrial facility, according to Poynter. Eventually, benzene may be transformed into something as benign as food packaging, but that plastic that you have bought has a history somewhere else, Tickner said. 5 min read. pic.twitter.com/djtWsqjiSM Citizen. An Ohio town is reckoning with the aftermath of a train derailment that unleashed highly toxic chemicals into the air, water and ground on Feb. 3, causing a massive fire, displacing residents and threatening public health. In September, for instance, nine people were hospitalized and 300 evacuated in California after a spill of caustic materials at a recycling facility. Are all of these incidences unrelated and coincidental? BREAKING: Officials are now responding to another deadly train derailment near Houston, TX. We built most of our modern chemistry on these seven fairly toxic, challenging chemicals and then you essentially iterate off of those., Those seven basic chemicals are methanol, ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, and xylene, and they can pose a variety of risks. The tanker and refinery released an estimated 11,900 barrels (595,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean, affecting 24 beaches . The precise number of hazardous chemical incidents is hard to determine because the US has multiple agencies involved in response, but the EPA told the Guardian that over the past 10 years, the agency has performed an average of 235 emergency response actions per year, including responses to discharges of hazardous chemicals or oil. A Guardian analysis of data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by non-profit groups that track chemical accidents in the US shows that accidental releases be they through train derailments, truck crashes, pipeline ruptures or industrial plant leaks and spills are happening consistently across the country. With all the negative pressures on our economy and supply chains, and even Joe Biden talking about global food shortages over the next several months, one has to wonder whats going on here. In the meantime React is trying to empower locals to be prepared to protect themselves if the worst happens. Dispersants currently approved by the agency must undergo retesting under the new criteria. [14] City officials stated that they would further assess any possible enhancements to infrastructure to prevent future spills. March 3, 2023 1286 SOURCE NationofChange In the wake of the train derailment in Ohio, a new analysis shows chemical accidents are more common in the United States than previously thought. Many worker and community advocates, such as the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW), which represents roughly a million laborers, say the proposed rule changes dont go far enough.. And Senator Cory Booker and US Representative Nanette Barragan along with 47 other members of Congress - also have called on the EPA to strengthen regulations to protect communities from hazardous chemical accidents. [24][25][26][27], Following the incident, Mike Carroll, director of Philadelphia's Office of Transportation, stated that it was likely that no contaminants would enter the tap water system of Philadelphia. But when it comes to what were trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on. Most of the time, people arent coming into contact with petrochemicals through train derailments, but in more mundane ways. The EIN for the organization is 59-1630423. This is all perfectly normal. But I dont remember having such disastrous and catastrophic events this close together. By their nature, the manufacture, storage, and transport of chemicals are accidents waiting to happen. TRI data support informed decision-making by communities, government agencies, companies, and others. But Kindra Arnesen, another plaintiff in the case against the EPA, is not ready to celebrate the rule updates. But we don't have one chemical at the time in our body. Ashley is a transplant from the East Coast calling Los Angeles home. These spills occur in waterways, railways, highways, and in the air. The plantmanufactures acrylic resins, according to the company's website. The US Chamber of Commerce has pushed back on stronger regulations, arguing that most facilities operate safely, accidents are declining and that the facilities impacted by any rule changes are supplying essential products and services that help drive our economy and provide jobs in our communities. Al Tompkins is one of America's most requested broadcast journalism and multimedia teachers and coaches. The coalition has counted 10 rail-related chemical contamination events over the last two and a half years, including the derailment in East Palestine, where dozens of cars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed on 3 February, contaminating the community of 4,700 people with toxic vinyl chloride. The reassurances that these front-line communities are being given that We didnt find anything terribly serious is just misleading, Joe Minott, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council, told The Washington Post over the weekend. So far, there have been more than 30 recorded incidents in 2023 (but that count could be higher because the coalition does not record incidents that lack enough information or precise location data), 188 incidents in 2022 and 177 in 2021 as recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters. Residents with breathing issues should remain indoors. The organization she works with, Rubbertown Emergency Action (React), wants to see continuous air monitoring near the plants, regular evacuation drills and other measures to better prepare people in the event of an accidental chemical release. All rights reserved. These large tanks house chemicals like petroleum and other toxic substances. Get the Poynter newsletter that's right for you. One thing is for sure. Stanislaus led programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated hazardous waste sites, chemical plant safety, oil spill prevention, and emergency response. About 8,100 to 12,000 gallons of a latex paint solution overflows . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In 2021, US district court judge William Orrick ordered the EPA to update its oil spill response plans. [32], Water providers stated that there were no severe health risks following the polluting of the river, and professor of environmental health at Johns Hopkins Keeve Nachman speculated that short-term ingestion of the contaminated waters wouldn't have any long-term impacts. City officials advise residents "they may wish not to drink or cook with tap water" and say they will update the advisory in the afternoon. Chemical spills that have occurred during the Biden Administration. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Megan Fox is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and author of Believe Evidence; the death of due process from Salome to #MeToo. Trinseo PLC, which owns theAltuglas plant, said the chemical is a water-based latex emulsion solution, a combination of about50%latex polymer and 50% water. No contaminants have been found in drinking water. and Shut Up! Clickhereto see the closest hazardous facility near where you live. It was this reddish orange color. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Doral is a high end Venezuelan community and Venezuelans don't vote for socialism. They can lead to long term chronic illness, they can lead to acute illness, Cochran said. The new project isnt just for or about a community, but with them, Plus, the White House pressroom has had enough of Simon Ateba, and that suspended BBC personality is revealed to be news anchor Huw Edwards. A growing body of research has linked exposure to the dispersants used by BP to break up oil slicks with chronic illnesses, including increased risk of cancer, heart conditions and an increased rate of births of premature and underweight infants. The EPA itself says that by several measurements, accidents at facilities are becoming worse: evacuations, sheltering and the average annual rate of people seeking medical treatment stemming from chemical accidents are on the rise. One toxic gas, vinyl chloride, was burned after the derailment, sending various toxins and chemicals into the air. The recent report by the Guardian found that during the BP spill, the oil giant provided cleanup workers with training modules that claimed dispersants used in the Gulf had no ingredients known to cause chronic health effects. Normally, at the end of the year tally, we break down our reports by the oil spills, chemical spills, and other events, but here is a more detailed breakdown. [1], On March 24, 2023, the Trinseo Altuglas chemical plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania in the United States had an equipment failure that resulted in a leak of between 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, and methyl methacrylate into Otter Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River. PJ Media had that story for you. There are only so many layoffs and closures one can take before asking the inevitable question: Is journalism even for me? But man, this is weird. Five acres of a plastics plant are burning and no one has confirmed how the fire started. [22][23], Aqua Pennsylvania and New Jersey American Water were unable to find traces of the chemicals in the water supply. In February, the National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the Ohio train derailment. The Shell Monaca plant is one of the largest ethane plants yet to open in the US. She is 20 miles from the Norfolk Southern derailment but also a few miles from a giant new plastics plant, Shells Monaca facility in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Weve got this going on galore, Collins said. Louisiana, the Ohio River Valley, and Texas have all seen expansion of petrochemical plants. Though the risk of a crash and hazardous spill is deemed high by chemical safety experts, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) says "more than 99.9% of all hazmat moved by rail reaches its . according to the American Chemistry Council. NPR Health Risks for chemical spills are high, but here's how to protect yourself By Jaclyn Diaz Published February 18, 2023 at 7:01 AM EST AP In this photo provided by the Ohio National Guard, ONG 52nd Civil Support Team members prepare to enter an incident area to assess remaining hazards in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 7. Official websites use .gov Riki Ott, an Alaska toxicologist, began advocating for protections for oil spill cleanup workers in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and is the director of Earth Island Institutes Alert Project, the lead plaintiff in the case against the EPA. A train derailed near the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania on Feb. 3, causing a large fire and prompting evacuations. On March 28, 10 barges, including one containing 1,400 metric tons of methanol yup, you guessed it, made from oil or gas broke loose in the Ohio River in Kentucky. What has happened to the BP workers and coastal residents with all these illnesses and lingering harm and sick and dying children. Wake up America! Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. Almost 124 million people (39% of the U.S. population) live within three miles of a hazardous facility. How did the chemical spill happen? In the wake of the train derailment in Ohio, a new analysis shows chemical accidents are more common in the United States than previously thought. According to Newsweek, the train was full of hazardous materials. [12], A final advisory was issued later that night, guaranteeing that the drinking water was not contaminated by the spill. That happened at aWalmart distribution center in Indianapolis on March 21, requiring over 350 firefighters to extinguish it: And now the very air that we breathe and the water that we drink is in jeopardy. Rachel Meyer, an Ohio River Valley field coordinator for the environmental advocacy group Moms Clean Air Force, has seen just how common it is for a facility to flare its chemicals to avoid any fires or explosions. The massive explosion and poisoning of American citizens should be a much bigger story.why isnt the media talking about Ohio more? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said was an average of 235 emergency response actions per year for over the last decade. Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog environmental group, notes the facility has already had 14 records of violations and 34 malfunctions from its construction and operating phase, and the plant already exceeded its annual limits for smog-forming air pollutants within its first few months of operation. Smaller incidents tend to be self-reported by companies, often with a lag time so residents dont immediately know the reason why the air may smell or theres an orange nighttime sky. For Eboni Cochran, a mother and volunteer community activist, the East Palestine disaster has hardly added to her faith in the federal government. 4d; Luigi Lombardi . Map of reported chemical accidents in the US, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Bar chart of hazardous chemical-related accidents. Column does not add because spills include multi-product spills where no To leverage and learn from humanitys history regarding what fostered sustainability in the past, we need to know the outcomes. First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. If you liked this article, please donate $5 to keep NationofChange online through November. Ashley is an editor, social media content manager and writer at NationofChange. It's . 7000-year-old artifacts were found in the Al Ubaid archaeological site, depicting human-like figures with the characteristics of lizards. Who is impacted? (The Trinseo plant near Philadelphia, for instance, was basically making paint.). [15], Prior to the determination of clean water in the river, townships such as Mantua cut off their water supply that fed in from the Delaware River. Every year, theres an average of 202 accidental chemical releases at facilities, according to EPA data. Alistair Walsh. But many of the accidents reported have been linked to industrial facilities where hazardous chemicals are made, used or stored. (modern). Feb. 14, 2023 As officials investigate the recent derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio, concerns about the disaster's effects on human health and the environment are. But they have happened. The earlier alerts wereissued out of an abundance of caution, officials say. These spills range from small ship collisions to fuel transfer mishaps to massive spill events like the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The average number of spills per year in the 1970s was approximately 79. Additionally, after analyzing accidents in a recent five-year period, the EPA said it found accident-response evacuations impacted more than 56,000 people and 47,000 people were ordered to shelter-in-place.. pic.twitter.com/uFXu1p50a8, Antonio Sabato Jr (@AntonioSabatoJr) February 14, 2023. If its left up to the state of Louisiana, the community members will be the tradeoff every time for oil and gas., They cleaned up BPs massive oil spill. BREAKING: Massive 5 acre fire has broken out a warehouse storing plastic plant pots in Kissimmee, Florida. We ship them because they are needed across the country and essential to everyday life. The proposed changes include enhanced emergency preparedness, increased public access to information about hazardous chemicals risks communities face and new accident prevention requirements. As the East Palestine incident highlighted, theres no completely foolproof way to process and transport these highly flammable and corrosive chemicals. But most of the 10 U.S. rail incidents involving the release of chemicals over the last two years happened at or near the facility that produces the chemical. Stop this BS get this settled Republicans are acting like a joke here did you have any authority at all settled. Why Biden snubbed Chinas Ukraine peace plan, Capitalisms Conclusion, Part I: What the Ohio train derailment exposed, Biden and cluster munitions: In a dark time, the eye begins to see, Voting rights groups raise alarm about House GOP introducing Big Lie Bill, Tenants push Biden for rent control on all government-backed housing, Connecticut bans utilities from billing customers for lobbying efforts, Federal study finds forever chemicals in more than half of Americans drinking water. A map that was released by city officials labeled areas east of the Schuylkill River as potentially impacted, but said that areas west of the Schuylkill would not be impacted by the spill. In October, officials ordered residents to shelter in place after an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Louisiana. Total annual costs are approximately $477m, including costs related to injuries and deaths. Not only did they evacuate the area, but the Port Authority insists they dont know what is in the tanker that is on fire. Nalco said that the ingredients in its products were confidential business information and disclosing the chemicals would put the companys competitive edge at risk. If I were attempting to bring down the United States, I would do exactly this: attack food sources to cause shortages, attack environmental safety and farmland so that Americans cant grow their own food and be self-sufficient due to poisoned soil and water, and stress Americas response capabilities by starting multiple emergencies nationwide. Its pigmentation makes the water-soluble material visible in surface water, the company said on its website. You can view The Poynter Institutes most-recent public financial disclosure form 990, Poynter ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing, Federal Railroad Administration database of rail accidents and costs, U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Coast Guard: National Response Center Database, National Transportation Safety Board Hazardous Materials Accident Reports, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA): Incidents Database, PHMSA Pipeline Failure Investigation Reports, Preventing Disaster: Three chemical incidents within two weeks show urgent need for stronger federal safety requirements, Report Card for Your Local Emergency Planning Committee, Chemical Accident Prevention: EPA Should Ensure Regulated Facilities Consider Risks from, Tanks for Nothing: The Decades-Long Failure to Protect the Public from Hazardous Chemical, Living in the Shadow of Danger: State Scorecards(Center for Effective Government, 2015), Alaska Statewide Oil and Hazardous Substance Spills Database, CaliforniaHazMat Spill Release Reporting Database, Florida Hazardous Materials/Petroleum Spills, Illinois Emergency Management Agency Hazardous Materials Incident Reports, Spills & Site Cleanup Monitoring and Reporting, Massachusetts Energy & Environmental Affairs Data Portal, Nebraska Leaking Underground Storage Tanks and Surface Spills, North Carolina Underground Storage Tank Databases and Reports, North Dakota Environmental Incidents Reports, Oregon Environmental Cleanup Site Information Database, South Dakota Environmental Events Database, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation Enforcement Program, Wisconsin Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System, L.A. Times launches De Los to explore all things Latinidad. All these incidents showcase how the impacts from plastics seep into our lives long before theyre tossed into the trash. (modern). According to Jessica's Instagram, Joshua got married in August 2016 to a woman named Chelsea. Water treatment plant closes river intakes. More and more people have noticed and wondered about the trend on social media. EPA emergency response member agitates water to check for chemicals settled at the bottom after a train derailment in Ohio. Cookie Notice Many if not most products we use in . They added that the chemicals on board the train were household chemicals, including paint and aerosol cans, and that there had been no hazardous material releases from the cargo. Guess which cable news network is being sued for defamation again? The impacts of chemical accidents can be deadly, for both human beings and the environment. The rule changes reflect the recognition by EPA that many chemical facilities are located in areas that are vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, including power outages, flooding, hurricanes and other weather events. The updated rule no longer allows companies to hide the chemical ingredients of their products. 06:22:17 Thats what everyone keeps telling us. What happened in East Palestine, this is a regular occurrence for communities living adjacent to chemical plants, Mathy Stanislaus, former assistant administrator for the EPAs office of land and emergency management during Barack Obamas presidency, said. What are the health risks of the chemical spill? In an oil producing state like Louisiana, Arnesen said that may not be a good thing. But controlled burns, like the one in East Palestine, happen regularly at petrochemicals plants. [6][31][18], American conservationist Gary Belan subsequently released a statement in which he demanded that further attention be given to the spill, and that any adverse effects caused by the contamination by rectified by Trinseo. Lets go over the catastrophic environmental events that occurred in the month of February, most of them just this week. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead. A number of factories, logistical centers, and food processing plants have caught fire or exploded, including two that had planes crash on them. Philadelphia officials say tests show city water is safe to drink until midnight Monday. The growing oil and gas industry means more incidents like East Palestine. [16], After city officials were informed of the spill, they shut off the intake pipe to prevent further contamination of the river. That ethane is then used to create a huge array of plastics. But it could be killing us, too. Second, were not in the subscriptions business. The people of East Palestine, Ohio, are discovering what many communities nationwide have discovered: Hazardous chemicals travel right next to each of us every day, and pipeline ruptures, train crashes, truck wrecks and factory spills are more common than you might believe. All rights reserved. But the adaptability comes at a cost. The Philadelphia Water Department says it is monitoring the latex spill. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The next TRI National Conference will be held October 24 and 25 in Arlington, Virginia. Staff prepared 109 new incident reports and . The trash facility has been burning for five days. Any amount helps. These chemicals can conceivably be produced and transported safely at least on paper. An Ohio town is reckoning with the aftermath of a train derailment that unleashed highly toxic chemicals into the air, water and ground on Feb. 3, causing a massive fire, displacing residents and. Monday, September 11, 2023 12 . chemicals in your body that are not supposed to be there. [13], Mayor Kenney released a statement later that day saying that the threat had passed. Cochran lives with her husband and 16-year-old son roughly 400 miles south of the derailment, near a Louisville, Kentucky, industrial zone along the Ohio River that locals call Rubbertown. The area is home to a cluster of chemical manufacturing facilities, and curious odors and concerns about toxic exposures permeate the neighborhoods near the plants.
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