I met my closest friend in college: a beautiful, kind pre-med student raised in Houston close to four chemical plants. She stood as my bridesmaid, and I did the same for her. After Ursula’s mother passed away during her childhood, her father moved the family to Port Arthur. Their new home had a view of a petroleum storage site and was close to five chemical facilities, some only a mile distant.
Ursula passed away from cancer while her children were still in preschool. We may never determine if her death was simply misfortune or linked to her upbringing surrounded by plastics manufacturing plants.
What is undeniable is that the poisonous substances released by such facilities can severely harm the human body.
It is in this context that I observe EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin aggressively working to tear down the protections that shield people from exposure to toxic chemicals. He is the from on airborne , , and other cancer-causing agents, and has to eviscerate regulations that guard communities from chemical accidents, effectively allowing large corporate polluters to freely emit hazardous chemicals and gases that heat the climate. These actions coincide with attempts to , which offers aid to communities during catastrophic emergencies, and to eliminate funding for the , an independent federal body that chemical accidents and proposes measures to stop them from happening again.
Zeldin is also seeking to the , a 2009 scientific finding that emissions are damaging public health and welfare. Removing the EPA’s legal authority to regulate climate pollution would dramatically intensify floods, wildfires, and hurricanes, even as Zeldin strips away defenses against chemical disasters. This creates a dangerous mix for communities like Ursula’s that are weighed down by petrochemical infrastructure, and along the extensive network of chemical transport routes. The consequences of chemical disasters persist for years or decades, potentially resulting in cancers and other grave diseases.
These actions would pave the way for a future marked by chemical , , and similar accidents. commence even before severe weather hits. As storms approach, huge quantities of flammable and explosive fossil fuels . During Hurricane Harvey, for instance, petrochemical firms inundated Texas neighborhoods with of benzene, sulfur dioxide, and other dangerous pollutants. Merely minute quantities of these highly toxic substances can cause life-changing or fatal health problems.
The a chemical spill, fire, or explosion every three days, yet Zeldin’s regulatory assaults nearly ensure this rate will rise. Severe weather can harm petrochemical machinery and storage containers, and knock over chemical tanks, as happened in . Certain disasters are caused by electricity failures, such as at the in Crosby, Texas, where over three feet of floodwater compromised refrigeration units that prevent toxic chemicals from breaking down and catching fire. My friend Alex Gordon recalls playing in the floodwaters with her younger brother during that storm. He was later diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leaving her to question if their impromptu, contaminated street waterplay contributed to his illness.
Each segment of the petrochemical supply chain endangers communities, including the country’s millions of miles of . In Satartia, Mississippi, a employed in oil extraction burst due to intense rainfall and flooding, for several hours. The released carbon dioxide pushed oxygen out of the atmosphere, causing car engines to stall and trapping residents. Dozens . High concentrations of CO2 can lead to heart failure and .
Major floods can also overwhelm Superfund toxic waste sites. The protective layers of clay, soil, concrete, or sand are inadequate against increasingly intense weather. At the , for example, a 16-foot flood surge shattered the concrete seal, releasing vast quantities of dioxins into the river. reside within a three-mile radius of a Superfund site.
Zeldin’s agenda is a boon for fossil fuel and petrochemical companies. For everyone else, it constitutes a dangerous and aggressive assault on our children, our families, and our dearest friends.
