WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 100 of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste dumps are located in areas prone to flooding and wildfires, posing a potential public health threat to millions of Americans in the surrounding areas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog has found.
The EPA’s Office of Inspector General has issued two new reports. report These are part of a series assessing the weather-related vulnerabilities of 157 federal Superfund sites that are prioritized for cleanup because they pose significant risks to public health and the environment. Approximately 3 million Americans live within 1 mile of a Superfund site, and 13 million people live within 3 miles (4.8 kilometers).
Some Superfund sites were found to be under threat from multiple natural disasters. The study found that 49 coastal regions are at risk of: sea level rise Many are located near populated areas or important ecological sites like the Chesapeake Bay. The other 47 locations are located in low-lying areas particularly prone to inland flooding due to heavy rains. The study also found 31 sites in high-risk areas. wildfire.
A barbed wire fence surrounds the Highlands Acid Pit, which was flooded with water from the nearby San Jacinto River during Hurricane Harvey in Highlands, Texas, on August 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen)
A barbed wire fence surrounds the Highlands Acid Pit, which was flooded with water from the nearby San Jacinto River during Hurricane Harvey in Highlands, Texas, on August 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen)
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Despite these risks, five-year plans governing costly and time-consuming site cleanups often failed to take into account the damage caused by sea level rise and flooding. more frequent storms and wildfires, an IG review found.
“This is a big problem because it means field managers aren’t planning for mitigation,” said Betsy Sutherland, former director of the agency’s water protection division who worked at the EPA for more than 30 years.
“Communities living near these places need to recognize this planning failure and insist on robust planning,” she said.
Places with little or no planning for flooding can release pollutants into surrounding communities and waste taxpayer money already invested in remediation, the study found.
A man walks past a sign at the Martin Aaron Co. Superfund site in Camden, New Jersey, Dec. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
A man walks past a sign at the Martin Aaron Co. Superfund site in Camden, New Jersey, Dec. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
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The EPA said it is reviewing the IG’s findings and that the Superfund program takes into account “the effects of extreme weather and other hazards as standard operating practice in the development and implementation of cleanup projects.”
Last year, President Donald Trump fired EPA Inspector General Sean O’Donnell at the beginning of Trump’s second term, but a new review of the agency makes no mention of climate change, a term championed by the Republican administration. Scrubbed from federal website. But a new report released by the rest of the IG’s staff still reveals the risks a warming planet poses to the nation’s most dangerous toxic waste sites.
Lara J. Cushing, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies the effects of climate change on the nation’s toxic waste sites, petrochemical plants and other hazardous areas, called the new report “remarkable and important.”
“As much as President Trump may want to ignore it, the reality is that the climate is changing and we need to proactively respond to rising sea levels and more extreme weather events, or face the effects of increasingly frequent cascading natural and technological disasters that negatively impact communities and local ecosystems,” Cushing said.
Work continues at the San Jacinto River Dump Site, a Superfund site near the Interstate 10 bridge over the river in Channelview, Texas, on September 13, 2017. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Work continues at the San Jacinto River Dump Site, a Superfund site near the Interstate 10 bridge over the river in Channelview, Texas, on September 13, 2017. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
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The inspector general’s findings mirror a 2017 investigation by The Associated Press that found 327 Superfund sites. vulnerable to flooding due to climate change. The Associated Press investigation began in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which caused extensive flooding in parts of Houston. 7 superfund sites and was triggered Spill from a tank storing carcinogenic toxic waste.
A new EPA report says that during Harvey, flooding carried dioxin chemicals to nearby roads, yards and homes near the San Jacinto River, an area highlighted in an Associated Press report.
Dwight Chandler walks through his home devastated by Hurricane Harvey, not far from an old U.S. EPA Superfund acid pit in Highlands, Texas, on Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen, File)
Dwight Chandler walks through his home devastated by Hurricane Harvey, not far from an old U.S. EPA Superfund acid pit in Highlands, Texas, on Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Jason Dearen, File)
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At the time, the EPA under the first Trump administration criticized the AP’s reporting as “yellow journalism” that incited fear. President Trump calls climate change a hoax, seeks to block renewable energy projects and promote the burning of fossil fuels that cause global warming.
“This series highlights potential threats to Superfund sites at federal facilities and the critical role of the five-year review in addressing them,” said Kim Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Office of Inspector General. “By identifying locations at risk from these weather-related events, we aimed to raise awareness and encourage forward-looking planning.”
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