October 3, 2024
5 minutes read
In floods like Hurricane Helen, toxic chemicals are a silent and growing threat.
People living near industrial facilities often have little information about the chemicals inside, which pose a major risk in the event of a flood.
Flooded storage tanks at the Murphy Oil Company refinery in Mero, Louisiana, are pictured on the banks of the Mississippi River, Tuesday, September 6, 2005.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The following essay is reprinted with permission from: 
conversationAn online publication covering the latest research.
There were hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants. Hurricane Helen’s Pathlike a strong storm Communities across the Southeast were flooded. Late September 2024.
Near the coast and all the way into Georgia, Helen swept through paper mills, fertilizer plants and oil and gas storage facilities. Paper mills are one of them. The most polluting industry on Earth– There are thousands of pounds of lead on site, some from previous production practices.
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Florida officials reported: A decommissioned nuclear power plant just south of Cedar Key. Storm surges of up to 12 feet were experienced, flooding buildings and industrial wastewater ponds. The same goes for spent nuclear fuel stored on site. In 2023, Hurricane Italia caused flooding.was I believed it was safeBloomberg reported.
Further inland, the storm raged. more than a foot of rain Industrial sites in the Carolinas and Tennessee, some near rapidly flooding waterways. rainwater flowing from the mountain.
When a disaster like this occurs, industrial damage can unfold over several days, and residents may not hear about toxic chemicals being released into the water or air until days or even weeks later. If they knew anything.
However, pollutant emissions are common.
After Hurricane Ian struck Florida’s west coast in 2022, in addition to millions of gallons of wastewater, there was runoff containing hazardous materials from damaged storage tanks and local fertilizer mining facilities. visible from spaceIt flows across coastal wetlands into the Gulf of Mexico. A year ago, Hurricane Ida occurred. More than 2,000 chemical spills have been reported..
During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, flooding surrounded a chemical facility near Houston. portion Fire occurs due to cooling system failureIt releases huge amounts of pollutants into the air. Dear first responders and residents, People who had no idea what risks they were facing blamed the chemicals. This is because it causes respiratory diseases.
many types Toxic substances can spread, settle, and transform. Long-term health and environmental safety of the surrounding community – often with little notice to residents. our team environmentsociologist and anthropologist helps communities hold nearby facilities accountable by mapping hazardous industrial sites across the country and linking them to maps of expected impacts from hurricanes.
High-Risk Petrochemical Complexes in the Gulf Region
Risks from industrial facilities are most evident on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Major petrochemical complex is gathered in a dangerous direction. These refineries, factories and storage facilities are often built along rivers or bays to facilitate ship access.
However, these rivers can also bring storm surge flooding that can raise seas several feet during a hurricane. Helene’s storm surge was more than 10 feet above the ground in Florida’s Big Bend. Tampa Bay’s height is 6 feet.
Oil containers and railcars sit in floodwaters from Hurricane Isaac on August 31, 2012 in Braithwaite, Louisiana.
Recent studies have found evidence that: Pollution is 2-3 times higher From 2005 to 2020, more was released during hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico than during normal weather.
The impacts of these pollution emissions are exacerbated by disproportionately affecting low-income communities and people of color. environmental health hazards.
Why residents don’t hear about toxic releases
The statistics are disconcerting, but they receive little attention. This is because hazardous emissions go largely unnoticed due to limited disclosure requirements and insufficient public information. even emergency responder In an emergency situation, we often don’t know exactly what hazardous chemicals we will encounter.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires reporting of major contaminants. Very general information only About chemicals and site hazards risk management plan. some large scale fuel storage facilityPeople who have liquefied natural gas don’t even have to do that.
These risk management plans describe “worst-case” scenarios and should be publicly accessible. But in reality we Others found it difficult It is stored in a federal reading room with limited access and has been heavily edited. The reason is that local officials and National Science Review Panel Oftentimes, ensuring confidentiality is about protecting facilities from terrorist attacks.
Adding to this uncertainty is the fact that many states, including those in the Gulf region, are suspending restrictions on pollutant emissions during the emergency declaration period. Meanwhile, real-time incident notifications National Response Center– The federal government’s repository for all chemicals released into the environment – typically delayed by a week or more.
We believe that limited public information about the increasing chemical threats posed by a changing climate should be front-page news every hurricane season. Communities must be aware of the risks they may face when hosting vulnerable industrial infrastructure, especially as global temperatures rise. Increased risk of extreme rainfall and strong hurricane.
Create a national risk map to raise awareness
To help communities understand the risks, our team at Rice University’s new center Coastal Futures and Adaptive Resilience It examines how industrial communities in flood-prone areas across the country can better adapt to such threats, both socially and technologically.
our interactive map It shows where major pollutants identified using the EPA are at risk of flooding due to increased future flood risk. Toxic Release List.
There are several hot spots in the United States with contaminant clusters that are prone to flooding. Houston’s shipping channel, Chicago’s coastal steel industry, and the ports of Los Angeles and New York/New Jersey are among the largest.
But as Helene reveals, there can be major concerns in less obvious areas as well. Inland, especially in the mountains, runoff can quickly turn normally tame rivers into rapidly rising torrents. The French Broad River rises in Asheville, North Carolina. 12 feet in 12 hours Helene while and Set new flood stage record.
When hurricanes and tropical storms head toward the United States, we interactive map Now show me Where major pollution sources are located in the storm’s expected shock cone. The map identifies at-risk facilities vulnerable to flooding anywhere in the country, down to their addresses.
Knowledge is the first step
Knowing where these sites are is just the first step. Often this is down to the communities themselves, many of which already have Overexposed and historically underservedRaise concerns and call for strategies to mitigate the health, economic and environmental risks posed by industrial sites at risk of flooding and other damage.
These discussions cannot wait until disaster strikes. Knowing where these risks lie allows communities to take steps now to build a safer future.
This article was originally published on: conversation. read original article.
