18 Toxic Chemical Sites At Risk For Flooding In Western PA

PITTSBURGH, PA - In southwestern Pennsylvania, there are 206 sites that release toxic chemicals in the air, water or land, according to government data. Eighteen of those sites are in areas at high risk for flooding, according to a report in The New York Times.

The sites are among more 21,600 nationwide that release toxic chemicals into the air, water or land, according to a database kept by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In Pennsylvania, the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory notes that there 1,133 facilities that house toxic chemicals. There are 74 in Allegheny County, 39 in Westmoreland County, 35 in Beaver County, 34 in Butler County and 24 in Washington County.

The Times did not identify who owns the 18 sites that are at risk of flooding. But the report remains concerning as a warming climate brings the increased likelihood of flooding. The Times reported 2,500 toxic chemical sites are located in flood-prone areas, with 1,400 of them in areas with a high flooding risk.

Last year’s hurricanes offered a glimpse of the danger of the release of potentially cancer-causing chemicals, especially in Houston, Texas, home to a concentration of chemical and plastics plants, oil and gas refineries, and EPA Superfund sites. More than 100 flood-prone toxic waste sites are located in Houston, The Times found.

Chemical spills during Hurricane Harvey were multiple, including three at one of Houston’s dirtiest Superfund sites, a former petroleum industry waste processing plant. Power failures and an explosion at the Arkema chemical plant northwest of Houston forced plant evacuations in a 1.5-mile radius and created a toxic plume of dangerous chemicals. Superfund sites also dotted the path of Hurricane Irma.

To keep track of where threats are present, the EPA maintains an inventory of toxic releases, and New York Times reporters Hiroko Tabuchi, Nadja Popovich, Blacki Migliozzi and Andrew W. Lehren analyzed the numbers to pinpoint the most-at-risk chemical sites.

Industries that handle toxic waste aren't required by federal law to take extra precautions during flooding, and state and local regulations requiring action plans are particularly nonexistent. President Trump rolled back Obama-era rules that would have required projects receiving federal assistance to plan for flooding resulting from rising sea levels.

» Read the full story on The New York Times.

Photo: In this Sept. 13, 2017, photo, workers are shown at San Jacinto River Waste Pits in Channelview, Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency said an unknown amount of a dangerous chemical linked to birth defects and cancer may have washed downriver from a Houston-area Superfund site during the flooding from Hurricane Harvey. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)