In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a startling revelation has come to light: the threat posed by flooded industrial sites and the toxic chemical releases they can trigger. The EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory has long documented the dangers, but these risks often go unnoticed until disaster strikes. As our climate becomes more unpredictable, communities must be vigilant in identifying these hazards and demanding action to mitigate the environmental and public health consequences.
The Unseen Threat
When Hurricane Helene passed through the Southeast, it shed light on the extreme vulnerability of hundreds of industrial facilities that contain toxic pollutants. The floodwaters also inundated facilities from paper mills and fertilizer factories to oil and gas storage sites, heightening fears of additional toxic releases.
Even worse, the complete extent of the damage and pollution caused by that damage might not be known for days or weeks, since disclosure requirements for these facilities are still minimal. Once a crisis arrives, responders often do not know what dangerous chemical they might confront or how best to protect residents.
This opacity is further worsened by the fact that many states relax pollution permits under emergency declarations, opening up an avenue for the release of poisonous substances with little-to-no scrutiny.
A Pattern of Destruction
While the toll of Hurricane Helene is not unique, it fits a disturbing pattern. Loiza’s location south of a chemical plant makes it brutally vulnerable to extreme weather, and the reign shifted waste sites nationwide as power outages trigger hundreds of spills within hours Previous storms such as Hurricanes Ian and Ida have also caused widespread spewing of chemicals and pollutants, so extensive that their contamination could be seen from space.
Since 2005, a number of studies have documented two to three times as many pollution releases from Gulf of Mexico facilities during hurricanes compared with normal weather; and contradicted anecdotal reports that the industry adequately protects its oil storage tanks from storm damages. This disproportionately impacts low income and communities of color, exacerbating existing environment health disparities.
With climate change causing far-reaching implications to spiral even more quickly, extreme weather events such as hurricanes are becoming even riskier, and the growing number of these industrial facilities only adds to the danger. These risks will have to be a constant focus of all communities Jutting Why should we bring up these negatives before the next catastrophe hits?
Equipping Communities to Combat the Threat
Rice University’s Center for Coastal Futures and Adaptive Resilience has produced interactive maps that show where some of the region’s heaviest polluters are in relation to expected hurricane tracks as a step toward helping communities more clearly see potential risks. What better way to advocate for safety measures and 1st responder strategies then providing our community with the information?
But this is not something that the onus should be only on communities to handle. Finally, policy and regulatory action must be taken to improve transparency, increase information about environmental reporting (disclosure), and ensure that industrial facilities are built with the impacts of extreme weather events in mind.
Communities, researchers and policymakers who join to tackle headwinds such as Covid-19 and other emerging threats can expose this stealthy menace growing in the background, and work to ensure that every human stands equal when it comes to living healthy lives — no matter which block or zip code they live in.
