WASHINGTON — Nearly 100 of America’s most dangerous toxic waste locations face serious threats from flooding and wildfires, creating potential health hazards for millions of residents in nearby areas, according to new findings from the Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog.
The EPA’s Office of Inspector General released three reports last week examining weather-related risks at 157 federal Superfund sites designated as top cleanup priorities because of their severe threats to public health and the environment. Approximately 3 million Americans reside within one mile of these contaminated locations, while 13 million people live within three miles.
Multiple natural disaster threats endanger several Superfund locations, the investigations revealed. Researchers identified 49 coastal sites facing dangers from rising sea levels or hurricane storm surges, many situated near densely populated regions and critical environmental areas such as Chesapeake Bay. An additional 47 sites occupy low-elevation areas specifically vulnerable to inland flooding from intense rainfall. The assessment also discovered 31 locations in zones with elevated wildfire risk.
However, the costly and lengthy cleanup strategies spanning five years at these locations frequently ignore potential damage from flooding caused by rising seas, increasingly severe storms, and wildfires, the inspector general’s examination discovered.
“That is a big problem because it means the site managers are not planning mitigation measures,” said Betsy Southerland, a former director of the agency’s water protection division who spent over 30 years at the EPA.
“The communities living near those sites should be made aware of this planning failure and should insist on robust plans,” she said.
At sites lacking adequate flood preparation, toxic materials could escape into neighboring communities and taxpayer money already spent on cleanup efforts could be lost, the investigation determined.
EPA officials stated they are examining the inspector general’s conclusions and emphasized that the Superfund program considers “the impacts of extreme weather events and other hazards as a standard operating practice in the development and implementation of cleanup projects.”
Last year, President Donald Trump dismissed EPA Inspector General Sean O’Donnell early in Trump’s second term, and the office’s latest assessment avoids mentioning climate change, terminology the Republican administration has removed from government websites. Nevertheless, the new reports from the inspector general’s remaining personnel still outline dangers that a warming planet poses to the nation’s most hazardous toxic waste locations.
Lara J. Cushing, a University of California, Los Angeles professor who has researched climate change effects on the nation’s toxic waste facilities, petrochemical plants and other dangerous sites, described the new reports as “noteworthy and important.”
“Although President Trump may wish to ignore it, the fact is the climate is changing and we need to be proactive in responding to rising seas and more extreme weather or face the consequences of increasingly frequent cascading natural-technological disasters that poison communities and local ecosystems,” said Cushing.
The inspector general’s discoveries mirror a 2017 Associated Press investigation that identified 327 Superfund sites at risk from climate change-driven flooding. The AP’s analysis began after Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding in Houston areas containing seven Superfund sites and prompted spills from containers holding cancer-causing toxic materials.
The EPA’s latest report noted that during Harvey, dioxin chemicals spread through floodwaters into nearby streets, yards and residences near the San Jacinto River, a location featured in AP’s coverage.
At that time, the EPA under Trump’s first administration denounced AP’s reporting as alarmist “yellow journalism.” Trump has labeled climate change fraudulent, prevented renewable energy initiatives and attempted to increase planet-warming fossil fuel consumption.
“This series shines a light on potential threats to federal facility Superfund sites and the critical role of five-year reviews in addressing them,” said Kim Wheeler, the spokesperson for the Inspector General’s office. “By identifying sites at risk from these weather-related events, we aimed to raise awareness and encourage forward looking planning.”
