The chemical industry is asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now helmed by industry-friendly Donald Trump appointee Lee Zeldin, to hide chemical facilities at the highest risk of disaster and their safety records from public view.
On January 30, more than a dozen chemical industry groups sent a letter to Zeldin demanding he take “urgent action” to roll back EPA oversight of facilities that are at the highest risk for chemical disasters. The trade groups also requested the agency “immediately shut down” a government website that makes public where these facilities are located and what dangerous toxins they hold.
Each year, dozens of chemical accidents occur at these high-risk facilities, sometimes forcing entire communities to evacuate or shelter in place. In June 2023, a massive chemical fire at one of these plants in Southwest Louisiana, a region where such chemical accidents are particularly frequent, sent a plume of toxic gas into the air and forced residents within three miles of the facility to shelter in place. Yet reducing EPA oversight of these facilities has been a priority for chemical lobbyists for years.
The chemical lobby’s new letter is the latest industry push to unwind environmental protections instated under the Biden administration. And chemical interests could find an ally in Zeldin, who voted against measures to crack down on cancer-causing “forever chemicals” during his time in the US House of Representatives.
Zeldin has already received the enthusiastic endorsement of chemical lobbyists. The American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s biggest lobbying group, urged lawmakers to support Zeldin’s nomination in January, saying his record in Congress showed he was a…
Auteur: Katya Schwenk
