On October 20, 1994, rising floodwaters from the San Jacinto River in Houston, Texas, caused a pipeline to break open, allowing gasoline to gush out and the river to catch fire. Such flooding is increasingly likely as the effects of climate change take hold, and yet, in the quarter century since that disaster, the federal government has implemented no new regulations to ensure that oil and gas operators are adequately preparing for the risks from more frequent and intense floods caused by the climate crisis.
In April 2019, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an unenforceable notice reminding pipeline operators that severe flooding still threatens the integrity of their infrastructure. Similarly, prompted by chemical disasters during recent hurricanes, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) alerted industrial facilities of the potential chemical disasters that could be caused by extreme weather this hurricane season. But again, nothing was required of such facilities since CSB has no regulatory authority, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration has been openly hostile to stronger regulations to prevent such disasters.
With the threat of worsening floods from climate change, such as the recent flooding from Tropical Storm Isaias, pipelines are riskier than ever. In addition to the risk extreme weather poses to people’s health and homes, flooding can cause or exacerbate pipeline failures and chemical disasters, spreading hazardous chemicals through contaminated water. In 2019, CPR explored the threat of toxic floodwaters in Hampton Roads, Virginia, finding that many hazardous industrial facilities are located in socially vulnerable communities prone to flooding. Hampton Roads residents already brace themselves for the possibility of losing their cars or sustaining damage to their homes during major storms. But they also need to beware the threat from toxins that could be looming in the floodwaters. When toxic flooding occurs in these communities, low wages, poor access to health care, and lack of transportation can make the health threats even worse.
Pipelines often run through coastal areas that already have more hazardous facilities than inland regions, and Hampton Roads is no exception. Comparing CPR’s research findings with the Eastern Virginia Anti-Pipeline Education Map reveals that the Southside Connector pipeline passes through ten densely populated, socially, and environmentally vulnerable census tracts. These tracts are home to 185 hazardous facilities at risk of flooding. The “blast zone” area around the Southside Connector pipeline includes hundreds of homes and Thurgood Marshall Elementary School.
Despite the risks from pipelines that are already in the ground, Virginia Natural Gas wants to create more vulnerable pipeline infrastructure, including the dangerous and polluting Gidley Compressor Station in Chesapeake, part of a massive new pipeline project called the Header Improvement Project. Although the project has faced recent delays, it may still be built in the future. In a striking example of how environmental injustices are compounded, the location of the proposed compressor station is right beside a Chesapeake census tract CPR found to be the most vulnerable to toxic floodwaters in the entire region. The Gidley Compressor Station is proposed for an area where 6,500 people live within a one-mile radius. Sixty-five percent of the population is Black or Hispanic, and 31 percent have a median-household income of less than $50,000. Local activists reached out to Chesapeake residents who live near the proposed site and found that many of them had no idea that a compressor station was even a consideration.
Continuing all the construction of such natural gas infrastructure is unconscionable without enforceable standards requiring chemical manufacturers and pipeline operators to adequately prepare for the risks from extreme weather. The potential for disaster is particularly worrisome in Hampton Roads, which has the highest rate of sea-level rise on the entire Atlantic seaboard. Researchers predict that three feet of sea level rise -- a likely scenario within this century -- could impact up to 176,000 people in Hampton Roads. Climate change will bring more frequent and intense storms and hurricanes to the region, increasing the threat of flooding from heavy rainfall and storm surge.
Finally, although industry players tout the fact that natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than coal when burned, natural gas pipelines leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas that can warm the planet more than 80 times as much as comparable quantities of carbon dioxide. According to a 2018 study, domestic oil and gas operations leak 13 million metric tons of methane a year, enough to fuel 10 million homes. And the gas from the pipelines will do more than just warm the planet. Emissions from pipelines contain organic compounds that contribute to smog, as well as hazardous air pollutants like benzene, a known carcinogen. New pipelines and compressor stations bind us to greenhouse gas-emitting power sources for another 30 to 40 years. Those are years we cannot afford to waste.
Federal regulators must require existing hazardous facilities to do more to prepare for the threats from climate change, and state agencies should evaluate potential harms to already overburdened communities before allowing new ones to be built. We are proud to join with Mothers Out Front and other local advocacy groups in the fight against the Header Improvement Project and natural gas pipelines. Our research shows that vulnerable communities in Hampton Roads are at risk of toxic flooding, and the Header Improvement Project will only make things worse.
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Kim Sudderth, Samuel Boden | August 11, 2020
On October 20, 1994, rising floodwaters from the San Jacinto River in Houston, Texas, caused a pipeline to break open, allowing gasoline to gush out and the river to catch fire. Such flooding is increasingly likely as the effects of climate change take hold, and yet, in the quarter century since that disaster, the federal government has implemented no new regulations to ensure that oil and gas operators are adequately preparing for the risks from more frequent and intense floods caused by the climate crisis.
Darya Minovi, Katlyn Schmitt | August 5, 2020
In July, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) released the findings of a new ambient air quality monitoring project focused on the state’s Lower Eastern Shore. This effort was announced more than a year ago as a partnership between the Delmarva Poultry Industry (DPI), a trade group for just what it sounds like, and MDE to monitor ammonia and particulate matter emissions from industrial poultry operations.
James Goodwin | August 4, 2020
Yesterday, I joined a group of CPR Member Scholars and staff in submitting comments on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "benefits-busting" proposal, which would drastically overhaul how the agency performs cost-benefit analysis on its biggest Clean Air Act rules. As we explain in our comments, the action is a thinly veiled effort to rig the results of those analyses – more so than they already are – to make it harder to issue appropriately strong safeguards, thereby sabotaging the effective and timely implementation of the Clean Air Act.
Matt Shudtz | August 3, 2020
The nation is finally beginning to grapple with the widespread disparities in public health, economic opportunity, and community well-being across race and class that stem from longstanding systems of oppression and injustice. As systems thinkers, CPR's Board, staff, and Member Scholars have devoted considerable time to researching and understanding the roots of these inequities, considering the disproportionate impacts on frontline communities, and advocating for just policy reform.
Brian Gumm, Matt Shudtz | August 3, 2020
Based on its current projected path, Tropical Storm Isaias could bring heavy rains up and down the East Coast, from the Carolinas and Virginia to the Delmarva Peninsula, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Along the way, the storm could swamp industrial facilities, coal ash ponds, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and more. From Hurricane Florence to Hurricane Harvey and beyond, in the past 15 years, we've seen numerous tropical storms flood unprepared facilities. This has caused significant infrastructure damage and unleashed toxic floodwaters into nearby communities and waterways, threatening public health and making residents sick.
Katie Tracy | July 29, 2020
Workers presently have no right to bring a lawsuit against employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) for failing to provide safe and healthy working conditions. If an employer exposes workers to toxic chemicals or fails to guard a dangerous machine, for example, they must rely on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to inspect, find a violation, and issue a citation. This omission in the 1970 statute is especially troubling in the context of COVID-19, as workers across the United States continue to face a massive workplace health crisis without any meaningful support from OSHA or most of its state and territorial counterparts. As the pandemic makes crystal clear, workers need and deserve the right to step up and enforce the law when OSHA is unable or unwilling to do its job. In a new CPR report, CPR Member Scholars Michael Duff, Thomas McGarity, Sidney Shapiro, Rena Steinzor, and I call on Congress to update the OSH Act and provide workers with a private right of action.
Joel A. Mintz | July 29, 2020
In an article headlined, "Dozens of facilities skipping out on EPA pollution monitoring have prior offenses," The Hill reported the following on Wednesday: "More than 50 facilities across the country that have faced enforcement actions for alleged Clean Water Act violations are among those taking advantage of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy that lets companies forgo pollution monitoring during the pandemic, an analysis by The Hill found. The temporary EPA policy, announced in March, says industrial, municipal and other facilities do not have to report pollution discharges if they can demonstrate their ability to do so has been limited by the coronavirus. The Hill first reported that 352 facilities have skipped water pollution monitoring requirements under the policy, which applies to air pollution as well. Of those facilities, 55 have faced formal enforcement actions in the past five years from either the EPA or state regulators." As disturbing as this news is, it is absolutely no surprise.
James Goodwin | July 28, 2020
Today, a group of 136 law professors from across the United States, including 31 Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) Member Scholars, will send a letter to congressional leaders urging them to “ensure that our courthouse doors remain open to all Americans for injuries they suffer from negligence during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The letter, spearheaded by CPR Member Scholars Dan Farber and Michael Duff, comes in response to a push by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate special interests to include a “federal liability shield” in the next COVID relief bill, which is now being negotiated in Congress. This shield would prevent ordinary Americans from holding corporations accountable in the civil courts when their unreasonably dangerous actions cause people to become sick with the virus.
James Goodwin | July 22, 2020
Donald Trump is no stranger to leaving things worse off than he found them, and this is precisely what his administration now aims to do with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), not just one of the most successful government institutions in the history of the United States, but indeed the world. Having worked quickly, if not sloppily, to dismantle every vestige of the Obama administration's efforts to promote cleaner air and water, the Trump EPA is now heading down a path of self-destruction. The agency's proposed "benefits-busting" rule, released early last month, is a big part of this campaign.