Virginia is home to thousands of unregulated and aging aboveground hazardous chemical storage tanks, which, when exposed to storms or floods, may be at greater risk of failing or spills. This risk — and the threat it poses to our health and safety — is rising as our climate changes.
Since these tanks are not regulated by the state or federal government, we know very little about their number, condition, age, or contents. If storage tanks are improperly constructed or maintained, they are more likely to fail under stress, and could release any number of toxic chemicals into nearby communities.
In addition to threatening community health and safety, the spills may also exacerbate existing disparities. In Virginia, industrial facilities vulnerable to flooding are disproportionately concentrated in socially vulnerable areas, according to a 2019 report by our colleague, David Flores.
Virginia is no stranger to failing tanks. In 2008, an Allied Terminals tank in Chesapeake, Va., collapsed, seriously injuring two workers and releasing 200,000 gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which upon contact or inhalation can cause irritation to skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Some of it also entered the Elizabeth River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board attributed the failure to defective welding — and Allied Terminals’ failure to inspect the welds to ensure they complied with industry standards.
This year, CPR staff co-authored a white paper with CPR Member Scholar Noah Sachs and other Virginia watershed experts to address this concern. The paper appeared in the Virginia Conservation Network’s 2022 Common Agenda, which is a joint environmental policy agenda of more than 150 organizations working across the Commonwealth.
The paper calls on Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to, at minimum, establish an aboveground chemical storage tank program that requires registration and reporting on the quantity, condition, and contents of tanks, which would enable regulators and emergency managers to better plan for flooding and extreme weather.
We also called on DEQ to adopt siting, construction, and maintenance standards for new and existing tanks, with inspections and reporting by qualified engineers to ensure tanks remain safe as they age. And finally, when spills do occur, mandatory comprehensive spill prevention planning and practices are needed to provide essential safeguards for human health and the environment.
Fenceline communities — those near major sources of pollution — suffer most when polluters discharge above legal limits, which are set to protect local water quality and wildlife. Yet, the Virginia DEQ lacks the funding, authority, and capacity to adequately pursue enforcement and compliance actions against polluters, which puts people of color and other marginalized communities most at risk.
Over the last two decades, Virginia lawmakers have slashed DEQ’s budget by $37 million per year, (roughly a fifth of the department’s 2021 budget) and, as a result, the agency has reduced staff by a third. Meanwhile, pollution permits are increasing in volume and complexity. But DEQ’s current permit fees don’t cover the cost of processing or implementing these permits, which are needed to protect Virginia’s air, land, and water.
In response, we co-authored another white paper in the 2022 Common Agenda focused on improving environmental enforcement and transparency for a cleaner, healthier Virginia. We urge the Virginia General Assembly restore DEQ funding to pre-2008 recession levels and grant the agency greater authority to respond to budgetary and programmatic needs, such as more staff to inspect businesses and facilities and crack down on polluters.
Specifically, DEQ needs authority to issue on-the-spot fines for minor violations, increase permit fees, and robustly pursue various enforcement actions to keep polluters in check.
Enforcement efforts must target and prioritize those most impacted: low-wealth communities of color already overburdened by pollution. A dedicated Environmental Justice Enforcement and Compliance division in the state attorney general’s office would support this goal.
We also recommend that DEQ increase transparency around its environmental enforcement and compliance efforts so frontline communities and policymakers better understand the agency’s annual performance results and needs.
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Darya Minovi, Katlyn Schmitt | August 30, 2021
Virginia is home to thousands of unregulated and aging aboveground hazardous chemical storage tanks, which, when exposed to storms or floods, may be at greater risk of failing or spills. This risk — and the threat it poses to our health and safety — is rising as our climate changes.
Rebecca Bratspies | August 23, 2021
This November, New York voters will decide whether to enshrine an explicit environmental right in their state constitution. If adopted, the new section will read, “Every person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” New York would join several other states, as well as the United Nations and roughly 150 countries across the globe, in recognizing a fundamental human right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. We all deserve to live in healthy communities. Yet, the grim reality is that Black communities, communities of color, and low-income communities frequently have to fight tooth-and-nail for these basic human rights. This situation is neither accidental nor inevitable. New York City is a clear example.
Karen Sokol | August 18, 2021
The Interdisciplinary Panel on Climate Change report released Aug. 9 declared that evidence is now unequivocal that human activity is driving global warming, and immediate steps must be taken to mitigate profound changes. Karen C. Sokol, professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and CPR Member Scholar, says two essential international policies must be taken -- ending fossil fuel production and providing communities with the resources to adapt.
Melissa Lutrell, Sidney A. Shapiro | August 17, 2021
The surging COVID-19 delta variant is sending thousands of people to the hospital, killing others, and straining several states' hospital systems to their breaking point. The climate crisis is hurting people, communities and countries as we write this piece, with apocalyptic wildfires, crippling droughts and raging floodwaters. Systemic racism continues unabated, leading to vast economic and environmental injustices. It's beyond time for urgent action, but to get there, the federal government must reform the opaque, biased method it uses to evaluate our nation's public health, economic and environmental protections.
Karen Sokol | August 13, 2021
On Aug. 9, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the first installment of its latest report assessing the state of scientific knowledge about the climate crisis. As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres put it in a press release, the report is nothing less than “a code red for humanity.” The good news is that the science indicates that there is still time to respond by taking drastic and rapid action to shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy and to keep people safe in the face of the dangerous changes in the climate system that have already taken place. That will be expensive, and a group of senators led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) plan to introduce legislation based on the well-established legal and moral principle that those who cause damage should pay for it.
Maggie Dewane | August 12, 2021
The latest report out of the UN's Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change is harrowing. But it's not too late to take action. Here are some of the policies the United States should implement immediately.
Alina Gonzalez | August 9, 2021
In his first week of office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order, "Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad," that responds to climate change with an emphasis on environmental justice. Notably, the order creates a government-wide "Justice40 initiative," which sets a goal for disadvantaged communities most impacted by climate change and pollution to receive at least 40 percent of overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy.
Marcha Chaudry | August 2, 2021
In February, Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, reintroduced the FAIR Act. The legislation would protect workers and consumers by eliminating restrictive "forced arbitration" clauses in employment and consumer contracts. The bill would also allow consumers and workers to agree to arbitration after a dispute occurs if doing so is in their best interests. A companion measure has been introduced in the Senate. Arbitration -- a process where third parties resolve legal disputes out of court -- is a standard precondition to most, if not all, nonunion employment and consumer contracts. It's considered "forced" because few consumers and workers are aware that they are agreeing to mandatory arbitration when they sign contracts. In most contracts, arbitration is imposed on a take-it-or-leave-it basis before any dispute even occurs; refusing to sign is rarely a realistic option because other sellers and employers impose similar arbitration requirements.
Daniel Farber | July 30, 2021
On Wednesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a package of four clean energy bills. These bills move the state to the forefront of climate action. They ban new fossil fuel plants and set aggressive targets for the state's two major utilities, requiring emission cuts of 80 percent by 2030, 90 percent by 2035 and 100 percent by 2040. This is not only a major step forward for the state; it should also clear the path to closer collaboration among Washington State, Oregon, and California on climate issues.