Chemical Industry

Major Chemical Accidents Are Alarmingly Common In The US

October 17, 2024 Mike Ludwig, Truthout. Educate! BioLab, Chemical Industry, Environment, Georgia, History, Public Health

Investigators have been busy at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the independent federal agency tasked with determining the root causes of major chemical accidents at industrial facilities. In Georgia, fallout is continuing more than two weeks after a massive chemical fire erupted at the BioLab pool and spa supply facility in Conyers, just outside of Atlanta. The fire created a toxic plume of chlorine gas that forced 17,000 people from their homes just days after Hurricane Helene hit the state. In the suburban petrochemical corridor east of Houston, Texas, the Chemical Safety Board is investigating the toxic release of hydrogen sulfide at an oil refinery that left two contract workers dead and 35 others injured on October 10.

UN Experts Allege Human Rights Violations By PFAS Chemical Giant

November 29, 2023 Olivia Rosane, Common Dreams. Resist! Chemical Industry, Human Rights, North Carolina, PFAS

United Nations human rights experts have expressed concerns over "alleged human rights violations and abuses" against people living along the lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina due emissions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from a Fayetteville chemical plant. Five U.N. experts signed letters to Chemours—the plant's current operator—as well as DuPont, Corteva, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Dutch environmental regulators. The action marks the U.N. Human Rights Council's first investigation into an environmental problem in the U.S., The Guardian reported Tuesday.

Settlements With Chemical Giants Mark The Dawn Of PFAS Accountability

July 1, 2023 Pat Elder, Military Poisons. Resist! Chemical Industry, health, Legal System, PFAS

It’s been a busy June in the US District Court in Charleston, South Carolina! Military veterans and civilians with a likelihood of occupational exposure to per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances, (PFAS) ought to understand what’s been going on. On June 2, 2023, DuPont de Nemours, Chemours, and Corteva, three major producers of PFAS, announced that they had created a $1.2 billion fund for water utilities with PFAS contamination. The settlement only covers the agencies that provide drinking water in the U.S. They’ll use the money to replace pipes and install filtration systems to assure that people aren’t drinking water poisoned by these companies.

A Climate Wake-Up Call For The Chemical Industry

March 14, 2022 David Moore and Donald Shaw, Sludge. Educate! Chemical Industry, EPA, pollution, Regulation

In 2017, the Trump administration sided with industry lobbyists and rescinded safety rules governing thousands of chemical plants across America. Five years later — after multiple chemical plant explosions in the Houston area — government investigators are telling lawmakers that a lack of federal regulation is heightening the risk of chemical disasters during climate change-related extreme weather events at thousands of facilities nationwide. President Joe Biden’s administration is considering issuing a new rule regulating such facilities — but not until next summer. Chemical companies and industry groups have already sicced their lobbyists on the EPA to stop the new rules, arguing that, despite all evidence to the contrary, their members are well-prepared for disasters and will only be made more vulnerable by new regulations.

Hawaiians Protest Chemical Poisons Sprayed In Their Communities

May 18, 2015 Mike Ludwig, www.truth-out.org Resist! Chemical Industry, Environment, Hawaii, Public Health

For the past three years, a growing coalition of activists and civic leaders on Kaua'i has been battling Syngenta and three other agrichemical companies - BASF, DuPont Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences - over toxic pesticides the companies spray as they field test and produce genetically engineered seeds, which are also known as genetically modified organisms or GMOs. The four companies spray thousands of gallons of pesticides labeled "restricted use" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at their farms and test plots on Kaua'i each year. At least five of the 22 restricted-use pesticide formulas used on the island contain chemicals that have been banned in Switzerland due to environmental and human health concerns, but are perfectly legal in the United States as long as they are applied by licensed workers.

Coalition Sues EPA Over Herbicide Approval

October 25, 2014 Center For Food Safety, www.centerforfoodsafety.org Resist! Chemical Industry, EPA, Food and Agriculture, Pesticides

San Francisco, CA – A coalition of farmers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today on behalf of six Midwest states where a toxic herbicide cocktail called Dow’s Enlist Duo, a blend of glyphosate and 2,4-D, was approved on October 15 for use on genetically engineered (GE) crops. Approved for use on GE corn and soybeans that were engineered to withstand repeated applications of the herbicide, the creation of 2,4-D-resistant crops and EPA’s approval of Enlist Duo is the result of an overuse of glyphosate, an ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. The misuse resulted in an infestation of glyphosate-resistant super weeds which can now be legally combatted with the more potent 2,4-D.

Leaked TTIP Documents Reveal Powerful Chemical Industry Wins

October 3, 2014 Nadia Prupis, www.commondreams.org Educate! Capitalism, Chemical Industry

Corporate interests may be winning in U.S.-EU trade negotiations, endangering public health and the environment, a new cache of documents (pdf) leaked on Tuesday show. Backed by powerful industry advisers and bolstered by U.S. allies who have already made significant concessions to move negotiations along, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal is poised to derail European regulations around the use and transport of chemicals—regulations which are significantly stronger than those in the U.S. The deal would also limit public access to information on toxic and hazardous substances.

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