The chemical industry has a special place in my heart. I grew up in New Jersey and spent almost thirty years living there. I like to say the chemical industry also has a special place in my lungs, liver, and the rest of my organs.  The chemical industry in the U.S. is huge. Their total estimated production in 2017, according to Statista, was $765.4 billion. They are one of the largest, best funded, and most powerful industries.. Because of this, almost all regulations are in their favor, especially any regulation that may limit the amounts of specific toxic substances the industry is allowed to emit.  As an industry, the chemical sector produces more pollution and hazardous waste than many other industries combined. The list of the top 100 polluters in the U.S. have 37 chemical industry companies making the list. Those 37 companies together produce more pollution than the next seven groups of  industries on the list combined. The chemical industry is actually a group themselves made up of several manufacturing sectors, including petrochemicals, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and a few other players. Each of these groups by themselves release significant amounts of toxic chemicals into the environment each year.  In 2018, data from the EPA toxic emissions report showed just how much of these hazardous emissions really are dumped into our air, water, and ground. The chemical industry released 543 million pounds of toxins, and the petroleum industry 79 million pounds. According to the EPA, the number of chemical companies who reported emissions data was 3,455. On average, each chemical company was responsible for 157,000 pounds of toxic emissions. While that number is only the average of all of them, that alone is still huge. When we use the data to see emissions areas with concentrations of chemical factories, amounts of 10 million and 20 million pounds are common. Because of these concentrations, these places develop colorful nicknames to reflect their level of pollution: places like “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana and “The Armpit” up in northern New Jersey off the Turnpike.  There are many dangers and risks that come with living near a chemical plant. 

1. Toxic Air Emissions

The incredible amount of chemicals poured into the air surrounding these plants is certainly the biggest danger. Many thousands of people have directly suffered as a result of exposure to toxic emissions from these plans. Entire communities suffer in the shadows underneath billowing clouds of chemicals pumped 24 hours a day into the air they have no choice but to breathe.  Miscarriages, birth defects, cancers of all types and illnesses of every part of the body are the direct result of long-term exposure to these emissions.  In Hopewell, Virginia, a former Honeywell chemical plant released over two million pounds of ammonia into the community in the year 2015 in addition to tens of thousands of other hazardous chemical emissions. Now owned by AdvanSix, the plant continues to make nylon and chemicals for fertilizer. It also continues to send toxic emissions out of the smokestack.  In LaPlace, Louisiana, DuPont operated a chemical plant that manufactures chloroprene, the main ingredient in making neoprene for wetsuits and other products. Since 1969, DuPont has produced chloroprene and neoprene at the plant, and since that time the residents in the area have reported the emissions from the plant have been making them sick. According to EPA data, the areas closest to the plant have the highest cancer risk in the entire country. In one specific area, EPA data shows rates 700 times the norm.  Even after the EPA finally issued an exposure standard that showed exceeding the threshold amount is harmful, the plant is still being measured with emissions of over 150 times that amount. Lawsuits are in court, and the toxic chemical is still in the air. DuPont sold the operation in 2015.  In St. James, Louisiana, a chemical company already in full operation wants to double the amount of toxic emissions it is allowed in order to create products like plastic bottles and bags. Manufacturing plastic products emits some of the most dangerous chemicals in large amounts. The plastic plant would put 800 tons of hazardous pollutants into the air each year.  In Riverside Gardens outside Louisville, Kentucky, there is a chemical company named Hexion. Their website claims they have a responsibility to make the world better, safer, and cleaner. Ironically, in just one 16-month period, the company had over 50 chemical emissions exceeding their permit levels. The cancer-causing chemical formaldehyde was one of them. Prior to that period of time, there were another 85 violations.  In Cancer Alley, the 80-mile long stretch of chemical plants between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, multiple plants owned by Exxon-Mobil were fined $2.5 million in a settlement with the EPA. Their plants in Texas were involved as well. Exxon-Mobil was violating air pollution standards at eight of their facilities, contributing to the area’s dishonorable nickname.

2. Explosions and Accidents

Trying to find out about what materials are stored onsite at one of the facilities is made very difficult by the government and the industry itself. There are federal regulations that require companies who have more than a certain amount of especially dangerous and hazardous chemicals onsite to file a report with the EPA. The supposed purpose is for emergency planning in the case of an incident at the plant. In theory, as well, the company is supposed to work with the town or city it is located in so they are also aware of what potential materials the emergency crews may encounter in dealing with a fire or explosion at the plant. In Port Neches, Texas, fireballs at a chemical factory just before Thanksgiving Day, 2019, forced the evacuation of 50,000 people. Dark plumes of thick toxic smoke were billowing into the sky at TPC Group chemical factory for two days after the initial explosions rocked the area. Earlier in 2019 the company was fined for excessive emissions and pollution. Failure to report these releases was another violation placed by the company as well. The plant manufactures chemicals such as butadiene and others used for synthetic rubber, fuel, and plastics. Butadiene is considered a known carcinogen by the EPA, who says high exposures to the chemical may likely cause damage to the central nervous system.  In Akron, Ohio, an explosion at Emerald Performance Materials forced an evacuation of the areas surrounding the plant. The chemical factory has a long record with state and federal environmental agencies for violations. One such serious violation was the failure to prevent non-sudden releases of hazardous materials. Records that were supposed to have names of hazardous waste managers and information for emergency coordination were incomplete and missing information. The location of fire suppression equipment was missing from the plan as well. Other violations included not completing required inspections of equipment and requiring workers to enter areas after chemical releases without having breathing protection.  In Crosby, Texas, there was an explosion and fire at the KMCO Chemical plant when a tank containing isobutylene, a flammable chemical, caught fire. A nearby highway was shut down, and all residents within one mile of the plant were told to stay indoors and shelter in place. One person was killed and two were injured in this incident. The plant already had a history of violations prior to the explosion in spite of the company claiming how compliant with regulations they are. The county sued KMCO in 2008 for releasing toxic chemicals into the air that caused severe headaches and other health issues in nearby residents. In 2010, after an accident at the plant, investigators issued 15 violations for serious issues including highly hazardous materials management, hazardous waste management, and emergency response management violations.  The company changed hands in 2012. Under the new ownership, despite claiming compliance with environmental regulations, in 2013, the company did not conduct emissions tests on its stacks as required and released much larger amounts of carbon monoxide into the air. In 2016,  KMCO was criminally convicted on two charges of knowingly violating the Clean Air Act. A total of over $3 million in fines was issued. In that case, over a four year period the company failed to monitor leaks of several specific pollutants at the Crosby plant and when caught, admitted the company falsified records to secure permits. In May of 2020, outside Boston, Massachusetts, in Newburyport, several explosions at a chemical plant blasted a hole through the roof. Firefighters responding were unable to enter the building due to thick black smoke. Records show the company, PCI Synthesis, has had 13 serious safety violations and five lesser grade ones since 2010. Federal violations in the past year included problems with safety procedures and chemical handling. The safety violations were related to preventing or minimizing the consequences of catastrophic releases of chemicals.  Again in Crosby, Texas, a chemical company called Arkema exploded after floodwaters from a recent hurricane knocked out power to some equipment, causing chemicals to erupt into a ball of fire with toxic black smoke pouring hundreds of feet into the air. The company, which worked with various types of peroxide chemicals, failed to do any emergency planning in the event of a flood caused by hurricanes, which the area frequently was subjected to. The chemicals that the company worked with had potential acute health effects that neither the community or the first responders were prepared for in an emergency situation. There were disputes over whether the first responders had the correct information on the toxicity of the chemical blaze, but, regardless, 21 first responders needed emergency medical treatment as a result of exposure to the fumes.  During the blaze, an evacuation zone was created a mile and a half around the plant. Toxic fumes pouring from the area caused eye and skin irritations as well as respiratory issues in residents. Some first responders totally unaware of the toxicity of the chemicals were immediately affected by the fumes and some of them literally became sick and overwhelmed in the streets. Police responders were doubled over vomiting in the streets, the lawsuit said, due to the toxic fumes they were breathing. Residents in the area said the effects from the chemical exposure were still being felt many months after the explosion. After the blaze, floodwaters containing levels of toxic chemicals released from the plant caused burns, rashes, and skin irritations on people who came in contact with the toxic water. 

3. Water Pollution

Pollution of surface water and groundwater are frequently found onsite and nearby many chemical plants. Spills of chemicals and leaks from tanks and pipes all contribute to toxic chemicals used at the plant being washed into drainage ditches, nearby streams, or local roadways. In far too many cases, onsite storage ponds and lagoons have been used for hazardous waste storage or other purposes that then either moved off site into nearby waterways or seeped below into the groundwater under the plant.  In Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, a DuPont plant that made explosives detonated the defective explosives that did not pass quality control in a pond on their property. The pond, which has no protective liner, was also used to dispose of mercury, lead, and wastewater from manufacturing. A babbling brook actually named Acid Brook happened to meander over DuPont’s property near the pond, traveled through a nearby neighborhood behind the houses, and emptied into Pompton Lake, the town’s lake.  Along the way through the DuPont property, the chemicals from the unlined contaminated pond would flow over into Acid Brook. Everytime Acid Brook would overflow, the poisons would flood across people’s backyards. Children played in their yards and splashed around in the water, totally unaware they were exposed to mercury and lead from the DuPont plant nearby.  When the backyards were finally tested, almost all the homes along the banks of Acid Brook showed high levels of mercury and lead–levels so high, in fact, residents were warned to not have any contact at all with the ground. It took many years of argument between DuPont and state environmental officials to agree on any type of cleanup. Because Acid Brook had so much contamination, 36 acres, over 2,700 truckloads, of sediment in the lake needed to be removed. While not all the contamination will be removed, at least the worst will be, according to the EPA. Meanwhile, Pompton Lake is still used for recreation by boaters and fishermen. The contamination levels of mercury are still so high people are warned not to eat any fish. Frighteningly enough, the lake is actually a backup water source for filling another nearby reservoir used for drinking water.  Recently, this water was actually used for that very purpose.  In Linden, New Jersey, a refinery now run by Exxon-Mobil has been operating for over 100 years. According to a report done for the state of New Jersey, the 1,300 acres the refinery sits on has leaked and spilled over seven million gallons of oil into the ground. Between two refineries there are over 600 different contaminants that have been found in the soil.    Some chemical companies and industry officials may argue that many of the places with contamination were caused by actions in the past. Even if that were entirely true, many of those same places, contamination remains, still poisoning and haunting people for many years to come. Worse yet, the claim is not completely true. Contamination still happens today as well, and, unfortunately, it will still happen tomorrow.  Unfortunately for us, the U.S. actually allows some of the most toxic chemicals in the world, chemicals banned in other countries, to be made, sold, and used here.  In Orangeburg, South Carolina, a chemical company is set to manufacture pentachlorophenol, a highly toxic chemical banned by an agreement of 172 countries. The manufacturing plants in other countries are closing due to the ban. The EPA has no issue with US factories continuing to make the chemical. The president of the Treated Wood Council, Jeff Miller, went on record and said, “The EPA has previously certified pentachlorophenol for industrial use,” so he’s confident it is safe. Given that 172 countries have completely banned the chemical, it is hard to be convinced by his testimony. If the US joined the ban, it would stop the sale and use of some of the worst chemicals that do the most damage, like DDT did years ago, and that persist in the environment for decades, continuing to poison people, animals, and everything else. Instead, we are not part of the agreement because it would hurt chemical companies.  The chemical industry is continually challenging any studies, reports, or research that show health hazards caused by any of these chemicals with studies of their own showing they do not. However, given the source of these studies, they are highly suspect. These companies also use tactics such as filing lawsuits against anyone or anything that can delay implementation of regulations limiting their emissions, a strategy that works because they can outspend local interest groups easily.  Over the years Tony and I have been doing research for information on specific companies, the chemical industry has always been the most difficult to get accurate information about. They usually claim trade secrets and do not share the information that the people who are most affected by the plants’ operations should have the right to know. Living near a chemical plant can subject you to the highest levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the country. Many chemical plants are known as “Super Polluters” because they rank among the top emitters of toxins anywhere in the U.S. Size is never an indication of potential for hazardous emissions. Many small chemical plants emit more hazardous chemicals than other industrial operations several times their size. When it comes to exposure to hazardous emissions and other dangers, chemical plants are one of the top places to stay away from.  Usually, the bulk of the heavier pollutants can be found in the immediate mile from the plant. However, the plumes of toxic materials from the smokestacks can be carried dozens of miles away. If you are looking for a zone to be beyond from the plant, we would suggest a buffer of two miles if you are able to. In the case of a large known toxic polluter, we suggest up to five miles. For large clusters of chemical operations absolutely five miles at minimum.