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More than three years ago, Propublica was sensitive to the US “sacrifice zone”. It was exposed to an unacceptable amount of toxic air pollution in the shadow of industrial facilities. Life in these places was an infinite flow of a petition for an unexplored petition for the burning eyes, suspicious smell, cancer diagnosis, and helping help.
The Biden administration has taken action over the next few years, throws fines, strengthens air surveillance, and tightens one of the most extreme carcinogens. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a score of dangerous air pollution rules and demanded significant budgets to fulfill its duty based on the Clean Air Law. Experts said if their efforts were successful, it could create a meaningful difference.
President Donald Trump threatens to dismantle the measures taken to suppress pollution. In just two weeks, the Trump administration ordered the proposed regulation to suspend, fired EPA inspectors, fired frozen federal funds for community projects, and forced thousands of EPA employees from work. Is started.
Thus, Propublica has begun to understand what modest reforms are currently threatening and who will be left to protect these communities.
Weaknesses of national execution
The first Trump administration told the EPA staff to postpone more to an environmental execution. However, Propublica has documented the long history of the state failure to give polluters. It is mainly in areas where Trump is strongly supported.
“The state generally has no resources, experience, equipment, and quick and effectively respond political will,” said Scott Surle, a former executive officer of the EPA.
In the Pascula in Mississippi, residents have appeared in state -of -the -art environmental institutions for many years as nearby oil refining, shipbuilding factories, and other facilities, and regularly released carcinogens such as benzene and nickel. It is reported.
What we are looking at
Propobika focuses on areas that require scrutiny during the second President of Donald Trump. Here are some of the issues that reporters watch and how to contact them safely.
We are doing something new. Was it useful?
In early 2023 non -profit global exchange, scientific devices used by state contractors in the neighborhood to investigate recent complaints, the worst chemicals at a level that could bring health. When I learned that it was not as sensitive enough to be detected, I was revealed the benefit of complaints. risk. The instrument is designed to protect industrial workers in 8 hours of working hours, rather than medical and vulnerable people who require greater protection at home.
“I haven’t lived in this house for 8 hours! I live here 24 hours a day, and live here,” said Barbara, a resident who has been dissatisfied with the state about toxic air for over 10 years. Wecessor said.
Yang Shafer, a communication director of the Mississippi State Environmental Quality Bureau, uses an agency to deal with complaints using “scientific and healthy methods and tools” and look at one episode, “I’m worried about the energy. The important context and widespread behaviors to be dealt with have been omitted. ” Mississippi. “
Before Trump’s inauguration, the EPA regional office should start data collection this spring, stating that it has applied for a subsidy for installing aviation monitors. The 625,000 dollar long -term air surveillance initiatives can ultimately determine the source and scale of pollution, but the data that it is generated does not say “magic -like things.” Eight states in the northeast. Morin stated that either the state or the EPA of Trump needs to analyze the data and check the cause of pollution and how to stop it.
Immediately after taking office, Trump ordered all the federal subsidies, including EPAs, causing a legal battle. Nevertheless, Shafer said that the schedule for the project is proceeding smoothly.
The EPA has confirmed that similar activities in Verona in Missouri have cracked down on industrial factories that exhale dangerous carcinogens.
While producing an animal feed, the plants release ethylene oxide, a colorless gas related to leukemia and breast cancer.
In response to the demands of the city at the time at the time, the state conducted a cancer survey of residents in 2022 and determined that there was no sufficient data for detailed analysis. In the same year, EPA reported that plants operated by BCP components leaked about ethylene oxide of about 1,300 pounds.
The EPA intervened, set air monitoring in the town, imposed a 300,000 dollar fines to the company, and ordered to install equipment to remove 99.95 % of ethylene oxide from a specific smoked stick. 。 (The BCP component did not return the comments of the comment.) “The EPA did much more than I thought in the state,” said Hekk in 2022. The cancer before they moved to Verona, but Heck said, but returned within a year and spread to the brain and liver.
A spokesman of the Missouri State Natural Resources Bureau said that the EPA would forcing the company to use authority under the Federal Clean Air Law to update the pollution reduction devices after the outflow. He stated that the state had no power to do it.
“Texas is very kind to the industry.”
According to the facilities submitted to the EPA, the facilities that sterilize medical devices in Laledo, Texas have released more ethylene oxide than any other industrial factory in Japan.
Nearly 130,000 nearby residents, including more than 37,000 children, have been investigating a produced pubrica and Texas tribune, as the risk of lifelong cancer. Two children who were diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia, a cancer related to ethylene oxide exposure, spoke about their trials and said they did not consider risks.
According to the statement of the Midwest Sterilization Corporation, which operates the Laled factory, the company states that “all federal and state law requires or exceeds it.” Is executed.
After the EPA announced a report on ethylene oxide in 2016, the Texas State Environment Agency conducted a unique review of federal research. The state concluded that people can safely inhale chemicals at a concentration several thousand times higher than the EPA safety limit.
Later, the state passed a rule that not needed to reduce the amount of pollution.
Richard Richter, a spokesman of the Texas Committee on the environmental quality, stated that it has implemented a detailed analysis of the link between ethylene oxides and breast cancer that led to the lack of support. Ta.
Scientists told the propobolica that the state institution accidentally excluded research on ethylene oxide to breast cancer and reached the ruling only after using the defect analysis of the data dependent on the EPA.
According to a 2021 analysis of 2021 of EPA data from 2014 to 2018, the state is a 26 -based facility -based facility that releases ethylene oxides, and has its facilities. 。
“Texas is very friendly to the industry,” said Tricia Cortes, an executive director of the non -profit Rioglande International Learning Center.
Cortes said, “postponing more responsibility to the state is a miserable for ordinary people.” … Why is it important why you are protected based on your states? People who are very scary and exposed to something that cause cancer should have the same protection everywhere. “
The representative of Trump’s transition team did not return the comments.
Hannah Pulse, a senior staff member of the Harvard University Environment & Energy Law Program, enables or to strengthen or create a geography by giving more control of the federal law in the state. He said that it would give the nation.
Dangerous federal rules
One of the important reforms that promises the rescue of Laled residents is the latest rules adopted by the EPA last spring.
Federal government agencies prompted by the Cortes group’s lawsuit, ultimately monitors ethylene ooxide air monitoring to facilities nationwide, including those in Texas, and reduces chemical discharge by 90 %. Request to add a device for.
The facility needs to be complied up by 2026, and you can demand an extension.
However, a lawyer nominated to lead the air pollution of Trump EPA is a friend in the industry that depends on chemicals. Aaron Szabo has recently represented the Advanced Medical Technology Association, an industry trade group that contains commercial sterilizers using ethylene oxide. (His work for the group was first reported by Politico.) According to his lobby activity last year, SZABO said, “Regulations on the use of ethylene oxides from commercially available sterilizers facilities. “Lobby was activated by EPA.
SZABO did not return the comments.
The important choice of Trump and his government in the government has said that they intend to roll back the environmental protection that bears the industry.
How far they go, the number of industrial air pollution increases from industrial air pollution, and the analysis of more than 1,000 hot spot Propublica, which has been specified as a risk that is often unacceptable, has a permanent result to the residents.
Another rule issued by the EPA last year provides a new method of pollution in Calvart City, Kentucky.
According to the EPA record, the local chemical plants operated by Westlake Vinyls in June last year have leaked 153 pounds of oxygen ethylene (dangerous carcinogenic ethylene), a dangerous carcinogenic substance.
The second pick of Donald Trump’s EPA represents a company accused of contamination.
It was the latest of a series of issues in the factory that the fine of the state and the federal finance did not stop. From 2020 to 2023, EPA discovered 46 instances that did not operate chemical substances correctly. According to the agency acquired by Propublica, during one inspection, the dangers of dangerous gas coming from the tank were very high, so I overwhelmed EPA measurement equipment. Westlake did not respond to the comment request.
EPA updated rules require more than 100 facilities, including West Lake and Pascula refinement, to install an air monitor along the fence line or boundary. The monitor measures up to six toxic gases, and the data is posted online. (It is unknown which chemicals will monitor these two facilities, but the requirements may cover ethylene chloride.)
Michael Callbar, a former EPA, said that this rule could ultimately get very transparent needs for residents. Koerber stated that the earlier EPA rules, when petroleum refining requested to install benzene fence line monitoring, had significantly reduced benzene from those facilities.
However, new rules will not be completely valid until next year.
It will leave the execution to the Trump administration.
