Media
In the News
News media coverage of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform and our affiliated and allied organizations.
Deidre Nelms
dnelms@comingcleaninc.org
(802) 251-0203 ext. 711
Related News
Spotlight on Black Environmentalists: Q&A with Michele Roberts
December 23, 2022
Michele Roberts, 62, has worked in the environmental justice space for more than 20 years. Now she advises the Biden administration as a member of the recently-formed White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, while also serving as national co-coordinator for the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform. Now a longtime resident of northeast D.C., Roberts also created a community-based special justice arts program based out of her church in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Read More
Recent Chemical Disasters Impel Stronger Federal Safety Regs
October 25, 2022
Acrid smoke filling barely breathable air. School buildings shaking as students and teachers sheltered in place. First responders fighting fires over multiple days, and at a disadvantage due to the hazardous chemicals present. This was just some of the havoc wrought by three dangerous incidents at chemical facilities that occurred within a two-week span in January 2022, all of which caused significant harm to workers and communities. A timely joint report by Coming Clean and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) analyzes these incidents and uses them as a lens to address the adequacy of the Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) primary regulation intended to prevent chemical disasters. And, as EPA has recently proposed revisions to the RMP rule, Coming Clean and EJHA identify where EPA needs to do better in order to achieve its stated goal: protecting communities and advancing environmental justice.
Read More
Qualco chemical plant lacked federal oversight at time of giant Passaic fire
September 21, 2022
Despite housing millions of pounds of hazardous chemicals, the Passaic chlorine plant that was almost engulfed in a massive fire earlier this year was not required to register its stockpile with the federal government or develop a special safety plan, according to a report released Tuesday by a watchdog group. The Qualco chlorine plant falls outside the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Management Plan and its most recent revisions designed to prevent chemical disasters like the one that nearly unfolded in January. "A stronger rule is needed to ensure that hazards are removed, or we will continue to see more chemical disasters," said Steve Taylor, a director at Coming Clean, an environmental nonprofit group based in Vermont. Elias Rodriguez, an EPA spokesman, confirmed that Qualco is not in the EPA's program because it "does not meet threshold quantities of RMP-regulated substances." Read More
Louisiana plant's 'egregious' record highlighted in national push for new chemical safety rules
September 20, 2022
A new report points to a chemical explosion in Louisiana this year as a prime example of why the federal government should toughen national safety standards at petrochemical plants. The Jan. 26 blast that injured six workers at Westlake Corp.’s Lake Charles South complex and forced thousands of students to shelter at their schools was one of three chemical incidents highlighted in the report, produced by Coming Clean and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform. Read More
Report slams EPA's approach to chemical disasters
September 20, 2022
EPA is relying too much on voluntary industry actions to address the risks certain chemical facilities pose to the public, advocates say in a scathing new report that pushes for changes to a draft rule. Two coalitions composed of environmental justice groups, Coming Clean and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, in a report released Tuesday say that while EPA is seeking regulatory revisions to address the risks, more must be done. The groups lay out specific recommendations and point to recent chemical disasters in pressuring the agency for changes to its approach. Industrial and commercial facilities storing highly hazardous chemicals, the groups argue, "disproportionately endanger communities of color and low-income communities." Those areas, they continue, "also often experience disproportionate levels of toxic air pollution and other health and environmental hazards." Read More