WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� About 100 of the nation鈥檚 most contaminated toxic waste sites are in areas prone to flooding and wildfires, a potential public health threat to millions of Americans in surrounding communities, the internal watchdog at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found.
The EPA鈥檚 Office of Inspector General issued two new last week that are part of a series assessing the weather-related vulnerabilities of the 157 federal Superfund sites prioritized for cleanup due to the serious risk they pose to public health and the environment. About 3 million Americans live within a mile of a Superfund site, while 13 million people live within 3 miles (4.8 kilometers).
Some of the Superfund sites were found to be at risk from multiple natural-disaster threats. The studies found 49 in coastal areas are at risk from or storm surge from hurricanes, with many located near highly populated areas and important ecological locales like Chesapeake Bay. Another 47 are in low-lying sites prone specifically to inland flooding from heavy rain. The review also found 31 sites in areas at high risk for .
Despite these risks, the five-year plans governing the expensive and time-consuming cleanups at the sites often failed to account for damage posed by flooding from sea-level rise and and wildfire, the IG鈥檚 review found.
鈥淭hat is a big problem because it means the site managers are not planning mitigation measures,鈥� said Betsy Southerland, a former director of the agency鈥檚 water protection division who spent over 30 years at the EPA.
鈥淭he communities living near those sites should be made aware of this planning failure and should insist on robust plans,鈥� she said.
At locations with little or no planning for floods, contaminants could be released into surrounding communities and taxpayer dollars already invested in remediation could be wasted, the review found.
The EPA said it is reviewing the IG鈥檚 findings and that the Superfund program does factor 鈥渢he impacts of extreme weather events and other hazards as a standard operating practice in the development and implementation of cleanup projects.鈥�
Last year, President Donald Trump fired EPA Inspector General Sean O鈥橠onnell at the beginning of Trump’s second term, and the office鈥檚 new review makes no mention of climate change, a term the Republican administration has . But the new reports issued by the IG鈥檚 remaining staff still lay out the risks posed by a warming planet to the nation鈥檚 most dangerous toxic waste sites.
Lara J. Cushing, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles who has studied the effects of a changing climate on the nation鈥檚 toxic waste sites, petrochemical plants and other hazardous areas, called the new reports 鈥渘oteworthy and important.鈥�
鈥淎lthough President Trump may wish to ignore it, the fact is the climate is changing and we need to be proactive in responding to rising seas and more extreme weather or face the consequences of increasingly frequent cascading natural-technological disasters that poison communities and local鈥痚cosystems,鈥� said Cushing.
The inspector general鈥檚 findings echo a 2017 investigation by The Associated Press that found 327 Superfund sites . The AP鈥檚 review was launched following Hurricane Harvey, which caused extensive flooding in parts of Houston that included and triggered .
The EPA鈥檚 new report said that during Harvey, dioxin chemicals were carried by flooding into neighboring streets, yards and homes close to the San Jacinto River, an area highlighted by AP鈥檚 reporting.
At the time, the EPA under the first Trump administration criticized AP鈥檚 reporting as fear-mongering 鈥測ellow journalism.鈥� Trump has called climate change a hoax, blocked renewable energy projects and sought to boost the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels.
鈥淭his series shines a light on potential threats to federal facility Superfund sites and the critical role of five-year reviews in addressing them,鈥� said Kim Wheeler, the spokesperson for the Inspector General鈥檚 office. 鈥淏y identifying sites at risk from these weather-related events, we aimed to raise awareness and encourage forward looking planning.鈥�
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