chemical plants

Smoke and flames fill the air from a large chemical fire in Passaic, N.J. on Friday.

National

Fire near a New Jersey chemical plant spreads thick smoke through the region

1:38pm January 15, 2022

by The Associated Press

A dramatic fire near the plant burned through the night and into Saturday but led to no evacuation orders or serious injuries — just heavy smoke that was seen and smelled in nearby New York City.

A flooded road leading to the Arkema chemical plant near Houston, Texas in August 2017. Multiple employees including the plant manager are facing criminal charges for allegedly failing to adequately prepare for flooding that caused massive chemical fires

Texas Criminal Trial Highlights Climate Liability For Factories In Floodplains

4:58pm March 02, 2020

by Rebecca Hersher

A criminal case in Houston alleges that employees at a chemical company should have prepared for the record flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Petrochemical facilities in the Houston area are assessing their hurricane preparedness after Hurricane Harvey. This oil refinery reinforced storage tank roofs with geodesic domes — the gray caps on some of the white tanks in the photo — to better wi

Industry Looks For Hurricane Lessons As Climate Changes

10:32pm August 31, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

Hurricane Harvey was a wake-up call for petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast to rethink plans for major floods. Some companies are starting to prepare for storms that are larger and more severe.

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Robert Taylor, center, speaks at a St. John the Baptist Parish council meeting in 2017. He and the other members of the citizens' group around him wear T-shirts that reference the safety limit for the chemical chloroprene.

After Decades Of Air Pollution, A Louisiana Town Rebels Against A Chemical Giant

6:57pm March 06, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

Neighborhoods around a Louisiana chemical plant have the highest cancer risk in the U.S. Residents felt powerless, until the Environmental Protection Agency released data on what they were breathing.

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