Flood water contamination threatens communities living near chemical facilities – can private law protect them?
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Over 3,200 of the 10,420 Risk Management Plan (RMP) facilities across the United States, including hundreds of chemical facilities, are at risk of leaking dangerous chemicals into the environment and among the communities residing in close proximity if natural disasters triggered by climate change strike. There are currently 872 chemical facilities within 50 miles of the Gulf Coast, an area prone to hurricanes. Nearly 4.4 million people live within 1.5 miles of these chemical plants, as well as 1,717 schools and 98 medical facilities.
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The RMP rule makes it mandatory for facilities that use or store hazardous substances to develop plans that identify the potential consequences of a chemical accident, come up with effective prevention steps, and think of appropriate emergency responses. Even though RMP facilities are instructed to consider all possible causes of emergencies, a report by the Government Accountability Office found that risks stemming from climate change were not taken into account, which leaves these facilities with scarce information and direction on how to handle threats such as hurricanes and sea level rise.
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The United States has relied on private law for decades, yet there are no mandatory standards for storage tank performance, record-keeping, or inspections. This lack of regulations encourages private firms to store millions of gallons of hazardous substances in areas prone to natural disasters caused by climate change without regulatory oversight of their practices or extreme weather events preparedness. Therefore, the mechanisms of private law are obsolete and have failed to work repeatedly.
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