In storms like Hurricane Helene, flooded industrial sites and toxic chemical releases are a silent and growing threat
Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants were in as the powerful storm in late September 2024.
Near the coast and into Georgia, Helene swept over paper mills, fertilizer factories and oil and gas storage facilities. Paper mills are among the - some with thousands of pounds of lead on-site from prior production practices.
Florida officials reported that a experienced a storm surge of as much as 12 feet that inundated buildings and an industrial wastewater pond. Spent nuclear fuel stored at the site, which also , was , Bloomberg reported.
Further inland, the storm dumped on industrial sites in the Carolinas and Tennessee, some near waterways that quickly flooded with .
In disasters like these, the industrial damage can unfold over days, and residents may not hear about releases of toxic chemicals into water or the air until days or weeks later, .
Yet pollution releases are common.
After Hurricane Ian broadsided Florida's western coast in 2022, runoff that included hazardous materials from damaged storage tanks and local fertilizer mining facilities, in addition to millions of gallons of wastewater, was , spilling across the coastal wetlands into the Gulf of Mexico. A year earlier, Hurricane Ida triggered .
During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, floodwater surrounded chemical facilities near Houston. Some , releasing huge volumes or pollutants into the air. Emergency responders and residents, for causing respiratory illnesses.
Many types of the long-term health and environmental safety of surrounding communities - often with little notice to residents. Our team of and has mapped hazardous industrial sites across the country and paired them with hurricanes' projected impact maps to help communities hold nearby facilities accountable.
Petrochemical complexes on the Gulf at high risk
The risks from industrial facilities are most obvious along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where many are . These refineries, factories and storage facilities are often built along rivers or bays for easy shipping access.
But those rivers can also bring storm surge flooding that can raise the ocean by several feet during hurricanes. The storm surge from Helene was over 10 feet above ground level in Florida's Big Bend and over .
A recent study found evidence of releases during hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico than during normal weather from 2005 to 2020.
The effects of these pollution releases fall disproportionately on low-income communities and people of color, further exacerbating .
Why residents may not hear about toxic releases
The statistics are disconcerting, yet they get little attention. That is because hazardous releases remain largely invisible due to limited disclosure requirements and scant public information. Even often don't know exactly which hazardous chemicals they are facing in emergency situations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires major polluters to file about chemicals and on-site risks in their . Some large-scale , such as those holding liquefied natural gas, are not even required to do that.
These risk management plans outline "worst-case" scenarios and are supposed to be publicly accessible. But, in reality, we and to access, heavily redacted and housed in federal reading rooms with limited access. The reason local officials and often give for the secrecy is to protect the facilities from terrorist attack.
Adding to this opacity is the fact that many states - including those along the Gulf - suspend restrictions on pollution releases during emergency declarations. Meanwhile, real-time incident notifications from the - the federal government's repository for all chemical discharges into the environment - typically lag by a week or more,
We believe this limited public information on rising chemical threats from our changing climate should be front-page news every hurricane season. Communities should be aware of the risks of hosting vulnerable industrial infrastructure, particularly as rising global temperatures and .
Mapping the risks nationwide to raise awareness
To help communities understand their risks, our team at Rice University's new Center for investigates how industrial communities in flood-prone areas nationwide can better adapt to such threats, socially as well as technologically.
Our shows where elevated future flood risks threaten to inundate major polluters that we identify using the EPA's .
The U.S. has several hot spots with clusters of flood-prone polluters. Houston's Ship Channel, Chicago's waterfront steel industries and the harbors at Los Angeles and New York/New Jersey are among the biggest.
But, as Helene revealed, there can also be great concern in less obvious spots. Inland, particularly in the mountains, runoff can quickly turn normally tame rivers into fast-rising torrents. The French Broad River at Asheville, North Carolina, rose about during Helene and .
When hurricanes and tropical storms are headed for the U.S., our now show in the storm's projected cone of impact. The maps identify hazardous flood-prone facilities down to the address, anywhere in the country.
Knowledge is the first step
Knowing where these sites are located is only the first step. Often, it's up to communities themselves, many of them already , to raise concerns and demand strategies for mitigating the health, economic and environmental risks that industrial sites at risk of flooding and other damage can pose.
These discussions can't wait until a disaster is on the way. By knowing where these risks may be, communities can take steps now to build a safer future.
