"Vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical released in the February train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, contaminates many communities in the U.S. due to pollution from plastics manufacturing plants, according to a new report."

"The plastics industry says heating and treating plastic waste with chemicals enables it to make new plastics. But environmentalists say that process, emitting large amounts of climate and air pollution, isn’t recycling and isn’t green."

"When Shell Chemical Appalachia announced the start of a massive plastics manufacturing facility last November in western Pennsylvania, [it] ... touted the company’s “strong and innovative safety focus.” But now, just six months later, the plant has been the site of multiple malfunctions, including the leakage of benzene, a known carcinogen, along with other pollutants last month."

"Think of them as speed cameras, but for methane. Just like roadside instruments used to identify drivers breaking traffic rules, new powerful satellites are starting to catch oil and gas operators releasing the planet-warming gas into the atmosphere."

"Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm before a disastrous fire struck in March 2019. The fire released toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks."

"The World Health Organization’s (WHO) draft drinking water guidelines for “forever chemicals” disregard best available science and require extensive revisions, two former federal officials argued in a new position paper."

"The EPA’s recent proposal to limit a potentially deadly solvent’s use and production signals challenges for diverse industries as the agency prepares to release more rules restricting widely used chemicals, according to an industry attorney."

"When wildfires spread through parts of Northern California wine country in 2017, they melted electronics, combusted cars and exploded propane tanks. The fires sent acrid smoke billowing into the sky, its footprint wafting over the state and extending for 500 miles into the Pacific Ocean."

"Lake Charles, LA - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board found five safety issues that contributed to the massive fire at BioLab during Hurricane Laura in 2020."

"A German company has agreed to substantially reduce air pollutants from a chemical plant near LaPlace, according to a settlement reached this week with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.