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High-Hazard Chem Plants — Can Secrecy Substitute for Safety? [1]

Reflexive secrecy has been a hallmark of government efforts to deal with highly hazardous chemical facilities in recent decades. Another reminder of that secrecy came in an April 11, 2016, piece in Greenwire by Sam Pearson.  Photo: [2] The fertilizer plant in West, Texas, that exploded in 2013, killing 15 people, by Shane Torgerson, courtesy of Wikipedia.

SEJ Publication Types: 
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat: 
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Visibility: 
Public [7]
  • Read more about High-Hazard Chem Plants — Can Secrecy Substitute for Safety? [1]

EPA Can't Tell Public Which Chem Plants Violate Safety Rules [8]

"U.S. EPA knows which chemical facilities aren't following federal safety protocols, but it can't tell the public where they are."

Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [11]
Source: Greenwire [12], 04/12/2016
  • Read more about EPA Can't Tell Public Which Chem Plants Violate Safety Rules [8]

Study: Line 5 Oil Spill Would Foul Large Swaths Of Great Lakes Shore [13]

"More than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of shoreline and 44,000 square kilometers (17,000 square miles) of open water in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan could be at risk if oil spilled from twin 63-year-old underwater pipelines that run below the Straits of Mackinac, according to a study released Thursday by the University of Michigan Water Center and supported by the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center."

Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Pollution [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Public [7]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [17]
Source: Circle of Blue [18], 04/08/2016
  • Read more about Study: Line 5 Oil Spill Would Foul Large Swaths Of Great Lakes Shore [13]

"The Latest: Oklahoma Governor Declares State of Emergency" [19]

"Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared state of emergency in 10 new counties to aid local jurisdictions affected by wildfires."

Disasters [5]
Public [7]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [20]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [21]
Source: AP [22], 04/07/2016
  • Read more about "The Latest: Oklahoma Governor Declares State of Emergency" [19]

"Blankenship Gets Maximum Sentence: One Year In Prison, $250,000 Fine" [23]

"Former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship, who rose from humble beginnings in Mingo County to become the wealthy and powerful chief executive of one of the region’s largest coal producers, will serve one year in prison and pay a $250,000 fine for a mine safety criminal conspiracy, a judge decided Wednesday."

Disasters [5]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [24]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [11]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [25]
Source: Charleston Gazette-Mail [26], 04/07/2016
  • Read more about "Blankenship Gets Maximum Sentence: One Year In Prison, $250,000 Fine" [23]

Planned Gas Pipeline at Indian Point Nuclear Plant Stirs Meltdown Fears [27]

"Leak in pipeline being built by energy giant Spectra could lead to shutdown – or worse – at the New York state power station, experts say".

Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [28]
Public [7]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [29]
Source: Guardian [30], 04/06/2016
  • Read more about Planned Gas Pipeline at Indian Point Nuclear Plant Stirs Meltdown Fears [27]

"Coal Baron Don Blankenship Faces Sentencing Today" [31]

"Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom -- a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year -- will learn on Wednesday whether he goes to prison."

Disasters [5]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Natural Resources [24]
Public [7]
National (U.S.) [11]
Source: Bloomberg [32], 04/06/2016
  • Read more about "Coal Baron Don Blankenship Faces Sentencing Today" [31]

"Fiji Braces For 2nd Cyclone, Thousands Shelter In Evacuation Centers" [33]

"Cyclone Zena, a category three tropical storm with winds in excess of 120 kph (75 mph), is set to hit Fiji within 24 hours as the South Pacific island nation struggles to recover from a devastating cyclone in February."

Disasters [5]
Public [7]
Australia & Oceania [34]
Source: Reuters [35], 04/06/2016
  • Read more about "Fiji Braces For 2nd Cyclone, Thousands Shelter In Evacuation Centers" [33]

"Federal Judge Approves $20 Billion Settlement From BP Oil Spill" [36]

"A federal judge in New Orleans has granted final approval to an estimated $20 billion settlement, resolving years of litigation over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [15]
Water & Oceans [16]
Public [7]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [37]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [21]
Source: AP [38], 04/05/2016
  • Read more about "Federal Judge Approves $20 Billion Settlement From BP Oil Spill" [36]

Many Man-Made Earthquakes in Western Canada Now Linked to Fracking [39]

"New study says at least 39 fracked wells in Alberta and British Columbia likely triggered earthquakes in recent years."

Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [14]
Public [7]
Canada [40]
Source: InsideClimate News [41], 03/31/2016
  • Read more about Many Man-Made Earthquakes in Western Canada Now Linked to Fracking [39]

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Source URL:https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=426

Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/high-hazard-chem-plants-can-secrecy-substitute-safety [2] http://www.eenews.net/image_assets/2016/04/image_asset_11275.jpg [3] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [7] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [8] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-cant-tell-public-which-chem-plants-violate-safety-rules [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [11] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [12] http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060035384 [13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/study-line-5-oil-spill-would-foul-large-swaths-great-lakes-shore [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [17] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [18] http://www.circleofblue.org/2016/water-energy/oil/study-line-5-oil-spill-inundate-large-swaths-great-lakes-shoreline/ [19] https://www.sej.org/headlines/latest-oklahoma-governor-declares-state-emergency [20] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-plains [21] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [22] http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-winds-shift-wildfire-oklahoma-iodine-plant-38188729 [23] https://www.sej.org/headlines/blankenship-gets-maximum-sentence-one-year-prison-250000-fine [24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [25] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [26] http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160406/blankenship-gets-maximum-sentence-one-year-in-prison-250000-fine [27] https://www.sej.org/headlines/planned-gas-pipeline-indian-point-nuclear-plant-stirs-meltdown-fears [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation [29] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast [30] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/04/spectra-gas-pipeline-nuclear-plant-meltdown-new-york [31] https://www.sej.org/headlines/coal-baron-don-blankenship-faces-sentencing-today [32] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-06/blankenship-facing-swap-of-mountaintop-castle-for-prison-bunk [33] https://www.sej.org/headlines/fiji-braces-2nd-cyclone-thousands-shelter-evacuation-centers [34] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/australia-oceania [35] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyclone-fiji-idUSKCN0X3075 [36] https://www.sej.org/headlines/federal-judge-approves-20-billion-settlement-bp-oil-spill [37] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [38] http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2016/04/settlement_bp_oil_spill.html [39] https://www.sej.org/headlines/many-man-made-earthquakes-western-canada-now-linked-fracking [40] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/canada [41] http://insideclimatenews.org/news/30032016/earthquakes-fracking-western-canada-oil-gas-drilling-usgs-oklahoma [42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=425 [43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=422 [44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=423 [45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=424 [46] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=427 [47] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=428 [48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=429 [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=430 [50] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster?page=742