Read the full story from ProPublica.
A citizens’ group in West Virginia is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that federal regulators have failed to protect a majority-Black community in the state and residents of parts of Louisiana and Texas from cancer-causing chemicals.
A 2021 Mountain State Spotlight and ProPublica story detailed how largely Black communities across the country, like Institute in West Virginia, were saddled with a disproportionate health burden from industrial pollution. ProPublica’s analysis of emissions data found that on average, the level of cancer risk from industrial air pollution in majority-Black census tracts was more than double that for majority-white areas.
Earlier this year, the EPA proposed tougher air pollution rules for chemical plants and other industrial facilities, including placing stricter limits on ethylene oxide — the same chemical released by the plant in Institute. But the proposed rules wouldn’t cover the main ethylene oxide polluters in West Virginia because those plants fall under a different industry category in EPA regulation.
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