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A Call to Action on the Risk of Toxic Floodwaters in Virginia

A Call to Action on the Risk of Toxic Floodwaters in Virginia, op-ed by Noah Sachs and David Flores

Type: Op-Eds (March 13, 2019)
PDF: A Call to Action on the Risk of Toxic Floodwaters in Virginia
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Author(s): David Flores
Tags: toxic floodwaters
Categories: Energy & Environment Energy & Environment

CPR Comments on DEQ Air Permit for Norfolk Naval Shipyard Power Plant

CPR analysts Darya Minovi and David Flores submitted a public comment on Virginia's draft air pollution permit for a proposed natural gas and diesel-burning power plant at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. Citing CPR's Toxic Floodwaters study of the James River Watershed, the letter explores the risks of harm that the facility and others in the area pose to the low-income and minority fenceline communities already disproportionately burdened by industrial pollution.

Type: Letters to Agencies (Oct. 7, 2020)
PDF: Comment Letter on Norfolk Naval Base Power
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Author(s): Darya Minovi, David Flores
Tags: Chesapeake Virginia toxic floodwaters
Categories: Energy & Environment Energy & Environment

Tanks for Nothing: The Decades-Long Failure to Protect the Public from Hazardous Chemical Spills

Throughout most of the U.S., the public is not protected from spills and other disasters involving storage of hazardous chemicals — including toxic and flammable substances — in aboveground tanks. For decades, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and most states have refused to act to protect the health and safety of workers and communities, as well as water and natural resources, from the threat of hazardous chemical tank fires, spills, and explosions. In the absence of federal action, 10 states have established comprehensive programs that impose registration, inspection, and design and siting requirements to prevent releases from aboveground chemical storage facilities. Some of these state programs were enacted by lawmakers in response to catastrophic incidents, like a fatal explosion in Delaware or the Elk River leak in 2014 in West Virginia that contaminated drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents. Several years ago, Virginia studied the issue of unregulated chemical storage and found that aboveground storage tanks pose a threat to the safety of Virginians and their drinking water. At that time, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recommended action, but policymakers chose instead to wait on an EPA rule that never came.

Type: Reports (Dec. 8, 2021)
PDF: tanks-for-nothing-ast-rpt.pdf
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Author(s): David Flores, Darya Minovi, Johnathan Clark
Tags: aboveground storage tank EPA toxic floodwaters disaster toxics Virginia
Categories: Energy & Environment Energy & Environment