Chemical accidents rise as Trump administration proposes weakening safety rules
Chemical accidents rise as Trump administration proposes weakening safety rules
特朗普政府提议放宽安全法规，化学品事故随之增加
Physicist Ronald Koopman appeared at a Southern California Air District meeting in 2018 to talk about what seemed like an arcane scientific topic: hydrofluoric acid dispersion and water mitigation testing. Hydrofluoric acid, also known as hydrogen fluoride or HF, is used to manufacture a range of materials, including refrigerants, gasoline, fluorine-based pesticides and fluoropolymers like those used to make Teflon. It’s also one of the most corrosive and dangerous chemicals known. 物理学家罗纳德·库普曼（Ronald Koopman）于2018年出席了南加州空气质量管理局的会议，讨论了一个看似晦涩的科学课题：氢氟酸的扩散及水雾缓解测试。氢氟酸（也称为氟化氢或HF）被用于制造多种材料，包括制冷剂、汽油、氟基杀虫剂以及用于制造特氟龙的氟聚合物。它也是已知最具腐蚀性和危险性的化学品之一。
Koopman conducted experiments with the chemical in the 1980s that warned about the potential of deadly accidents at facilities that use the hazardous materials. With the Trump administration poised to roll back rules intended to protect workers and communities from catastrophic industrial chemical releases, and a new analysis showing rising rates of chemical accidents, Koopman’s presentation on highly hazardous materials has taken on a new urgency. 库普曼在20世纪80年代曾对这种化学品进行过实验，并警告称，使用此类危险材料的设施存在发生致命事故的风险。随着特朗普政府准备撤销旨在保护工人和社区免受灾难性工业化学品泄漏影响的法规，加之最新分析显示化学品事故率正在上升，库普曼关于高危材料的报告显得愈发紧迫。
The number of accidents involving releases of dangerous chemicals rose by 57 percent between 2021 and 2025, from 83 to 131, according to an analysis released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit that works with former government officials. Injuries or deaths from accidents also rose, from 60 to 89 over the same five-year period, the analysis found. 根据非营利组织“公共雇员环境责任组织”（PEER，该组织与前政府官员合作）周一发布的一项分析，2021年至2025年间，涉及危险化学品泄漏的事故数量增加了57%，从83起上升至131起。分析还发现，同期因事故导致的伤亡人数也从60人增加到了89人。
Incident reports released by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent agency that investigates chemical accidents, show that more than 650 accidents occurred between April 2020 and May 2026, with 103 resulting in fatalities, 355 causing injuries and 314 doing “substantial property damage.” Close to 150 million people live within 3 miles of these facilities. Historically underserved and overburdened populations, including people who identify as Black and Latino, are at greatest risk of exposure to an accidental release. Many refineries were built before 1985, the analysis notes. “With each passing year the risk gets greater because the infrastructure continues to age,” said Jeff Ruch, senior counsel at PEER. 负责调查化学事故的独立机构——化学品安全委员会（CSB）发布的事故报告显示，2020年4月至2026年5月期间发生了超过650起事故，其中103起导致人员死亡，355起造成人员受伤，314起造成“重大财产损失”。近1.5亿人居住在这些设施3英里范围内。历史上服务不足和负担过重的群体，包括黑人和拉丁裔群体，面临着最大的意外泄漏暴露风险。分析指出，许多炼油厂建于1985年之前。PEER高级法律顾问杰夫·鲁奇（Jeff Ruch）表示：“随着基础设施不断老化，风险逐年增加。”
The 1980s HF experiments were run by Koopman, who now runs Hazard Analysis Consulting, on behalf of the oil company Amoco (later acquired by BP) to understand how the highly toxic refinery chemical would behave in a spill. The test was a “spectacular success” in demonstrating what could happen and how serious the problem might be, Koopman said at the air district meeting. When they released 1,000 gallons of the noxious chemical, they expected it to pool on the ground and emit a small quantity of gas. Instead, a billowing “ground-hugging” mist formed, allowing the deadly gas to travel miles downwind, considerably farther than anyone thought possible. 20世纪80年代的氢氟酸实验由库普曼（现经营危害分析咨询公司）代表阿莫科石油公司（后被英国石油公司收购）进行，旨在了解这种高毒性炼油化学品在泄漏时的表现。库普曼在空气质量管理局会议上表示，该测试在展示可能发生的后果及问题的严重性方面取得了“巨大成功”。当他们释放了1000加仑这种有害化学品时，原本预计它会积聚在地面并释放少量气体。然而，现场形成了一团翻滚的“贴地”雾气，使致命气体顺风飘散了数英里，距离远超所有人的预期。
Years later, after a series of fiery explosions at a hydrofluoric-acid unit at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery rocked the surrounding South Philadelphia neighborhood in 2019, Koopman told NPR, “it’s just unconscionable” to allow people to live so close to these refineries. The accident released more than 5,000 pounds of the chemical. The neighboring mostly Black and brown South Philadelphia neighborhood was spared thanks to “favorable wind conditions,” the CSB said. 多年后，2019年费城能源解决方案炼油厂的氢氟酸装置发生一系列剧烈爆炸，震动了费城南部周边社区。库普曼当时告诉美国国家公共电台（NPR）：“允许人们住在离这些炼油厂这么近的地方简直是丧尽天良。”那次事故释放了超过5000磅的化学品。CSB表示，由于“有利的风向条件”，邻近的费城南部社区（主要由黑人和棕色人种居住）才幸免于难。
“We had tried and failed to induce EPA to phase out hydrogen fluoride at these refineries,” said Ruch. “The refineries are near population centers, and the release of the gas could be just a horrible tragedy.” Exposure to 170 parts per million of hydrogen fluoride for 10 minutes can cause death or serious injury. After the massive Philadelphia refinery explosion, PEER petitioned the EPA to ban hydrogen fluoride in 2019. The agency refused to consider the petition. “我们曾试图促使环保署（EPA）在这些炼油厂逐步淘汰氢氟酸，但失败了，”鲁奇说。“这些炼油厂靠近人口中心，一旦气体泄漏，后果将是一场可怕的悲剧。”接触170 ppm（百万分之浓度）的氢氟酸10分钟即可导致死亡或重伤。在费城炼油厂发生大规模爆炸后，PEER于2019年向EPA请愿，要求禁止使用氢氟酸。但该机构拒绝考虑这一请愿。
Close to 50 refineries use hydrogen fluoride and have reported more than 200 accidents resulting in serious injuries and deaths to the EPA over the past 25 years, according to the nonprofit Public Health Watch. The refineries represent just a fraction of the 12,000 facilities that use certain hazardous substances and are regulated by the EPA’s Risk Management Program under the Clean Air Act. 据非营利组织“公共卫生观察”（Public Health Watch）称，过去25年里，近50家使用氢氟酸的炼油厂向EPA报告了200多起导致严重伤亡的事故。这些炼油厂仅是受《清洁空气法》下EPA风险管理计划（RMP）监管的12,000家使用特定危险物质设施中的一小部分。
The new statistics released by PEER were made public as a result of a lawsuit PEER and other groups filed to compel the Chemical Safety Board to disclose industrial chemical releases as required by the Clean Air Act. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that communities have a right to know what hazardous chemicals are released nearby. Yet Trump’s EPA removed a public data tool designed to inform communities of nearby risks last year. President Trump has also tried to eliminate the Chemical Safety Board by withholding funding, though Congress has continued to fund the agency. PEER发布的最新统计数据是该组织与其他团体提起诉讼的结果，旨在迫使化学品安全委员会按照《清洁空气法》的要求披露工业化学品泄漏情况。一位联邦法官在2019年裁定，社区有权知道附近排放了哪些危险化学品。然而，特朗普领导下的EPA去年删除了一个旨在告知社区周边风险的公共数据工具。特朗普总统还曾试图通过扣留资金来撤销化学品安全委员会，尽管国会仍继续为该机构提供资金。
Earlier this year, the administration proposed to significantly weaken RMP rules finalized in 2024 “to reduce regulatory burden” and accepted public comment on the rules until early May. The Biden administration’s strengthened RMP rules require a number of measures to reduce the risk of catastrophic accidents, including safer-alternatives analyses, independent analyses of accidents’ root causes, worker participation in accident-prevention plans and preparations to adapt to climate change. 今年早些时候，政府提议大幅削弱2024年敲定的RMP规则，理由是“减轻监管负担”，并接受公众对这些规则的意见至5月初。拜登政府加强后的RMP规则要求采取多项措施以降低灾难性事故风险，包括进行更安全替代方案分析、对事故根本原因进行独立分析、让工人参与事故预防计划，以及为适应气候变化做好准备。
An EPA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing public comments and continues to work toward completing the final rule in late 2026. “EPA’s proposal relies on a rigorous analysis of RMP reportable incidents between 2014 and 2023, which shows accidental releases unequivocally declined significantly over that period,” the spokesperson said. “This means that RMP-regulated facilities had successful prevention programs in place before the Biden EPA finalized its nonsensical and burdensome 2024 rule.” EPA发言人表示，该机构正在审查公众意见，并继续致力于在2026年底前完成最终规则。“EPA的提案基于对2014年至2023年间RMP可报告事故的严格分析，该分析表明，在此期间意外泄漏事件确实显著减少，”发言人称。“这意味着在拜登政府的EPA敲定其荒谬且繁琐的2024年规则之前，受RMP监管的设施就已经有了成功的预防计划。”
The Biden EPA used the same data and came to the opposite conclusion, said PEER’s Ruch. Plus, he added, “the conclusion that any decline is due to industry prevention plans is a supposition which the current EPA does not have the data to support.” PEER的鲁奇表示，拜登政府的EPA使用了相同的数据，却得出了截然相反的结论。此外，他补充道：“认为任何下降都是由于行业预防计划所致，这只是一种假设，而当前的EPA并没有数据来支持这一结论。”