Report: EPA missed ‘vulnerable communities’
Federal environmental regulators worked quickly to evaluate thousands of sewage treatment plants and water supplies in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey but did not do a good job of reaching out to residents of “vulnerable communities,” according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General.
The report recommends the EPA improve its hurricane planning by gathering data to better determine populations likely to be most vulnerable to future storms and make plans to improve outreach by providing pamphlets and information on websites “in advance, in sufficient quantities and in the region’s prevalent languages,” including Vietnamese and Spanish.
Inspector general officials sought comment in its review of the agency’s response to water concerns in areas all across Texas. This particular report, however, did not address major concerns expressed by Houston, Harris County and environmental leaders about a lack of assistance from federal and state agencies for monitoring potential dangers of massive air pollution emissions reported during and after Harvey.
In an email, a spokesman for EPA’s Region 6 said the agency has agreed to implement the recommendations.
“We are pleased the OIG determined EPA successfully completed our mission assignment to protect human health and the environment in the wake of such a catastrophic weather event. We share their belief that we can always improve our assistance to communities, especially disadvantaged environmental justice communities, and we are committed to do so.”
The Houston Chronicle and the Associated Press previously reported that more than 100 major spills and releases of air pollution occurred in the Houston area during flooding related to Hurricane Harvey, which first made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25, 2017. Only a handful of those spills were investigated or resulted in fines or citations for violations of environmental laws.
Ilan Levin, an attorney with the Austin-based Environmental Integrity Project, was interviewed by IG officials preparing the report and said he agrees with the recommendations, though “they’re not very hard-hitting.”
His concern, he said, is that the Trump administration’s actions are undermining regulations that help protect vulnerable communities.
During the storm, Houston officials requested assistance monitoring massive releases of benzene that occurred at Valero’s refinery in the Manchester area. Ultimately, the city got monitoring help from the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.
EDF Spokesman Matt Tresaugue said officials from the nonprofit were interviewed by IG officials for a separate Harvey-related air study that is ongoing and expected to be released later.
Harvey dumped as much as 60 inches of rain on Houston and Beaumont metro areas and claimed 68 lives. Read the IG’s full water report. A summary is available here.