Thousands of toxic sites across US face risk of coastal flooding | Flooding

More than 5,500 toxic sites nationwide could face coastal flooding by 2100 due to sea level rise, according to a new study.

The study, published Thursday in Nature Communications and led by University of California scientists, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising waters will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities, including those that process sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, and other industrial pollutants.

The analysis is based on projections of a flood with an annual probability of 1% – commonly referred to as a 100-year flood – under two emissions scenarios: a high emissions scenario and a low emissions scenario.

After examining 23 coastal states and Puerto Rico, scientists found that flood risks are far from evenly distributed. Florida, New Jersey, California, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts and Texas account for nearly 80% of the hazardous sites expected to be at risk by 2100.

Looking at more than 47,600 coastal facilities across the United States, more than 11%, or 5,500 facilities, are expected to be at risk of flooding with a frequency of once every 100 years or more by the end of the 21st century.

The study also notes: “Restricting greenhouse gas emissions to the low emissions scenario makes little difference in terms of the number of sites at risk projected in the short term (2050), but would reduce the number of sites at risk from 5,500 to 5,138 (a reduction of 362 or 7% of sites) in the long term. »

Furthermore, the study found that most of this risk is already locked in due to past emissions. By 2050, nearly 3,800 hazardous facilities are expected to face flooding threats.

The study found that in a high emissions scenario, more than a fifth of once-used coastal wastewater treatment facilities, refineries and defense sites, about a third of power plants and more than 40% of fossil fuel ports and terminals are expected to be at risk by 2100.

In addition to mapping toxic sites vulnerable to flooding, the study examined communities living nearby. It found that in a high-emissions scenario, neighborhoods with one or more at-risk amenities contain higher proportions of renters, poor households, Hispanic residents, linguistically isolated households, carless households, elderly people, and truancy than neighborhoods without such sites.

The study adds: “Racial residential segregation and inequitable distribution of stormwater infrastructure further contribute to racialized patterns of flood risk in American cities. »

Highlighting the many health risks posed by floodwaters contaminated by industrial waste and sewage, Sacoby Wilson, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, described a range of symptoms during a press briefing on the study. These include rashes, burning eyes, headaches, fatigue and breathing problems, as well as longer-term dangers such as cancers and kidney and liver organ damage.

“Based on this research, we see that you have underlying vulnerabilities that generate risks…Think about communities that are overburdened by these industrial risks…or agricultural risks like CAFOs. [concentrated animal feeding operations]”, Wilson said. “And so you have heightened vulnerability in terms of their socioeconomic status, in some cases the role of racism…and you also have vulnerability to risk, plus you have geographic vulnerability based on proximity to danger.”

Researcher Lara Cushing of UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health said: “Flooding from sea level rise is dangerous in itself, but when facilities containing hazardous materials are in the path of these floodwaters, the danger multiplies. This analysis clearly shows that these projected dangers fall disproportionately on poorer communities and communities that have faced discrimination and therefore often lack the resources to prepare for, withdraw from, or recover from exposure to toxic floodwaters.”

Rachel Morello-Frosch, a researcher at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said there are potential solutions “if policymakers are willing to move forward. And there is a clear need for disaster planning and land-use decision-making, as well as mitigation strategies to address the inequitable hazards and potential health threats posed by sea level rise.”

Thursday’s study comes as a number of U.S. East Coast cities, including New York, Baltimore and Norfolk, are sinking, with subsidence linked to groundwater extraction, natural gas and the weight of buildings sinking into the ground.

It also follows a June study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which found that sea level rise, driven by global warming, would threaten nearly 3 million Americans across 703 coastal communities. Critical infrastructure, including affordable and subsidized housing, wastewater treatment facilities, schools and hospitals, could face disruptive monthly flooding by 2050, the study found.