Recommendations for government, industry, and emergency response agencies as petrochemical disasters are becoming more common and more severe
A petrochemical spill occurs once every four days in the U.S., yet disaster guidance typically overlooks the specific needs of people with disabilities who are most at risk of severe harm from petrochemical accidents. To address this increasingly urgent problem, the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies has collaborated with disabled disaster survivors and partners to develop first-of-its-kind petrochemical disaster guidance that considers the unique challenges facing people with disabilities.
“Extreme weather due to fossil-fuel-driven climate change makes petrochemical spills more frequent and more hazardous,” said Germán Parodi, Co-Executive Director of the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, one of the lead authors of the new guidance, and a wheelchair-using first responder. “Disaster preparation must include consideration of the needs of people with disabilities who can be trapped in the aftermath.”
About 31% of petrochemical facilities are located in areas with natural hazards such as wildfires and storm surges that may be worsened by climate change, according to a 2022 GAO report on chemical accident prevention. The new disaster guidance, designed for local governments, industry, and emergency response agencies, includes recommendations to ensure disaster communications, response, evacuation, and service delivery consider people with disabilities.
“Despite frequent petrochemical and climate disasters, the federal government has not updated its disaster guidance relative to people with disabilities since 2014,” said co-author Hilary Flint, a survivor of the East Palestine train derailment disaster, consultant to Clean Air Action Fund, and director of communications and community engagement for the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community. “And yet, after a disaster, people with disabilities are far less likely to be able to return home.”
A National Council on Disability 2023 report on the “Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on People with Disabilities” revealed that “people with disabilities are still 2 to 4 times more likely to be injured or killed in a natural disaster than those who are not disabled.”
The guidance states: “The consequences of petrochemical disasters can be devastating for humans and the environment. Their impacts range from immediate death and injury to long-term health issues including cancer, birth defects and damage to infrastructure and ecosystems.”
“In the wake of a disaster, when the evacuation vehicles arrive and they are not wheelchair accessible, imagine what that means for people who rely on wheelchairs,” said co-author Jason Hallmark of Climate Reality. “People with disabilities are not a monolith and we need to prepare accordingly.” Hallmark says disabilities include aging, blindness, deafness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, needing a wheelchair, or having a health condition that is made worse from heat or makes one more susceptible to health harms from toxics exposure.
Local government and response partners like the American Red Cross “must ensure…they are meeting their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and other laws protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of disabled people,” according to the guidance.
To do that, the disability-centered guidance for petrochemical disasters recommends:
- Providing open and transparent communications about possible risks and impacts from chemicals and contamination;
- Ensuring all communications are in plain language delivered in alternate formats compatible with screen readers;
- Involving cross-disability diverse people and organizations in the development of crisis communications plans;
- Including American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting and captioning during all press conferences;
- Ensuring all points of service delivery and evacuation are ADA compliant.
“People with disabilities have had to learn how to adapt to a world that wasn’t built for them,” said Parodi. “We have much to learn from them that can improve emergency preparation for all.”
A project of the People Over Petro Coalition People Power Working Group, the guidance was developed by Climate Reality and the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community in collaboration with the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies.
The People Power Working Group also created a Disaster and Disability Archive Project to amplify the experiences of people with disabilities during and after major disasters. Survivors of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that unleashed a toxic chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH are the first to share their perspectives in the hopes of improving policies to better protect vulnerable people during petrochemical disasters.
CONTACT:
Susan Lamontagne, susan@publicinterestmedia.com
Hilary Flint, hilaryfflint@gmail.com