A new analysis of federal data by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit reveals that the number of US chemical accidents is climbing sharply as the Trump administration moves to dismantle existing safety protections. The report found that chemical accidents, explosions, fires, and other emergencies releasing chemicals into the atmosphere have increased by at least 51% since 2021, while deaths and injuries have risen by at least 20%.
Recent High-Profile Emergencies Highlight Growing Danger
The report comes on the heels of two major incidents: a malfunctioning chemical tank in Garden Grove, California, which forced the evacuation of over 40,000 residents, and the collapse of a chemical tank at a plant in Longview, Washington, that killed 11 workers. These events underscore the escalating risks posed by aging industrial infrastructure.
Under the Clean Air Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program (RMP) requires more than 12,500 high-risk facilities to develop protocols to prevent catastrophes or limit their impact. The program was designed primarily to protect workers, first responders, and fence-line communities. In 2024, the Biden administration strengthened these rules, but the Trump administration is now pressing ahead with plans to dismantle the federal disaster management system despite the rising number of incidents.
Critics Condemn Administration’s Actions as ‘Appalling’
Tim Whitehouse, Peer’s executive director and a former EPA enforcement attorney, called the administration’s actions “simply appalling.” He added, “Like our public infrastructure, America’s industrial infrastructure is ageing, making disastrous failures increasingly likely. Serious chemical accidents are becoming an almost daily occurrence.”
Peer obtained the data after suing in 2017 to compel the government to track chemical accidents, as required by the Clean Air Act. The data, filed with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, shows that industrial accidents resulting in chemical releases grew from 83 in 2021 to 131 in 2025, while accidents involving injuries or fatalities rose from 60 to 89 during the same period, up from 73 in 2024.
Undercount Likely, Experts Say
Jeff Ruch, senior counsel with Peer, noted that the figures are probably an undercount because they only include chemical releases into the atmosphere. Plants that “poison their workers inside” a facility would not be counted, he explained. Another estimate indicates that the US experienced a chemical accident harming humans or the environment every other day on average between 2004 and 2025.
Among the requirements the Trump administration is targeting are mandates that facilities install technology to detect chemical releases, implement fire suppression systems, and develop personnel plans for emergency response. The updated 2024 rules also require hazardous facilities to adopt newer technology to prevent disasters, install backup measures in case first-line defenses fail, and replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. These measures could include kill switches easily accessible to employees or automatic shut-offs if a worker is incapacitated.
Double Disasters and Weakened Oversight
The 2024 rules also require facilities to plan for “double disasters,” such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires hitting a chemical facility, as occurred with Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017. However, the Trump EPA has already eliminated a public website that informed communities and first responders about chemicals in use at facilities and is aiming to undo most of the 2024 update. The White House has also targeted the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which reviews accidents and develops prevention plans, by eliminating its $14 million budget.
Ruch noted that while the CSB is a non-regulatory board, industry adopts about 90% of its safety recommendations. He criticized the administration for wanting to “take credit for eliminating another agency” despite the CSB being highly effective for a low cost.
Need for Stronger Regulations Highlighted
Marc Boom, a former EPA policy adviser and senior director with the Environmental Protection Network, said the new Peer report underscores the need for stronger regulations. He argued that the administration is shifting the risks of chemical disasters from chemical companies onto people who live and work near the facilities. “This report makes plain what communities, workers and first responders already know: chemical disasters are happening far too often, and are too often undercounted,” Boom said. “Many are preventable, but instead of strengthening safeguards, this EPA is trying to weaken the rules designed to stop them.”
Ruch noted that there is little that can be done to stop the Trump administration from shredding protections in the near term, as it is proposing new rules under the rule-making process, which will likely be finalized by fall. About 40% of Americans live within three miles of at least one of the more than 12,000 high-risk chemical facilities in the US. “You better hope you’re lucky in that there’s no proactive effort to make sure that these ultra-dangerous facilities are operating safely,” Ruch concluded.
