Accidents Waiting to Happen

America’s rivers, streams and lakes are the lifeblood of our country, providing drinking water for communities; habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife; and beautiful places for Americans to swim, boat, fish and enjoy nature. 

Yet, across America, facilities that store or transport large volumes of dangerous substances – from coal ash to crude oil to highly toxic chemicals – sit within mere feet of our waterways. When they spill or leak – as they often do – the damage to our waterways can be catastrophic.

Accidents Waiting to Happen documents the extent of these threats, focusing on four types of dangerous facilities. 

Oil pipelines

Pipelines transport more than 16 billion barrels of petroleum products across the country each year, often crossing or running alongside rivers and streams. From 2004 to 2023, there were 1,187 “significant incidents” involving spills of crude oil from pipelines in the United States, spilling a total of 750,000 barrels of oil into the environment. A 2022 rupture of part of the Keystone Pipeline, for example, dumped 500,000 gallons of crude oil into a Kansas creek, killing more than 100 animals. (See link below for more details.)

Industrial toxic chemicals

More than 2,000 facilities that store large volumes of toxic chemicals are located in “high flood hazard” areas across the country. Leaks or spills from these facilities – either caused by mishaps or extreme weather events – can put waterways at risk. In 2022, for example, a leak of toxic latex finishing chemicals into a tributary of the Delaware River forced the city of Philadelphia to temporarily shut down its Delaware River drinking water intake to prevent contamination. (See link below for more details.)

Hazardous material shipments by rail

Oil, toxic chemicals and other forms of cargo – such as plastic pellets — that pose pollution threats pass through our communities and alongside waterways. Train derailments are common and have caused the release of hazardous materials at least 172 times across the country in the last decade. The infamous 2023 rail accident in East Palestine, Ohio, for example, released more than 1 million pounds of chemicals, with some of the pollution finding its way into local creeks and streams. (See link below for more details.)

Coal ash

Coal-fired power plants produced more than 75 million tons of toxic ash in 2022. Those waste products are stored in more than 700 coal ash pits and landfills in 43 states. Some coal ash pits are separated from waterways by only a narrow embankment, while coal ash landfills pose a risk of groundwater contamination. Coal ash spills can devastate the local environment and human health. For example, the 2008 spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant dumped a vast amount of coal ash into the Emory and Clinch rivers, contaminating them with mercury, arsenic and lead. (See link below for more details.)

Factory farms

Industrial-scale livestock operations confine large numbers of hogs, cattle and other animals in a small area, producing huge volumes of manure that is often stored in on-site lagoons. Waste lagoons are prone to leaks and spills, as they are often uncovered, unlined and separated from waterways only by narrow embankments that can overflow or deteriorate. Over the last 25 years, several devastating hurricanes have caused the failure of dozens of waste lagoons across North Carolina, contaminating waterways including the South River and tributaries of the Cape Fear, Neuse and Tar rivers. (See link below for more details.)

To protect our rivers, streams, lakes and ocean waters, America must take action to prevent pollution before it starts, keep dangerous facilities away from our waterways, and enforce strict environmental, health and safety rules to protect the public and the environment. Specifically:

• The nation should transition away from forms of production – including factory farming, oil and gas production and plastics manufacturing – that pose inherent threats to waterways.
• State and federal governments should follow the lead of states such as Massachusetts, Oregon and New Jersey that have adopted programs to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in industry. 
• Polluters should be required to clean up polluted sites such as coal ash pits and hazardous waste sites swiftly and thoroughly. 
• Federal and state governments should update environmental, health and safety standards for rail freight, pipelines, and industrial facilities and aggressively enforce those rules. 
• To the extent that facilities continue using some dangerous chemicals, they should be kept away from waterways, particularly in areas that are vulnerable to storm surge or flooding from extreme weather events. 
• State and federal officials should ensure that all of America’s waterways – including wetlands and streams – are fully protected against pollution and use the authority they possess under the Clean Water Act to stop pipelines that threaten waterways.