US sees unprecedented number of chemical plant fatalities in past year
Thirty-six people died from on-the-job chemical accidents in the US in a recent 11-month period, “the largest number of fatalities ever investigated by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) in a comparable time period,” a top US chemical safety official said in June. This recent rise in US deaths comes amid repeated efforts by the Donald J. Trump administration to defund the CSB and to rewrite a key industrial chemical safety regulation, the Risk Management Program (RMP). The proposed RMP changes, released in February, would save chemical industries billions of dollars and affect more than 11,000 chemical manufacturers and [...]
Ralph Nader News Hour with Rick Engler
Ralph Nader interviews Rick Engler, former U.S. Chemical Safety Board member and founder of WEC on the Trump Administrations proposal to abolish the Chemical Safety Board. Listen here.
Amid a slew of chemical accidents, the agency that investigates them is under threat
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with former member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Rick Engler about the current state of chemical safety following a string of incidents in the U.S. Read more here.
Federal Chemical Safety Board Sends Warning on Trump Disaster Policy
Story By Hiroko Tabuchi New York Times, May 14, 2026 For a year now, the Chemical Safety Board, a small independent federal agency that investigates chemical spills and other disasters has faced elimination under President Trump's budget cuts. That hasn't stopped the Board from taking on the Trump administration. Read more here.
Too hot, poor ventilation, overlooked: Newark’s East Ward students are learning in decades-old buildings
While Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget does not add new money to the SDA, Maggie Garbarino, Sherrill’s deputy press secretary, said her administration will follow an existing funding schedule established in 2023 that will add $350 million for school construction projects that have already been started and an additional $50 million for emergency repairs in high-poverty districts this budget cycle. Read more here.
Health and Safety Protections Against Chemical Emergencies Eliminated and Weakened in New Trump EPA Proposal
Washington, D.C. — Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to delay, weaken, and dismantle key safeguards against chemical emergencies and disasters, while millions of people nationwide, including children, live daily in harm’s way near industrial chemical facilities. The latest Trump plan threatens the lives and safety of the over 177 million Americans who live in worst-case scenario zones near chemical facilities. The proposal increases the likelihood of chemical emergencies and disasters for workers, first responders, and children and families who live within a chemical danger zone, breaking the administration’s promises to “make America healthy.” Read More here.