"Across the United States, residents of neighborhoods abutting refineries, chemical plants and other major industrial sources can generally be sure of two facts: Those facilities emits tons of dangerous pollutants and EPA rarely requires monitoring for their presence in local air.
Meanwhile, after a Norfolk Southern Corp. freight train spectacularly derailed in northeast Ohio last month, the agency rushed to protect residents with around-the-clock air tracking for dozens of contaminants.
The contrast is striking.
Environmental advocates elsewhere don’t begrudge East Palestine, Ohio, residents that exceptional response. But the rule is a “broken” system that allows companies to pollute, then fails to keep tabs on the public’s real-life exposure to that pollution, said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade."