EPA’s Opportunity to Reverse the Fertilizer Industry's Environmental Injustices

February 2022
Citation:
52
ELR 10125
Issue
2
Author
Jaclyn Lopez

Seventy phosphogypsum stacks are scattered throughout the United States, concentrated in low-wealth and Black, indigenous, and people of color communities. These radioactive waste heaps have a long history of failures, and present a substantial hazard and unreasonable risk of harm. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should swiftly move to regulate these environmental and public health hazards. This Article examines the regulatory failures that have given rise to the proliferation of phosphogypsum stacks in vulnerable communities and sensitive environments in the United States. It argues that EPA has the authority, and with President Joseph Biden’s Executive Orders, the mandate to take corrective action to remedy these environmental injustices.

Jaclyn Lopez is a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.

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EPA’s Opportunity to Reverse the Fertilizer Industry's Environmental Injustices

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