EPA Denies Pledge to ‘Cancer Alley’ Communities on Chemical Risks

U.S. Gulf Coast communities got no assurance from the EPA that the agency’s second round of chemical risk evaluations will examine whether the groups’ particularly high exposures put them at high risk for asthma, cancer, or other diseases.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday published its final risk analysis plans for 20 chemicals, many of which are widely used by many different industries to make adhesives, paints, plastics, foam, household cleaners, and fire-resistant materials, and to clean muck off industrial equipment.

The final plans, like the draft ones released earlier this year, ticked off general categories of people, like workers ...