‘Wakeup Call’: Braintree Chemical Fire, Ohio Derailment Show Need for Stronger Emergency Planning, Experts Say

Government officials don’t pay enough attention to preventing accidents due to a lack of funding devoted to such efforts, said Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator now president of environmental advocacy group Beyond Plastics. And communication around evacuation plans is an issue across the nation, she said. Almost 124 million people, or 39 percent of the US population, live within 3 miles of a hazardous facility, according to the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters.