Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis

The document warns that Hurricane Florence could trigger a public health crisis in the southeastern United States by causing the failure of toxic waste sites, such as coal ash pits, hog manure lagoons, and Superfund sites. It highlights the vulnerability of these sites, citing a recent coal ash collapse at the L.V. Sutton Power Station and previous spills during Hurricane Matthew and in 2008. The author contends that industry prioritizes cheap waste disposal over safety and calls for stronger government regulations to secure hazardous sites and address the increasing frequency and strength of hurricanes driven by climate change.

• Hurricane Florence threatens public health in the southeastern U.S. because the storm's path includes hazardous locations such as Superfund sites, industrial facilities with toxic chemicals, hog manure lagoons, and coal ash pits containing lead and arsenic.
• Coal ash sites are prone to failure even in mild conditions, with examples including a 2008 TVA spill and a 2017 Duke Energy spill in South Carolina caused by 3.74 inches of rain.
• Recent events related to Hurricane Florence and previous storms demonstrate the vulnerability of these sites: a landfill slope collapsed at the L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington, N.C., and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused coal ash to wash into North Carolina's Neuse River.
• Specific high-risk coal ash sites identified in the path of Hurricane Florence include those at the Lee power plant in South Carolina and sites near the Chesapeake River in Virginia and the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
• The document asserts that the government must implement stronger regulations to force industries to clean up hazardous sites and enact policies to slow climate change, which is increasing the strength and frequency of hurricanes.

APA

Earthjustice (2018). Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis. https://earthjustice.org/article/toxic-sites-including-coal-ash-ponds-will-turn-hurricane-florence-into-a-public-health-crisis

Chicago

Earthjustice. Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis. 2018. https://earthjustice.org/article/toxic-sites-including-coal-ash-ponds-will-turn-hurricane-florence-into-a-public-health-crisis.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis |date=17 September 2018 |url=https://earthjustice.org/article/toxic-sites-including-coal-ash-ponds-will-turn-hurricane-florence-into-a-public-health-crisis |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2018why, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Why Hurricane Florence Could Become a Public Health Crisis}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://earthjustice.org/article/toxic-sites-including-coal-ash-ponds-will-turn-hurricane-florence-into-a-public-health-crisis}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }