This Map Shows the Toxic Chemical Accidents that Happen Almost Daily in the US

More than 800 hazardous chemical spills, fires, explosions and more have occurred since January 2021, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group. That's an average of one hazardous incident every other day.

"Preventable chemical incidents are happening far too often across the country," said Maya Nye, federal policy director for Coming Clean, which produced the new report, according to a press release.

"Communities shouldn’t have to leave their homes, shelter in place, or worry for the safety of their air and water because chemical plants can’t contain their toxic chemicals."

Along with the report, Coming Clean released an interactive map showing all the chemical incidents. They span the country, though many are concentrated in areas of heavy industry and petrochemical infrastructure like Louisiana and the Texas Gulf Coast.

The 825 incidents — which include leaks, spills or releases of toxic or flammable chemicals, as well as fires and explosions involving such materials — resulted in 43 deaths in their immediate aftermath. A total of 150 hazardous incidents led to injury, hospitalization or reports of acute symptoms. Authorities issued evacuation orders for 191 communities, and 101 communities were subject to a shelter-in-place order.

"Hazardous facilities must be required to do more to protect workers and communities," Nye said.

Most of the incidents took place in facilities in what the report called "the toxic lifecycle of fossil fuels," including refineries, pipelines and more.

There were 179 incidents over the study period at facilities regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Management Program, an initiative designed specifically to prevent chemical disasters. These include a huge fire and naphtha leak at the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Louisiana, a leak of hydrogen fluoride and chlorine at a Honeywell factory also in Louisiana that resulted in a shelter-in-place order, among many others.

"Safer chemicals and processes exist now," said Michele Roberts, national coordinator of the Environmental Health Alliance, which helped produce the report. "[M]any more could be developed if EPA had the moral and political courage to require and implement them."