Oil & Gas and Petrochemical Plant Pollution

The oil and gas industry is rushing to lock in a future for fossil fuels with new production, pipelines, export terminals and petrochemical plants. This infrastructure buildout threatens to worsen the climate crisis and to expand its harms to people already disproportionately impacted by pollution.  In addition to exports, the oil and gas industry is betting heavily on plastics to replace demand as cars and electricity generation turn to renewables. Petrochemical plants turn oil and gas products into the stuff plastic is made of. The Ohio River is already considered one of the most polluted rivers in the country, and several petrochemical facilities within the watershed are hazardous waste sites. Expanding the petrochemical industry in the Ohio River Basin would exacerbate these impacts for the millions of people who live there and rely on the Ohio River for drinking water. Regulatory agencies have also weakened standards meant to improve and protect water quality while the petrochemical industry targets the Ohio River Basin for expansion.