EPA’s Free Pass to Polluters Endangers Millions of Lives As Connection Between Air Pollution and COVID-19 Deaths Emerges

WASHINGTON  – The EPA’s decision to relax air pollution rules may impact the health of millions of people living in communities near polluting facilities—including health impacts from COVID-19, according to a new analysis released today by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). NRDC found that approximately ten percent of U.S. counties had both high concentrations of major air pollution emitters and high death rates from COVID-19. Counties in Michigan, Louisiana, Colorado, and the Northeast top the list.

EPA’s new non-enforcement policy invites industries to stop monitoring and reporting pollution for reasons related to COVID-19—including providing the data used in the NRDC analysis—with no notice to the public. NRDC and its partners petitioned EPA to issue an emergency rule requiring polluters to tell the agency when they stop monitoring and reporting their pollution. The groups sued the EPA when it didn’t respond to the petition, and on Wednesday, asked the court to order EPA to respond. 

“Though where you live should not impact how long you live, we see far too often that health disparities are linked to structural racism and economic inequality,” said Kristi Pullen Fedinick, PhD, director of Science and Data for NRDC and lead author of the analysis. “The patterns of COVID-19 deaths are likely not accidental. The same polluting practices that increase the risks of dying from asthma and cardiovascular disease for some populations may also hold true for COVID-19," said Pullen Fedinick. 

NRDC’s analysis builds on a recent study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that found death rates from COVID-19 are 8 percent higher for people who live in areas with even slightly more air pollution than places with cleaner air. 

“Air pollution is not an equal opportunity killer. Dirty air takes the lives of people of color and low-income people at higher rates—and it prevents them from having a fighting chance against this pandemic. Instead of easing the pain of people, this administration is focused on easing the pain of polluters. There is no excuse for giving polluters a free pass while loved ones all over this country are dying,” said Gina McCarthy president and CEO of NRDC.

Several specific locations of concern emerged from NRDC’s analysis—places that are in both the top 25 percent for concentration of air polluting facilities with priority or chronic violations of federal clean air laws and in the top 25 percent for COVID-19 death rate (as of April 26, 2020). Some of those locations, listed by county, include:

  • New York County, New York – largest city is New York City. 
  • East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge Parishes, Louisiana – largest city is Baton Rouge. 
  • Genessee County, Michigan – largest city is Flint. 
  • Galveston County, Texas – adjacent to Houston.
  • Adams County, Colorado – located just outside of Denver.

Toplines from the NRDC Analysis (see this blog for an interactive map for a county-specific look at the data):

Major Facilities

  • Methodology: NRDC overlaid counties in the U.S. that had the highest density of major air pollution sources were overlaid with counties that had the highest COVID-19 death rates (as of April 26, 2020).
  • This analysis found that there were 310 counties with both the highest relative density of major air pollution sources and the highest relative COVID-19 death rates. 
  • These counties have a combined population of about 114 million people (2019 estimated population, US Census). The counties with the highest degree of overlapping vulnerability were largely concentrated in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. 

Facilities in Chronic Violation

  • Methodology: NRDC overlaid counties in the U.S. that had the highest density of facilities in chronic violation of the Clean Air Act were overlaid with counties that had the highest (top quartile) COVID-19 death rates (as of April 26, 2020).
  • There were 130 counties with both highest relative density of facilities in chronic violation of the Clean Air Act and highest relative COVID-19 death rates.
  • These counties have a combined population of about 53 million people (2019 estimated population), with the highest degree of overlapping vulnerability for counties concentrated in Colorado, Michigan, and Louisiana.

Facilities with High Priority Violations

  • Methodology: NRDC overlaid counties in the U.S. with the highest density of facilities identified by EPA as having committed High Priority Violations of the Clean Air Act were overlaid with counties with the highest (top quartile) per capita deaths associated with COVID-19  (as of April 26, 2020).
  • There were 179 counties with both the highest relative density of major air polluting facilities and the highest relative COVID-19 death rates. 
  • These counties have a combined population of about 76 million people (2019 estimated population), with the highest degree of overlapping vulnerability for counties concentrated in Michigan, Louisiana, Colorado, Indiana, and parts of the Northeast.

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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.