The office of EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins issued notice of the audit, which will scrutinize the agency’s response following several high-profile accidents and spills following the August 2017 storm and the resulting flooding in the Houston metro area.
But The Associated Press and The Houston Chronicle reported in March that government records revealed far more widespread toxic impact than authorities publicly reported in the days and weeks after the storm. Massive amounts of benzene, vinyl chloride, butadiene and other known human carcinogens were among the toxic substances released into surrounding neighborhoods and waterways following Harvey’s torrential rains.
Kaplan said the review will encompass the response to the explosions and fire at a Arkema Inc. chemical plant in Crosby, a big benzene spill at Royal Dutch Shell PLC ‘s Deer Park complex, spills of sodium hydroxide and benzene from a Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. plant in Baytown, and a huge gasoline spill at Magellan Midstream’s Galena Park terminal east of Houston.
David Gray, spokesman for the EPA region that includes Texas, said Thursday it isn’t unusual for EPA’s inspector general to review the implementation of the agency’s programs.
“We have a longstanding practice of participating in their reviews,” Gray said.
The latest audit is in addition to a separate review EPA’s inspector general announced in December involving the agency’s 2017 preparedness and response efforts during the hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as it related to contamination of waterways and drinking water supplies.