Fire Triangle

In the past two years, about half a dozen chemical disasters have ripped apart Texas neighborhoods, sent dozens of people to the hospital and killed unsuspecting bystanders as well as workers. Texas Public Radio and Houston Public Media spent the better part of 2020 investigating these events. Our team has met with victims whose lives have been changed by chemical disasters. We’ve spoken with community advocates who are fighting back. We’ve examined the frayed patchwork of local, state and fed...

In the past two years, about half a dozen chemical disasters have ripped apart Texas neighborhoods, sent dozens of people to the hospital and killed unsuspecting bystanders as well as workers. Texas Public Radio and Houston Public Media spent the better part of 2020 investigating these events. Our team has met with victims whose lives have been changed by chemical disasters. We’ve spoken with community advocates who are fighting back. We’ve examined the frayed patchwork of local, state and federal policies around chemical safety. And we’ve pulled back the curtains to reveal what’s going on behind the scenes with competing federal agencies in the aftermath of these disasters. We want to answer the question: why do so many chemical disasters keep happening in Texas, and what—if anything—is being done to prevent more?Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR One, or wherever you listen to podcasts.