What happened
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday that will require 218 chemical plants to reduce toxic and carcinogenic airborne pollutants, aiming to reduce the number of people with elevated cancer risk by 96% nationwide. The rule targets ethylene oxide, used for sterilizing medical devices, and chloroprene, used to make rubber in footwear, plus four other chemicals. More than half the affected plants are in Texas and Louisiana, including a strip of factories and adjacent communities known as Cancer Alley.
Who said what
The commentary
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