Are you at risk? Click the image above to start exploring the interactive map.(Map by Alexandra Kanik / PublicSource)

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | January 2014

Journalism students at Point Park University, who also work for the Point Park News Service, contributed to this story. See their work at www.PointParkNewsService.com.

“Ammonia, a toxic gas the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as extremely hazardous, is the most widely used dangerous chemical in Pennsylvania.

“One in every eight Pennsylvanians — 1.5 million people — lives close enough to facilities that store large amounts of ammonia to be at risk in a catastrophic chemical accident, according to a PublicSource analysis of federal records.

“These records show what could happen in a worst-case scenario, where a large amount of hazardous chemical quickly leaks.

That 1.5 million includes only residents. It does not count children at schools, shoppers, people in office buildings, churches, hospitals and prisons. Nor does it include the 38,000 workers at the plants that use the ammonia.

“The 122 Pennsylvania facilities that store at least five tons of ammonia at any one time include a list of companies with household names: US Steel, Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart, Sysco, Tyson Foods, The Hershey Co. and Yuengling Brewery.

“‘Having this information can only protect the public,’ said Sofia Plagakis, a policy analyst with the Right-to-Know Network, a Washington research organization that advocates for better health and safety standards. ‘The public has a right to know if they are living near a high-risk facility in order to protect themselves, their families and communities.’”

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