Interview with Martha Guzman Aceves, former Region 9 EPA administrator, conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

On May 21, an overheating chemical tank holding 6,500 gallons of methyl methacrylate at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, triggered mandatory evacuations affecting 50,000 residents across Orange County. The tank was later safely cracked and depressurized, ending the immediate threat, where no one was injured. But five days later, on May 26, another chemical disaster struck when a tank holding 600,000 gallons of a caustic chemical known as “white liquor” exploded at a paper mill in Longview, Washington. Eleven workers were killed at the site.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Martha Guzman Aceves, the former Region 9 administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden, which covers California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, three U.S. territories and 148 tribal nations.

She’s currently a volunteer expert with the Environmental Protection Network, made up of hundreds of former EPA staffers from all levels of the agency. Here she talks about the importance of protecting workers and communities from toxic emissions, spills and explosions and her concern that under the Trump administration, safety regulations and inspections are being rolled back.