Study finds rising seas could flood facilities handling waste, sewage, and oil and gas – and coastal states most at risk

More than 5,500 toxic sites nationwide could face coastal flooding by 2100 due to rising sea levels, according to new research.

The study, published on Thursday in Nature Communications and led by scientists at the University of California, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising seas will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities including those handling sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, as well as other industrial pollutants.

The analysis relies on projections of a 1%-annual-chance flood – commonly called a 100-year flood – under two emissions scenarios: a high-emissions scenario and a lower-emissions scenario.

After examining 23 coastal states and Puerto Rico, scientists found that flood risk is far from evenly distributed. Florida, New Jersey, California, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas account for nearly 80% of the hazardous sites expected to be at risk by 2100.