Toxic Substances declarations
This page gathers county-level declaration history for Toxic Substances disasters and points to the state and county pages where the pattern is most concentrated.
Where this disaster type shows up
WATER CONTAMINATION
WATER CONTAMINATION
METHANE GAS SEEPAGE
SEWER EXPLOSION, TOXIC WASTE
CHEMICAL WASTE, LOVE CANAL
CHEMICAL WASTE, LOVE CANAL
Understanding toxic substances declarations
FEMA has issued 7 county-level disaster declarations classified as toxic substances, affecting 7 counties across 5 states.
The states with the highest concentration of toxic substances declarations are New York, Rhode Island, and Kentucky. Each state page links to county-level detail pages where the specific timeline and spending breakdowns for toxic substances events can be reviewed.
A disaster declaration is a formal determination by the President (or FEMA administrator for emergency declarations) that federal assistance is needed. Not every natural event results in a declaration — the state must request one, and FEMA evaluates the damage relative to state and local capacity. The declaration count on this page reflects the number of county-level records in the federal datasets, not the number of individual storms or events.