Social media, organized advocacy, and documentaries have turned local industrial disasters into national conversations, as affected communities refuse to stay quiet and a growing audience demands corporate accountability. Sign up for exclusivesSocial Media Brings Industrial Accidents Into Public ViewA plant explosion or toxic release used to stay local. The CSB is the federal agency responsible for investigating industrial chemical accidents, similar to how the NTSB investigates aviation disasters. Why Do So Many Industrial Disasters Happen in the Same Neighborhoods? Affected communities typically wait years for remediation that never fully restores what was lost.