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Amid a slew of chemical accidents, the agency that investigates them is under threat

NPR | By Ayesha Rascoe,
Dave Mistich
Published May 31, 2026 at 7:09 AM CDT

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with former member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board Rick Engler about the current state of chemical safety following a string of incidents in the U.S.

Copyright 2026 NPR
Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.
See stories by Ayesha Rascoe
Dave Mistich
Originally from Washington, W.Va., Dave Mistich joined NPR part-time as an associate producer for the Newcast unit in September 2019 — after nearly a decade of filing stories for the network as a Member station reporter at West Virginia Public Broadcasting. In July 2021, he also joined the Newsdesk as a part-time reporter.