Categories
Superfund News

Birmingham Alabama Needs Superfund Now

While the EPA’s decision not to place the North Birmingham Alabama 35th Avenue Alternatives Superfund site on the NPL was disappointing to many in the community, it was perhaps understandable given the strong vocal opposition with the state. It is now abundantly clear, as evidenced by the July 19, 2018 convictions of a former state legislator, a business executive and attorney on a number of federal charges including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery, that the EPA’s initial public review process was undermined by an illegal misinformation scheme to prevent the North Birmingham site from being added to the NPL. Being listed provides more opportunities for citizen participation, grants and hard deadlines for action.
Jimmy Smith has lived in Collegeville all of his life.  At 85 years old he’s seen the community during it highs and lows. He’s lived side by side with contamination from what was the life blood of the community: the steel industry. He suspected something wasn’t right when three members of his family, himself included, were diagnosed with various cancers. Smith said, “It just so happened out of my four daughters, two of them had cancer.  My oldest daughter, the preacher of the family, the good Lord called her home as a result of the cancer.”  Read more.

Categories
Water News

Puerto Ricans Don’t Trust Drinking Water

Ten months after Maria hit water quality still seems inconsistent, and local residents aren’t taking any chances.  “The water comes out of the tap white, and sometimes dark and dirty, with particles in it,” Marta Rivera said. “Before the hurricane, the water wasn’t like that. My house was full of water; it smelled really bad. Me, my son, my aunt and even the doctor here have got sick in some way. It’s made me a little paranoid. Traumatized.”
Read more.

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Homepage

Kentucky Coal Company’s Sweetheart Deal

Conservationists say Kentucky regulators rubber-stamped the utility’s own plans, (Big Rivers Electric Corporation) insulated it from citizen’s lawsuits and neglected to assess the complete environmental impact of the pollution.
“To me that’s the bigger story, it’s not whether there’s a nominal fine or not. It’s the fact that there’s no indication the company is being required to do a full accounting for what the impacts are of this pollution or fully address the pollution at its source,” said Thom Cmar, an attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy non-profit.
But the agreed order doesn’t require Big Rivers to assess groundwater impacts. “If it’s in those seeps it’s also getting into the groundwater in other ways and a much larger survey of the site needs to be done to determine what the full scope of the problem is and what the impacts are,” Cmar said.  Read more.