Residents in Flint, MI said over and over that the filters were not reliable to keep lead out of their tap water. EPA the state and some scientists said that activists were just creating a crisis that didn’t exist. Well, now we see the same thing in NJ. Read about the problem.
Category: News Archive
Last Thursday, there was a major explosion as part of the Texas Eastern Transmission gas pipeline ruptured, sending flames 300 feet into the air. The explosion killed one, hospitalized five, destroyed railroad tracks and caused the evacuation of the nearby mobile home park. The case was transferred over to federal investigators, who say that corrosion may have contributed to the pipeline rupture. <Read more>
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EPA has almost finished clearing arsenic-contaminated soil at a Superfund site in Southern Minneapolis. The soil became contaminated after an industrial pesticide storage site leached into local soil, affecting 600 homes. This represents the conclusion of EPA’s $25 million project to clean the Superfund site. <Read more>
Ironically, while the health care industry will be key in responding to new health risks presented from climate change, it’s also responsible for creating a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, in the United States alone the healthcare industry is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and 9% of of harmful non-greenhouse air pollutants. Jodi Sherman, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at the Yale School of Medicine, argues that the healthcare industry should do more to mitigate their impact on public health. <Read more>
On Wednesday, for the fourth time since April, there was an explosion and subsequent fire at a Houston area petrochemical plant. No one was seriously injured, but 37 people suffered from minor burns and injuries. Exxon Mobil’s plants in Baytown have a history of chemical violations in leaks, the last being in March. Currently, they are defendants in a lawsuit from Harris County citing environmental violations. <Read more>
Wilson County residents and other North Carolina property owners fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline won a small legal victory Wednesday when a federal judge extended a stay in a dozen cases.
“It’s just completely unnecessary expense and aggravation and the judge made a common-sense decision,” Therese Vick (BREDL) said. “This would be just irreparable harm to these folks, these families and farmers and property owners.”
In an impressive political victory for climate policy advocates, New York recently enacted a comprehensive climate plan that aims to mostly eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. While accomplishing these goals is incredibly necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, it will require significant reforms to the energy sector and an overall shift to renewable energy. The Climate Action Council has two years to draft an action plan to determine the best policies and plans to enact this law. <Read more>
Some Pittsboro, North Carolina residents have been suspicious of their water since testing in 2017 showed that there were elevated levels of PFAs in Cape Fear River, their main water source. The toxins come from the Chemours Fayetteville Works chemical plant, located upriver of Pittsboro.
According to Pittsboro’s mayor, very few residents are aware that their water may be contaminated with PFAS. While the levels found weren’t technically above the legal limits, research suggests that there isn’t a safe level of PFAS contamination in water because the chemical remains in people’s systems for extended periods of time.
Duke University will be conducting a study on the impacts of PFAS in the bloodstream on human health, and will take blood samples of atleast 30 Pittsboro residents in the coming year. <Read more>
On Tuesday, excavation began on the WDE Landfill in Andover, Minnesota, where toxic waste has been locked up since 1983. The landfill has been leaching hazardous chemicals into the surrounding environment since then, as testing found that the landfill lining was leaking. <Read more>
A petrochemical fire (one related to the chemicals used in processing petroleum and natural gas) burned at a storage facility outside of Texas last March. As the Washington Post reports, polluted water and waste are still being cleaned three months later. The fire and delayed cleanup call into question hazardous waste disposal policy: many companies and facilities aren’t following proper procedures. <Read more>
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