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Making a Bad Decision Worse – Reselling Homes at Love Canal

Earlier this week, three families living in what was once the Love Canal neighborhood in Niagara Falls, NY filed a lawsuit against the state of New York for $113 million. The lawsuit alleges that the Love Canal landfill – with over 20,000 tons of toxic waste still sitting in the midst of this suburban neighborhood – is leaking and that people living nearby have become ill from chemicals coming from the landfill. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the toxic waste crisis at Love Canal that led to the

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February 14, 2013

An Interesting Reaction

I wish someone could explain to me why an Ohio citizen was arrested on the spot and charged with a fifth degree felony for inducing panic for blocking an injection well, while a company (Hardrock Excavating) was caught red handed intentionally and illegally disposing of toxic brine, drilling mud and oil into a storm drain in Youngstown, OH.  But in this case nobody was arrested on the spot. Madeline ffitch from Athens County blocked the entrance to an injection well by inserting her arms into two fifty-five gallons drums filled

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February 11, 2013

Is vinyl plastic making our children fat and asthmatic?

An alarming pair of new studies add to the mounting scientific evidence linking vinyl chemicals to asthma and obesity in children. The latest study found an association between the phthalates DINP and DIDP and asthma, which are primarily used to make vinyl flooring and other vinyl products flexible.  The researchers report: “The strong correlation between MCOP and MCNP suggests similar sources of exposure to the parent compounds, which are both used primarily as plasticizers of PVC and may be used in flooring, wall coverings, building materials, heat-resistant electrical cords, car

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February 7, 2013

Toxic Flipper Dies

A polluted dolphin in Brooklyn was “killed by government incompetence,” wrote Andrea Peyser’s in her New York Post article, January 28, 2013. “It broke the heart of the hardest New Yorker. Even mine. Just one living soul in this city was slain during the nine days ending Friday, during a bone-chilling cold snap that kept the guns still. The Gowanus Canal Dolphin. The marine mammal was a victim of another kind of homicide. The dolphin was killed by acute bureaucratic neglect and incompetence. There was no saving the poor, lost soul. Rest

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February 5, 2013

35 Years of Progress Since Love Canal

This year marks a very significant date – the 35th anniversary of the Love Canal crisis. It is hard to believe it has been that long and in recognizing this fact of life, I realize that entire generations have been born since who may know little or nothing about Love Canal and how the environmental health and justice movement began. History is important and we need to find ways to tell the story so that we don’t repeat our mistakes and we can reap the benefits of lessons learned through

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February 2, 2013

Information is Power: True or False?

I often ask this question when speaking publicly about what I do at CHEJ. I’m trained as a scientist and I provide technical assistance to grassroots community groups.  People send me testing data to review,  whether it’s the chemicals found in their drinking water, the air behind their child’s school, or the soil in the park where their children play. They ask me to do this primarily because they want to know what the test results mean. But they also believe that if they gather enough information – the right

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January 28, 2013
Blog Roll
Greenpeace’s The Witness
Grist
Groovy Green
Healthy Child Healthy World
Inside Prevention
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Moms Rising
Pharos
Safe Mama
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families
The Soft Landing
Treehugger
Zero Waste World