Chemicals

"Urging residents to evacuate and saying downtown Midland could be under 9 feet of water by Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer late Tuesday declared a state of emergency for Midland County after the Edenville and Sanford dams breached."

"When the chemical company Brenntag received a fine in 2017, the National Association of Chemical Distributors asked for help from two new Trump administration appointees who previously worked in chemical lobbying, according to emails obtained by The Hill through a Freedom of Information Act request."

"The EPA is modifying one of its rules to increase the supply of products to clean food-contact surfaces due to disinfectant shortages during the coronavirus crisis."

"This isn’t the first time Vicki Dobbins’s town has been forced to shelter in place. Last year, the Marathon Petroleum refinery that looms over her neighborhood near Detroit emitted a pungent gas, causing nausea and dizziness among neighbors and prompting health officials to warn people to stay inside."

"The Trump administration will not impose any limits on perchlorate, a toxic chemical compound that contaminates water and has been linked to fetal and infant brain damage, according to two Environmental Protection Agency staff members familiar with the decision."

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to address lead in water isn’t as aggressive as it could be, the agency’s independent science advisers, as well as outside groups, said Monday."

"Environmentalists sued the Trump administration on Monday over the rollback of an Obama-era rule meant to police the release of powerful greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are used in refrigerators."

"The Senate’s environment panel pushed through two major water infrastructure bills Wednesday, rejecting a GOP member’s attempt to give Western states more authority over water supplies but agreeing to direct the EPA to set drinking water limits for “forever chemicals” known as PFAS."

"At least 13 people have been killed by a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in southern India, with hundreds of others taken to hospital."