Arctic Is Full Of Toxic Mercury; Climate Change Is Going To Release It
As climate change melts Arctic permafrost, it will release toxic mercury, scientists say.
Source: Washington Post, 02/06/2018
Chemicals
Superfund News May Not Go Away
Somewhere near you is a toxic waste site. And as the EPA brings the Superfund cleanup program back into its sights, TipSheet helps you cover this perpetual problem. Info on cleanup funding and priority-setting, resources to locate nearby sites, questions to ask to dig into your Superfund story and more.
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"Monsanto Faces Farmer Antitrust Suit on Dicamba, Resistant Seed"
"Monsanto Corp. faces a treble damages class action alleging that its pesticide Dicamba poses such a risk to farmers they are forced to purchase resistant seed — marketed under patent at high prices by Monsanto — to avoid catastrophic damage to their crops from pesticide drift."
Source: Bloomberg, 02/06/2018
Floods Are Getting Worse, and 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie in Water’s Path
"Anchored in flood-prone areas in every American state are more than 2,500 sites that handle toxic chemicals, a New York Times analysis of federal floodplain and industrial data shows. About 1,400 are located in areas at highest risk of flooding."
Source: NY Times, 02/06/2018
"What’s GenX Still Doing In The Water Downstream Of A Chemours Plant?"
"Despite efforts to prevent the industrial fluoroether from getting into North Carolina drinking water, it’s still present. Scientists are racing to find out why".
Source: C&EN, 02/05/2018
EPA Program To Study Toxic Chemicals Fights for Its Life — Against EPA
"A small but vitally important program within the Environmental Protection Agency is in a fight for its life. The Integrated Risk Information System, or IRIS, is the only division of the EPA that independently assesses the toxicity of chemicals."
Source: The Intercept, 02/05/2018
Raising Questions about Unequal Justice in Contamination Case
After an EPA Superfund settlement was rebuffed by a small town, a local environmental advocate goes to jail while executives behind a chemical plant contamination remain free. In the latest Q&A for our Inside Story column, we hear from investigative reporter Sharon Lerner of The Intercept about the complex challenges of telling this award-winning tale.
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Trump to Again Propose Eliminating Chemical Safety Board, Official Says
"President Donald Trump’s 2019 budget proposal will again call for ending the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent agency that investigates major industrial accidents, according to a senior government official familiar with the plan."
Source: Bloomberg, 02/02/2018
Policy ‘Confrontation’ is Watchword, Say Journalists at Issue Look-Ahead Forum
Top reporters at an event sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists predicted clashes in 2018 over climate, drilling on public lands, environmental laws, infrastructure, national monuments and more. Here's what these journalistic veterans forecast. Plus, check out the accompanying annual issues guide.
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OSHA Drops Fatality Data, Science Suppression Tracker and More
OSHA stops publishing on its website a list of U.S. workers who died on the job, a new "Silencing Science Tracker" tool and a journalists' guide to working with whistleblowers are released, plus a powerful politician pressures a scientist on environmental health policy. All in the latest WatchDog TipSheet.
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