"U.S. states cannot block shipments of hazardous waste from a Feb. 3 Ohio train derailment to licensed disposal sites, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Friday."
Environmental reporters can prepare for possible rail accidents involving hazardous materials — like the one that hit East Palestine, Ohio — by having a keener understanding of what hazmat may be regularly carried through their communities. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox guides you to helpful lists of dangerous substances while offering a rundown of nearly a dozen-and-a-half of the worst offenders and their risks.
"The Biden administration is preparing to impose some of the first new rules in a generation to restrict or ban an array of toxic chemicals that are widely used in manufacturing, presenting the White House with tough choices between its economic agenda and public health."
"The US saw an 8% increase in toxic chemicals industries released into the environment or sent for hazardous waste disposal in 2021 over the previous year, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Thursday."
"A cancer-causing chemical that is widely used to degrease aviation components and heavy machinery could also be linked to Parkinson’s disease, according to a new research paper that recommends increased scrutiny of areas long contaminated by the compound."
"Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage caused by a fiery train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday."
"EPA is taking aim at six notorious “forever chemicals” with aggressive standards likely to usher in a new hard-line approach to the compounds."
"Accidents that result in the release of hazardous materials are rare, but when trains do crash, the consequences can be serious. Most of the recent ones that caused evacuations have happened near small communities, NPR found. Local firefighters who respond are uniquely vulnerable to the effects. But across the country, they are often under-prepared to handle the chemicals when they come off the tracks."
"Excessive use of phosphorus is depleting reserves vital to global food production, while also adding to the climate crisis".
"The first-ever regulations on PFAS are a federal response to the toxic chemicals showing up in drinking water consumed by thousands of U.S. communities".
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