Environmental Health

"Lawmakers have been laying the groundwork for months to come up with solutions to a growing headache for water providers in all corners of the U.S.

House members are meeting today to discuss a strategy for moving through Congress over a dozen bills on pollution from poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—chemicals linked to thyroid and liver problems, cancer, and immune system deficiencies.

The problem is enormous.

"Authorities declared an environmental emergency on Tuesday for metropolitan Mexico City, one of the world’s most populous megalopolises, as smoke from nearby wildfires pushed pollution to levels deemed potentially harmful to human health."

"A local company that once helped the West Virginia town of Minden thrive had for for decades dumped untold amounts of industrial chemicals nearby. Years after that coal-equipment manufacturer shuttered and the rest of the local coal economy fell into decline, those toxic chemicals remained."

"House Democrats are sending a message that they view deep budget cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency as a non-starter, setting down another marker for future spending battles with the White House in the months ahead."

"A secretive utility industry coalition formerly represented by a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency is dissolving amid investigations into whether its members received special treatment from the Trump administration."

"Seizing a new opportunity they believe has been opened up by the White House, hard-line foes of climate action on Monday once again asked the Trump Administration to reverse the landmark Obama-era finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and the environment."

"A jury in Oakland, Calif., ordered Monsanto on Monday to pay a couple more than $2 billion in damages after finding that its Roundup weed killer caused their cancer — the third jury to conclude that the company failed to warn consumers of its flagship product’s dangers."

"Proposals to reorder the Trump administration's energy and environmental priorities will come this week as the House unveils its fiscal 2020 spending bills for EPA and the Energy and Interior departments."

"Chemours Co., 3M Co. and DuPont are taking a stand against what one company called an “unprecedented” New Jersey order, saying they won’t pay for a statewide investigation of fluorinated chemical contamination."

"From 1962 to 1971, the American military sprayed vast areas of Vietnam with Agent Orange, leaving dioxin contamination that has severely affected the health of three generations of Vietnamese. Now, the U.S. and Vietnamese governments have joined together in a massive cleanup project."