Chemicals

"Trade Secrets" — Largely Untested Grounds for Toxic Secrecy

Witnesses at a House Energy Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection hearing in February said excessive and unjustified claims of "confidential business information" dampen EPA's efforts to regulate commonly used chemicals.

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EPA Reverses Bush-Era Toxics Release Inventory Blackout

A new rule signed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson restores cuts in how much data communities can get about nearby industrial releases of toxic substances.

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Lung Association To Release Air Quality Report

The ALA's annual State of the Air report can provide a useful hook for reporting on air quality in your community, but for the big picture, do go beyond the sound-bite information emphasized in the report.

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EPA To Test School Air Quality

Following a December 2008 USA Today investigation into toxic air enveloping US schools, EPA will begin monitoring air quality around 62 schools in 22 states.

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Consent Decree Forces Regs on Selected Gas and Diesel Engines

Restrictions would be placed on many types of stationary diesel and gas-fired engines under a proposed EPA rule.

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EPA Inspector General Rips Risk Management Plan Follow-Up

A new Office of Inspector General report found many chemical facilities storing large amounts of dangerous chemicals had not filed their required RMPs -- and that EPA was not checking often for compliance.

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Blue Sky for TRI?

EPA's public release of the latest Toxics Release Inventory data -- and rollback of Bush-era cutbacks on the amount of information chemical companies must report -- may have marked the beginning of a new era for the embattled program.

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CSB Reschedules W.VA. Meeting After Bayer Secrecy Demands

A public meeting regarding the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's investigation of the August 2008 explosion at Bayer CropScience which killed two workers, originally scheduled for March 19, was postponed to April 23, 2009.

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"Grace Got Asbestos Warnings 30 Years Ago, Jury Told"

"A former W.R. Grace & Co. executive testified he warned his superiors more than 30 years ago about asbestos contamination in vermiculite from a Montana mine and feared it might lead to criminal prosecution.

03/25/2009

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New Government Effort To Produce More Data On Toxic Chemicals

By CHERYL HOGUE

We don't have a lot of information about many of the industrial chemicals that are in our air, water and soil, or those that are increasingly found in our blood.

This dearth of data often leaves audiences hanging when journalists report about pollution and biomonitoring. Too often, scientists just can't tell us what the presence of Chemical X in our bodies means.

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