Chemicals

"A new brand of offsetting allows companies to call themselves "plastic-neutral" while continuing to use plastic themselves. What's it all about?"

"Gov. Wolf touted jobs and less plastic pollution when the plans were announced in April, but a professor from Carnegie Mellon who’s studied the technology says it can lead to “sustainability fraud.”"

"Pesticide labels are designed to help prevent dangerous exposure, but the EPA doesn’t ensure most farmworkers can read them—an oversight that has serious implications for their health, and the environment."

"Six days after a state Senate panel killed legislation that would have required real-time air monitoring along the edges of major Louisiana industrial facilities, an Olin Chemical subsidiary had a significant chlorine gas leak that sickened 39 people."

"In many cities, no one knows where the lead pipes lie underground. That’s important because lead pipes contaminate drinking water. After the lead crisis in Flint, officials in Michigan accelerated efforts to locate their pipes, a first step toward removal."

"Three years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to safeguard the health and safety of people living near oil and gas operations, but change hasn’t come. Millions still live near noxious oil and gas rigs, many long exempt from air pollution rules, as scientific evidence of their harm mounts."

"PORT ARTHUR, Tex. — On any given day at the Prince Hall apartment complex, the breeze might carry soot and stink of burning tar. Black smoke might billow overhead as excess gas is burned at one of the refineries directly across the road. The fumes make Ariel Watson’s head ache until she can barely think. Jeremy Roy, 9, closes his windows against air that “stinks like farts.”"

"EPA today proposed designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund law. That move would unlock a major tool for regulators seeking to recoup costs from polluters as they progress with cleanup efforts at contaminated sites."

"Environmental groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency to close a gaping loophole in the agency’s rules regulating the management of coal ash dumps that have leached toxic pollutants into rivers and lakes across the country."

"The Biden administration is proposing to restore chemical safety regulations that were loosened under the Trump administration.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to reimpose certain safety requirements that apply to facilities including agricultural supply distributors, chemical manufacturers and distributors, food and beverage manufacturers and oil refineries.