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Deadly refinery leak adds to US toxic accident toll
By Dana Drugmand
A Texas oil refinery with a history of environmental violations was the site of a deadly hydrogen sulfide leak last week, killing two people and injuring more than two dozen others and adding to a long list of US industrial accidents US regulators say they are trying to rein in.
In Hurricane Milton’s wake, toxic “gypstacks” threaten Tampa Bay area
By Shannon Kelleher
As southwest Florida reels from the impact of Hurricane Milton this week, the first hurricane to directly hit the Tampa Bay area in a century, environmentalists are bracing for another possible impact – the contamination of local waterways from towering stacks of toxic industrial waste in the storm’s path.
Nearly 100,000 birds dead in botulism outbreak linked to climate change, water diversions
By Douglas Main
An ongoing outbreak of botulism, a bacterial illness that causes muscle paralysis, has killed more than 94,000 birds at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Northern California, the worst such outbreak at the lake ever recorded, according to federal scientists.
“Like steroids for hurricanes” – Scientists say Helene just a warning of what is to come
By Dana Drugmand
As the full extent of the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States becomes clear nearly two weeks after the monstrous storm made landfall, a new scientific analysis confirms what many have already surmised – climate change worsened the hurricane’s catastrophic impacts.
PFAS levels increasing in Arctic animals, study finds
By Douglas Main
Concentrations of toxic pollutants known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are continuing to increase in Arctic animals such as polar bears despite efforts to rein in their use, according to a new study.
Opinion: Revealing the toxic lobbying power of Bayer
By Hans van Scharen
Big fossil-fuel companies like Shell, Exxon, BP or Total are not your trusted source to go to for solid advice on how to urgently prevent the climate from changing ever faster.
EPA not protecting public from neonic exposure, analysis suggests
By Shannon Kelleher
Rodent studies given to US regulators by insecticide makers close to 20 years ago revealed the chemicals could be harmful to the animals’ brain development – data worrisome for humans exposed to the popular pesticides but not properly accounted for by regulators, according to a new research report published this week.
Postcard from California: State sues ExxonMobil for plastics recycling fraud
By Bill Walker
Last year, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a monumental lawsuit against five of the world’s largest petrochemical companies for an alleged “decades-long campaign of deception” about fossil fuels’ harm to the climate and the climate crisis’ devastating impacts on the state.
Q&A: 20 years after coining “microplastics,” a researcher reflects on what needs to change
By Douglas Main
We now know that microplastics and nano-plastics are everywhere. They are found in the most remote parts of the deep ocean, on Mount Everest, in rainwater, in the food we eat and air we breathe. They’re showing up in animals and human organs, including the brain.
“Defend or be damned” – How a US company uses government funds to suppress pesticide opposition around the world
By Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre
In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and other health problems.