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3M settlement marks “significant step forward” for PFAS-contaminated communities
By Shannon Kelleher
In a move that could help alleviate US public drinking water systems contaminated with harmful chemicals, the conglomerate 3M agreed last week to a settlement of at least $10.3 billion. The announcement comes weeks after the companies Dupont, Chemours, and Corteva agreed to pay about $1.2 billion to settle similar claims.
In Montana, a landmark legal challenge over climate change
By Dana Drugmand
For 20-year-old college student Olivia Vesovich, climate change is not a future concern. It’s a current and near-daily crisis. “Climate change has impacted my ability to breathe,” Vesovich testified from the witness stand of a Montana courtroom last week.
Wildfire smoke tied to thousands of deaths and billions in economic losses, researchers warn
By Carey Gillam
As hundreds of wildfires continue to rage across Canada, a new study warns that toxic particulates carried in wildfire smoke can lead to more than 4,000 premature deaths in the United States and $36 billion in annual US economic losses.
Families demand Yale revoke degree of convicted asbestos billionaire
Families of those killed by asbestos-related illnesses are demanding that Yale University revoke an honorary degree given to a Swiss billionaire who was convicted last week of aggravated manslaughter in the deaths of over a hundred people linked to asbestos exposure.
Amid Biden push for electric vehicles, debate grows over “green” mining
Minnesota, long known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, is a heralded haven for people and wildlife alike, a state rich in natural resources.
As wildfire smoke clears, scientists warn air quality impacts aren’t over
By Shannon Kelleher
On Tuesday morning, Austin Channell was starting his day at home in Hudson, New York when he discovered the rays of sunlight on his wall were an odd orangey pink. As the day progressed, the sky grew stranger.
Human-caused warming to surpass Paris Agreement limit by 2037, analysis finds
Human-caused global warming is set to surpass 2.7° Fahrenheit (1.5° Celsius) by the year 2037, overshooting an international goal beyond which severe climate disruptions may become the norm, according to a new analysis from 50 climate scientists.
Advocacy groups sue EPA after agency re-approved two highly toxic weed killers
By Shannon Kelleher
Environmental and workers’ rights groups this week filed a lawsuit alleging a federal agency failed to properly consider risks to public health and the environment when it re-approved two highly toxic herbicides.
PFAS contamination trial delayed as 3M negotiates sweeping settlement
By Shannon Kelleher and Carey Gillam
Chemical conglomerate 3M is working to settle claims that it is liable for knowingly contaminating the environment with toxic chemicals for decades, delaying what would have been a closely watched bellwether trial in South Carolina.
On eve of bellwether PFAS trial, chemical giants DuPont, 3M eye billion-dollar settlements
By Carey Gillam and Shannon Kelleher
Just days before the start of a bellwether trial in South Carolina over PFAS contamination of drinking water, DuPont and two related companies said they would pay close to $1.2 billion to settle liability claims brought by public water systems serving the vast majority of the US population.