PFAS industry spent over $110 million on recent lobbying, report finds
By Shannon Kelleher
Chemical industry advocates have spent more than $110 million in recent years on lobbying efforts that included opposing laws designed to reduce the use of, and exposure to, a group of toxic chemicals known as PFAS, according to a new study.
US regulators order Minnesota to clean up nitrate contaminated water
In recognition of pervasive farm-related water contamination, federal regulators have ordered three Minnesota state agencies to address “imminent and substantial endangerment to the health” of thousands of residents who are being exposed to high levels of nitrate contamination in their drinking water.
PFAS chemicals found in 71% of tested Wisconsin wells
By Shannon Kelleher
The majority of private wells providing water for 450 Wisconsin homes tested positive for harmful chemicals, though mostly at low levels, according to a new study.
Proposed decision could deal another blow to California rooftop solar
By Shannon Kelleher
California regulators will vote this month on proposed key changes to programs that incentivize solar energy installations at apartment buildings, schools, and farms in a move critics fear will put the benefits of clean, renewable energy out of reach for many people.
Battle brewing over proposed US law that would protect pesticides
By Carey Gillam
Cancer patients are celebrating a string of courtroom victories after juries in three US states recently ordered Germany’s Bayer to pay more than $500 million in damages for failing to warn about the health risks of its Roundup herbicides. But the consumer wins come as proposed federal legislation backed by Bayer and the powerful agricultural industry could limit similar cases from ever going to trial in the future.
EPA restarts assessment of health risks from nitrate in water
By Brett Walton
The US Environmental Protection Agency, reversing a Trump-era decision, is restarting a human health assessment of nitrate and nitrite, a move that has potentially far-reaching regulatory implications for one of the country’s most pervasive drinking water contaminants.
“Time is up” – EPA facing threat of citizens’ lawsuit seeking cap on climate pollution
By Dana Drugmand
US regulators are breaking the law by failing to set a national cap on climate pollution, endangering human health and the environment, according to a consortium threatening to file a citizens’ lawsuit against the government to force “stronger, faster actions to address the climate emergency.”
“What we’re up against” – North Dakota towns fight Farm Bureau to try to keep water clean
DEVILS LAKE, ND – When Clark Steinhaus first heard about a plan to build a feeding operation for 2,499 hogs near the shoreline of North Dakota’s largest natural lake, he was alarmed. As chair of Pelican Township’s board of supervisors, Steinhaus worried the manure generated by so many hogs could easily contaminate area waterways, including 160,000-acre Devils Lake and its 375 miles of shoreline.
Postcard from California: Freeways fracture communities, poison the air and heat the planet
In 1957, California opened its first double-decker freeway: The Cypress Street Viaduct, slicing through the heart of West Oakland toward the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. The construction displaced hundreds of Black families and businesses from a neighborhood once known as the Harlem of the West.
PFAS chemicals linked to thyroid cancer, human data suggests
By Shannon Kelleher
Exposure to some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may increase thyroid cancer risk, according to a study published Tuesday. The analysis, which compared blood samples from 88 people who developed thyroid cancer with samples from people who did not, is the first to document an association between PFAS and thyroid cancer, which had been previously hypothesized.