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.
Air & Water
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.
“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.
Use of “green” cleaning products may improve indoor air quality, study says
Consumers can slash their exposure to certain types of indoor air pollution by using “green” labeled cleaning products, according to new research.
Could farm fertilizers be driving Corn Belt cancers?
BERNE, Minn. – It was a hot afternoon in mid-July and 60-year-old Brian Bennerotte was making a pilgrimage of sorts, navigating a shotgun-straight, gravel road south of Minneapolis on a journey through a landscape stitched with crop and livestock farms as far as the eye can see.
US failing to account for full extent of drinking water concerns in vulnerable communities
By Carey Gillam
US environmental regulators are failing to adequately account for how extensively vulnerable communities are exposed to contaminated drinking water, a new study has determined.
Advising farmers on fertilizer, universities add to water pollution woes
WINONA, Minn. – Corn drapes every curve and rise here in Winona County, Minnesota – seemingly endless fields of grain that contribute to the food, fuel and finances of a robust US agricultural economy.
Wisconsin city sues PFAS manufacturers for contaminating water supply
By Grace van Deelen
A Wisconsin city filed a lawsuit on Monday against multiple manufacturers of toxic substances knowns as PFAS, claiming the chemical makers should be responsible for more than $20 million in expected costs to clean up PFAS-contaminated water supplies.
Rise in air pollution fuels antibiotic resistance, study suggests
By Grace van Deelen
Air pollution could be helping drive a rise in drug-resistant infections, which pose a dangerous threat to global public health, according to a new study.
Climate groups rally for stronger power plant emissions standards
By Shannon Kelleher
Environmental advocates rallied at the steps of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters on Tuesday, applauding the agency’s efforts to cut climate-harming pollution from power plants but saying its proposed standards don’t go far enough.