Environmental Protection Agency

November 1, 2023

“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.”

The states of Oregon and Minnesota, along with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and climate advocacy organizations 350.org and the Center for Biological Diversity, said this week that they plan to sue the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding the agency respond to a 2009 petition for regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

In a letter addressed to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the consortium pointed out that the EPA has long known that climate changes are occurring that are harming human health and that the “effects will only worsen over time” without regulatory action.

“In the nearly fourteen years since the petition has been pending before EPA, the climate crisis has become far more dire, devastating lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems,” the letter states.

The letter references a new “state of the climate report” from scientists that warns: “Life on planet Earth is under siege. We are now in an uncharted territory” and that “time is up.” And the letter quotes the UN Secretary General warning of an approaching “climate time-bomb.”

The EPA has 180 days to respond to the letter, called a notice of intent to sue, after which time a lawsuit would be filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia.

October 11, 2023

Young brains appear at risk from exposure to popular weed killers

By Carey Gillam

Exposure to two widely used weed killers could be harming the brain function of young people, impacting their memory and learning abilities, according to a study published Wednesday.

The study looked specifically at glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and scores of other brands, and also at 2,4-D – a long-used, weed killing chemical that has seen a surge in use in recent years and has increasingly been combined with glyphosate to kill tenacious weeds.

Concerns about impaired brain function were associated with both chemicals, particularly with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), according to the study, which was led by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

“This herbicide (2,4-D) has gone mostly under the radar and more studies aimed at understanding the health effect of herbicide exposures are needed,” said Jose Ricardo Suarez, director of the Climate and Environmental Health Research Program at the University of California San Diego.

“This builds on the growing knowledge that not just insecticides – pesticides that are designed to be neurotoxins – can affect brain processes,” Suarez said. The study showed that as herbicide exposures increased, neurobehavioral performance decreased, he said.

The researchers analyzed urine samples taken from 519 young people ages 11-17 who lived in farming communities in Ecuador where herbicides and other pesticides were sprayed. They then assessed the neurobehavioral performance of the youth, testing them on their attention/inhibitory control, memory/learning, language, visuospatial processing, and social perception.

Glyphosate was detected in the urine of 98.3% of the study participants and 2,4-D in 66.2%. Glyphosate was associated with problems with social perception, while 2,4-D was associated with attention/inhibition, language and memory/learning skills.

September 22, 2023

Booming natural gas exports threatening Gulf Coast fishing communities

By Shannon Kelleher

Most mornings, Nathan Berwick rises well before dawn at his home in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, setting out on nearby Lake Charles in a small fishing boat to check his crab traps. If it’s not too hot and the water is calm, Berwick’s family occasionally joins him on the boat. His eleven-year-old daughter enjoys playing with baby crabs that fall from the traps as Berwick hauls them from the water.

Berwick comes from a long line of crabbers dating back to the 1820s, when his ancestors first arrived in the heel of the Louisiana boot – the state’s southwest corner.

“Thirty years from now I want my children to be able to say, ‘this is my home, this is where eight generations of Berwicks have lived,’” he said.

September 20, 2023

EPA announces $4.6 billion in grants to combat climate pollution

By Shannon Kelleher

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $4.6 billion in competitive grants on Wednesday to fund state, city, and Tribal programs designed to reduce climate pollution, advance environmental justice, and transition to clean energy.

The announcement came as business leaders, nonprofits, and government officials convene in New York for the annual Climate Week NYC, which takes place alongside the UN General Assembly.

The grants mark the second wave of funding through the agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, which was developed under the Inflation Reduction Act. The CPRG program is intended to advance the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative by helping to ensure that overburdened communities receive federal climate change funding. The newly available grants will fund projects planned using the initial $250 million in CPRG funding announced in March.

“Together, these grants will stimulate economic growth, spur the creation of new industries and jobs, and enable communities, especially low-income and disadvantaged communities, to chart a path towards unprecedented emissions reductions,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said on a press call. “We recognize that it won’t get us all the way, but it’s a significant shot in the arm.”

September 14, 2023

New scientific integrity policy lacking teeth, critics warn

A draft policy meant to curtail improper interference in federal scientific work falls far short of what is needed, according to a warning issued this month by a group of public health and science advocacy groups.

The draft issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the first to come from a key federal agency in answer to a call by President Joe Biden for federal agencies to strengthen policies meant to protect the integrity of their research. HHS is expected to release its final policy by February 2024.

The HHS oversees government entities that play critical roles in evaluating harmful chemicals, tracking and analyzing data on important public health threats, and conducting research into human health and disease, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The HHS works to “enhance the health and well-being of all Americans depends on the development and use of accurate, complete, and timely scientific and technical information,” HHS states in the draft policy.

But according to a letter sent to HHS this month by 11 advocacy organizations, the draft policy would do little to stem what has become a systemic problem in key federal agencies whose work is supposed to protect the public but too often is swayed by political and/or corporate interests.

“Under this proposed policy, every aspect of enforcing scientific integrity principles would remain a captive of the political process inside the agencies,” Jeff Ruch, the Pacific director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), said in a press release.

September 12, 2023

Dealing with disease and death, a community fights PCB contamination

By Dana Drugmand

PITTSFIELD, Mass — For more than two decades, Nina McDermott was a fixture at Allendale Elementary School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, teaching third grade to young students. Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer and then kidney cancer McDermott kept working, fighting for her life as well as her job – until it became clear that her battle to beat the disease could not be won.

McDermott’s death in February 2022 left behind a grieving husband and daughter and marked yet another tragic loss for a community already rocked by disease and death. Her family is among several that have recently filed a series of lawsuits attributing dire health problems to toxic chemical contamination that emanated for decades from a now shuttered General Electric (GE) plant.

Allendale Elementary was built in 1950 on a donated parcel of land near property where GE discarded waste materials generated by its manufacturing of electrical transformers and soil from the GE site was used to help fill in school grounds. The waste contained polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs, which were banned in 1979 in the US and are linked to an array of human health concerns, including leukemia and other cancers. The chemicals persist in the environment, posing an ongoing threat.

PCBs from the GE plant also “heavily” contaminated the Housatonic River and other areas around the community, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Regulators have been working with GE on a cleanup plan, but townspeople say it’s too little too late, and the plan may actually make things worse.

“They’re not telling everybody what’s going on, they’re not telling anybody how dangerous everything is,” said Jessica Sullivan, whose 11-year-old son is battling brain cancer. The boy, Justin Lowery, attended Allendale from Kindergarten through fifth grade and lived for several years with his family in an apartment close to the now-closed GE plant site.

After being diagnosed in 2020, Justin spent about three weeks at Boston Children’s Hospital to undergo a surgical procedure to remove a tumor engulfing his cerebellum.

The contamination of Pittsfield, a city of roughly 50,000 people in western Massachusetts’ Berkshire County, and the surrounding area has spurred a community uprising of sorts. This week back-to-back meetings are being held on Wednesday and Thursday to coordinate action on the PCB contamination concerns.

September 7, 2023

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.

From 2018-2020, one in ten people in the United States were exposed to water quality violations that could impact their health, the study found. And roughly 70% of those affected are considered “socially vulnerable” under a range of factors that include race, language, disability, and housing vacancy rates.

The exposure risk was particularly noteworthy for Hispanic populations throughout the southwest and southcentral US. And when looking at people living on tribal lands, the numbers were more alarming: three in ten people were exposed to health-based water quality violations, the researchers found.

Overall, the number of people exposed to drinking water violations is more than three times greater than the number of people identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the analysis. The authors note that current federal environmental justice tools leave out other factors important for identifying inequities in water quality.

“The current White House and EPA [environmental justice] tools do not seem to be appropriate for drinking water,” said lead author Bridget Scanlon, senior research scientist with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas.

The findings add to evidence that broad swaths of the population are struggling to access clean drinking water, and they come at a critical time, as the Biden Administration and US states are deploying funds aimed at addressing drinking water access and quality around the country.

The EPA has pledged $50.4 million in funding for states to improve drinking water infrastructure for small, underserved, and disadvantaged communities. More broadly, the White House has earmarked more than $50 billion to improve US water infrastructure.

By not fully accounting for the people impacted by water quality violations, the program is in danger of falling short, the authors of the new paper warn.

August 25, 2023

Advising farmers on fertilizer, universities add to water pollution woes

By Keith Schneider

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.

But the bucolic landscape belies a dark and dangerous truth: Much of the groundwater in the porous limestone beneath this area of southeast Minnesota is contaminated with some of the nation’s highest levels of nitrates – harmful pollutants released into the environment by the use of nitrogen chemicals and livestock manure as fertilizer on farmland.

Close to 200 wells in the county have been contaminated with nitrates at levels higher than what is considered safe, according to state officials and in parts of Winona County, half of all households have nitrate-contaminated drinking water. It’s frightening data for area residents because nitrates are linked to a range of health problems, including heart and lung problems and certain cancers. Nitrates are known to be particularly dangerous for babies.

Crop and livestock production accounts for roughly 70% of the state’s nitrate pollution, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, a fact that recently led a coalition of 11 state and national environmental groups to petition federal regulators to investigate.

The groups are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect residents of Winona and seven other southeast Minnesota counties from “imminent and substantial endangerment” caused by nitrate contamination. The agency’s regional office has begun to interview state officials.

The issue is not unique to Minnesota. State and federal data show that since 1990, nitrogen spread on fields in ten major US corn-growing states has increased 26%, with more nitrogen than ever pouring off the land and into US waters.

August 23, 2023

EPA risking endangered species by allowing increased cadmium pollution, judge rules

By Shannon Kelleher

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to protect endangered species such as sea turtles and sturgeon by allowing sharp increases in levels of toxic cadmium in US waters, a federal judge has ruled.

The court decision, handed down Aug. 18 in the US District Court for the District of Arizona, sided with the environmental group the Center for Biological Diversity, which argued in a 2022 lawsuit that the EPA violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it failed to determine whether allowing a 188% increase in chronic freshwater exposure to the heavy metal would harm already endangered aquatic animals and organisms.

Acute cadmium exposure has been found to cause increased mortality in certain organisms, while chronic exposure has been shown to impact growth, reproduction, immune and endocrine systems, development, and behavior of wildlife.

Federal law requires the EPA to consult with expert wildlife agencies, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Services, when taking actions that can put endangered species at risk. The lawsuit alleged the agency failed to do the necessary consultations in the cadmium case.

“The EPA can no longer refuse to consult with wildlife agencies when it develops nationwide water-quality criteria. It has to follow the Endangered Species Act,” said Hannah Connor, environmental health deputy director and senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. “That’s a game-changer for the health of the country’s rivers and streams and the freshwater plants and animals that depend on them.”

The EPA will likely appeal the decision, Connor said. But if the agency accepts the ruling, it will begin an additional rulemaking process to update its cadmium criteria while consulting with other agencies to make its criteria more protective of endangered species, she said.

August 22, 2023

Science takes center stage in court hearing over paraquat and Parkinson’s disease

By Carey Gillam

Testimony is underway this week in a key federal court hearing aimed at examining scientific evidence about allegations that a widely used weedkiller called paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease.

The outcome of the hearing, which began Monday and runs through Thursday in East St. Louis, Illinois, is critical for thousands of people with Parkinson’s who are suing paraquat maker Syngenta AG and former paraquat distributor Chevron.

The plaintiffs claim scientific research shows that exposure to paraquat significantly increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease, but instead of warning users the companies prioritized paraquat sales over human health. The first trial is scheduled to start in October.

When this week’s hearing concludes, US District Court Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel will determine whether or not the plaintiffs’ experts and their scientific analyses will be allowed as evidence in the upcoming trials. Syngenta and Chevron are asking the judge to bar each of the plaintiffs’ scientific experts from testifying, saying their experience is lacking and their analyses are deeply flawed. If the judge agrees, the plaintiffs’ cases could be virtually unwinnable.

More than 4,600 plaintiffs are part of the multidistrict litigation (MDL) being overseen by Rosenstengel. More cases are pending in different jurisdictions around the US.

Syngenta and Chevron deny paraquat causes Parkinson’s and are fighting the lawsuits. The companies say the weight of scientific evidence demonstrates no causal link between the chemical and the disease.

Plaintiff’s lawyers told the judge their case will rely in part on years of animal studies showing that paraquat interacts in the brain to kill specific cells in a manner that is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Human studies also support their case, the lawyers said. When the cases go to trial, they plan to present testimony from several expert witnesses supporting their allegations.

On Tuesday, the hearing turned to testimony by one of those expert witnesses – Cornell professor of epidemiology Martin Wells. Under oath, Wells told the judge that his analysis of years of published research led him to conclude that people exposed to paraquat have a risk of developing Parkinson’s disease that is substantially higher than for people not exposed to the weed killer.

Wells calculated an odds ratio of 2.8 with respect to paraquat’s causal relationship to Parkinson’s disease, meaning the risk of disease resulting from paraquat exposure was 180 times higher than the odds absent that exposure.