EWG
Twitter
Instagram“On the ropes,” Bayer seeks escape from costly Roundup litigation
Bayer executives have been warning in recent weeks that after losing billions of dollars to Roundup case settlements and jury awards, they may be ready to give up the fight.
EPA
WOTUS: A narrowing EPA definition is reshaping the Clean Water Act
By Brian Bienkowski
Debra Shankland was a kid when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969. “I saw the dead fish, I smelled it,” the retired biologist and environmental educator told a room of US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representatives on Wednesday. Shankland was one of many speakers at the latest listening session led by the EPA as the agency crafts a new definition for the long controversial language “waters of the United States” contained in the Clean Water Act.
Postcard from California: Despite strict regulations, the state still has the nation’s dirtiest air
In the years after World War II, the smog in Los Angeles was so thick that at times people could see no farther than three blocks.
Despite efforts to limit emissions from power plants and oil refineries, the eye-burning, lung-choking blanket of smog remained. Then, in the 1950s, groundbreaking research by a biochemistry professor at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit, determined that the main culprit was automobile exhaust.
EPA applauded for easing regulatory “burdens” on farmers using insecticides
By Carey Gillam
Farm groups were cheering moves announced this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will alter protections for endangered species to allow for easier use of certain pesticides in agriculture.
Common plastic chemicals linked to 356,000 annual heart disease deaths worldwide
By Brian Bienkowski
Chemicals used to make plastics more flexible are linked to more than 356,000 deaths annually across the globe, creating what researchers called a “substantial global health burden,” according to a new peer-reviewed study.
Thousands of US water systems show dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals
By Carey Gillam
Millions of people across the United States could be drinking water contaminated with dangerous levels of substances created when utilities disinfect water tainted with animal manure and other pollutants, according to a report released Thursday.
RFK Jr. directs CDC to stop promoting fluoridation; EPA will re-assess practice
By Douglas Main
Citing health concerns, newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week that he will direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending that states add fluoride to their water, and will convene a federal taskforce of independent health experts to study the health risks presented by the practice while establishing a new “optimal” level.
Analysis raises concerns about potential misuse of atrazine weedkiller in US Midwest
By Douglas Main
Corn growers across Midwestern states appear to be flouting regulations aimed at protecting important waterways from contamination with toxic atrazine weedkiller, according to an analysis of satellite imagery and field data that comes as US regulators ponder changes to rules for use of the pesticide.
As EPA shutters environmental justice offices, rural Americans at risk
By Julia Tilton / The Daily Yonder
Environmental justice efforts at the 10 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional offices have stopped and employees have been placed on administrative leave, per an announcement from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin earlier this month. Former EPA employees involved with environmental justice work across the country say rural communities will suffer as a result.
An open letter from EPA staff to the American public
“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”