Chemicals

"Study finds agriculture and pesticide use threaten relatives of world’s most important crops, considered crucial to food security".

"Behind a playground littered with downed tree branches, Shell’s refinery in Norco, Louisiana spewed black smoke from its stacks. The smell of rotten eggs, the signature scent of sulphur emissions, lingered in the air. In an effort to burn off toxic chemicals before and after Hurricane Ida, many industrial facilities sent the gases through smoke stacks topped with flares."

"Federal and state agencies say they are responding to reports of oil and chemical spills resulting from Hurricane Ida following the publication of aerial photos by The Associated Press."

"Trump-era EPA appointees engaged in "considerable political level interference" on an assessment for a controversial "forever chemical," documents obtained by E&E News indicate."

"A fertilizer plant battered by Hurricane Ida belched highly toxic anhydrous ammonia into the air. Two damaged gas pipelines leaked isobutane and propylene, flammable chemicals that are hazardous to human health. And a plastic plant that lost power in the storm’s aftermath is emitting ethylene dichloride, yet another toxic substance."

"Leaded gasoline's century-long reign of destruction is over. The final holdout, Algeria, used up the last of its stockpile of leaded gasoline in July."

"Information about potential environmental threats caused by Hurricane Ida have been slow in coming, but initial reports to the Coast Guard's National Response Center and the state Department of Environmental Quality confirm there were releases of crude oil, fuel oils and a variety of chemicals in numerous locations in southeastern Louisiana on the day before and the day of the storm."

"Despite a few high-profile conservation success stories – like the dramatic comeback of bald eagle populations in North America – birds of prey are in decline worldwide."

"Whistleblowers say the US Environmental Protection Agency has been falsifying dangerous new chemicals’ risk assessments in an effort to make the compounds appear safe and quickly approve them for commercial use."

"Hospitals in Southeast Louisiana, already burdened with extremely high numbers of covid patients, took a beating from Hurricane Ida, with roofs ripped off or damaged, leaving water pouring inside and forcing three bayou-country hospitals ravaged by the eye of the storm to evacuate their patients. Patients at a fourth hospital were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard."