Chemicals

"Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm before a disastrous fire struck in March 2019. The fire released toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks."

"The World Health Organization’s (WHO) draft drinking water guidelines for “forever chemicals” disregard best available science and require extensive revisions, two former federal officials argued in a new position paper."

"The EPA’s recent proposal to limit a potentially deadly solvent’s use and production signals challenges for diverse industries as the agency prepares to release more rules restricting widely used chemicals, according to an industry attorney."

"When wildfires spread through parts of Northern California wine country in 2017, they melted electronics, combusted cars and exploded propane tanks. The fires sent acrid smoke billowing into the sky, its footprint wafting over the state and extending for 500 miles into the Pacific Ocean."

"Lake Charles, LA - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board found five safety issues that contributed to the massive fire at BioLab during Hurricane Laura in 2020."

"A German company has agreed to substantially reduce air pollutants from a chemical plant near LaPlace, according to a settlement reached this week with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Grassroots activists who took on British mining giants and a serial plastics polluter – and won – are among this year’s recipients of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize."

"The US Environmental Protection Agency has in effect ignored a 2020 federal court order prohibiting the use of Monsanto and other producers’ toxic dicamba-based herbicides that are destroying millions of acres of cropland, harming endangered species and increasing cancer risks for farmers, new fillings in the lawsuit charge."

"A coalition of environmental organizations warned in a report Wednesday of potential health risks in replacing lead pipes with polyvinyl chloride (PVC)."

"Garrett Cammans and his brothers sometimes don’t talk about their toughest moments on the job in the cloud seeding business, like the time when one of them got stuck in deep mountain snow and had to hike out alone in the dark."