In recent months, weâve learned about the Department of Defense hampering EPAâs chemical risk assessments and slowing the study of health effects from the TCE contaminating Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Now, the Washington Postâs Lyndsey Layton reports that DoD is refusing comply with EPA orders to clean up military bases where chemical contamination poses âimminent […]
Bloggers help us stay on top of environmental news: Andrew Revkin at Dot Earth brings us the grim news from a new federal report on climate change impacts: thereâs a 90-percent likelihood that the frequency and intensity of heat waves and heavy downpours will rise. Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients reports that the Supreme Court […]
Earlier this month, William Scott Hill, 33, of Staffordsville, KY was killed while cutting trees to prepare for a surface coal mine for the Premier Elkhorn Coal Company (TECO Energy). Mr. Hill was employed by Gopher Contracting of Jackson, KY. His death on June 3 reminded me of other fatalities involving tree cutters working at mining operations, including […]
Remember the excellent Charlotte Observer series on poultry workers? If you missed it the first time, it’s well worth a read. After a 22-month investigation, reporters conveyed a grim picture: poultry-plant workers suffer high rates of crippling injuries, but fear losing their jobs if they complain; companies cover up the problems, and OSHA lets them off […]
The American News Project â a new nonprofit project producing âonline journalism that mattersâ and offering their content for free â turns its cameras to the problem of hunger in the U.S. Garland McLaurin reports that 28 million people will use food stamps in 2009, but the low benefit amounts mean that many of these […]
Susan announced this project a few weeks ago, and itâs worth repeating. At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, weâve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientistsâ work at government agencies and to create recommendations for policies that support strong science […]
Back in March, a Boston Globe article by Farah Stockman broke the news that workers whoâd been cleaning up the Qarmat Ali water injection plant in Iraq had been exposed to something that they were told was only a mild irritant â but which was, in fact, the dangerous substance sodium dichromate. After that report, Senator […]
As weâve noted before, research on nanotechnology safety has lagged behind the use of nanomaterials in consumer products. Three recent stories describe the potential rewards and risks of nanotechnology and some of the efforts to learn more about nanomaterialsâ effects on humans and our environment. Much of the use of nanotechnology in todayâs consumer products is […]
By Michael Stebbins, originally published at Scientists and Engineers for America Action Fund Last month I wrote about the White Houseâs apparent involvement in the denial of Californiaâs request for exemption from the Clean Air Act to set their own guidelines for the regulation of auto emissions standards. Now the House Oversight and Government Reform […]
On Saturday, Firedoglake hosted an online discussion on David Michaelsâ Doubt is Their Product: How Industryâs Assault on Science Threatens Your Health â and David was lucky to have the chat hosted by Jordan Barab, whose wonderful Confined Space blog provided so much inspiration for The Pump Handle. In his introduction, Jordan not only did a […]