Lead and copper enter drinking water primarily through plumbing materials. Exposure to lead and copper may cause health problems ranging from stomach distress to brain damage. In 1991, EPA published a regulation to control lead and copper in drinking water. This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule (also referred to as the LCR). Since 1991 the LCR has undergone various revisions, ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether or not the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals erred in a Clean Water Act (CWA) case that petitioners say would dramatically expand the law’s reach.
The case, County of Maui, Hawaii, v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, centers around whether or not the CWA requires permits for “nonpoint” sources of pollution that travel through regulated waterways...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded 15 Northwest tribes a total of $1,939,944 to boost programs that restore habitat, protect tribal water quality and wetlands across four Northwest states. The funding was awarded through EPA’s Tribal Clean Water Act Nonpoint Source and Wetland Program Development Grants... more
At a press event at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the award of $2.5 million to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Practical Farmers of Iowa, as part of the Agency’s Farmer to Farmer grant program... more
In order to better meet the Agency’s responsibilities related to the protection of public health and the environment, EPA has developed a new environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool called EJSCREEN. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports....more
Currently available civil cases are listed below. Each case has a brief description and a link to detailed information about the case. more
The criminal enforcement program investigates and assists in the prosecution of knowing or negligent environmental violations. This year’s cases resulted in a total of 153 years of incarceration for individual defendants, plus fines of $2,829,202,563 for individual and corporate defendants, with an additional $3,092,631 in court ordered environmental projects and $147,520,585 in restitution. more
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, just before Hurricane Harvey arrived, disconnected dozens of air quality monitors in the Houston area. The decision, codified in an email to staff from a TCEQ Deputiy Director of Compliance and Enforcement, effectively left the Houston region with no... more
The City of Beaumont public water system said it is finishing up the temporary disinfectant process changes that started earlier in June. Officials said the routine maintenance would take place starting at the beginning of the month. Instead of chloramine, the city has been using chlorine. ... more
Beaumont officials are answering questions residents want to know. What turned the water brown? And, how and when it will be corrected? Iron and manganese turned the water brown as well as fire hydrant testing by the Beaumont fire department. ... more
The City of Georgetown, Texas, and its mayor, Dale Ross, have become known internationally over the past couple of years due to the city’s claim that its municipal electricity utility uses 100% renewable energy.
But as recent developments show, Georgetown’s proverbial 15 minutes of fame came at great cost to taxpayers and electricity ratepayers. ...more
A fire that broke out at a petrochemical storage facility over the weekend in the industrial Houston suburb of Deer Park has been extinguished, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday morning.
The fire burned through Tuesday after intensifying Monday night. Despite a tall black plume that billowed over the nation's fourth-largest city for three days, state and local officials emphasized that monitoring data show the air is still safe to breathe....more
The latest forecast for air quality conditions in Texas' metropolitan areas.
Texas Beach Watch provides the public with information about water quality at selected recreational beaches along the Texas coast.
A "superbug" gene that was first detected in India — and allows bacteria to evade "last resort" antibiotics — has now been found thousands of miles away, in a remote region of the Arctic, according to a new study.
The findings underscore just how far and wide antibiotic resistance genes have spread,...more
Many studies have reported the link between residential proximity to upstream oil and gas production and the risk of health outcomes. A new study by Stanford scientists conducted a 14-year analysis of air quality across California. They found...more
Great progress has been made in achieving national air quality standards, which EPA originally established in 1971 and updates periodically based on the latest science. One sign of this progress is that visible air pollution is less frequent and widespread than it was in the 1970s.
However, air pollution can be harmful even when it is not visible. Newer scientific studies have shown that some pollutants can harm public health and welfare even at very low levels. EPA in recent years revised standards for five of the six common pollutants subject to national air quality standards. EPA made the standards more protective because new, peer-reviewed scientific studies showed that existing standards were not adequate to protect public health and the environment...more
Toxic, black snow has turned part of a coal-mining region in Siberia into a post-apocalyptic landscape.
Residents in three Russian cities have been tweeting images and videos showing cars, streets and buildings covered in gross-looking, black snow.
Authorities have attributed the black snow to coal-processing plants in the area. The director of one of the plants told The Siberian Times that a shield meant to prevent coal powder from escaping has failed, resulting in the soot-colored snow....more
Pollution is turning the snow green in the Russian city of Pervouralsk, the latest in a series of incidents fueling growing concerns about the environmental health of the country that could threaten President Vladimir Putin's popularity, The Independent reported Monday.
One video shared by ND News Feb. 15 shows a patch of green snow outside a pre-school close to a local chrome plant that residents blame for the phenomenon....more
As lockdowns are gradually being lifted, many drivers are getting back behind the wheel, thereby worsening the quality of air in cities. Moreover, in some countries heavily dependent on hard fuel for heating, the lowering of temperatures is associated with...more
When most animal bodies process nutrients, they expel waste in the form of liquids and solids — generally referred to as urine and feces. Waste is usually smelly and unappetizing (for people, at least) but it can also be surprisingly beneficial. Pee and poo have a wide range of applications; providing nutrients for diverse ecosystems, serving as a foundation for expensive perfumes, or even fueling robots....more
A 210-foot-long (64 meters) monster made from grease and used baby-wipes has clogged up a sewer in Sidmouth in southwestern England. British officials said in a statement they expect that removing the gooey blob, which will happen in "exceptionally challenging work conditions," ...more
At the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, contributing to a sustainable future might be as easy as using the men's bathroom.
Dyllon Randall, a senior lecturer in water quality engineering at UCT, has been leading an effort to turn human urine into the zero-waste building material of tomorrow. While about 90 percent of urine is made of water, the remainder contains vital nutrients — like phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium — ...more
The trucks and trains that transport goods across the United States emit gases and particles that threaten human health and the environment. A University of Illinois-led project developed a new model that predicts through 2050 the impact of different environmental policies on human mortality rates and short- and long-term climate change caused by particulate and greenhouse gas emissions...more
California's largest county has banned the construction of large solar and wind farms on more than 1 million acres of private land, bending to the will of residents who say they don’t want renewable energy projects industrializing their rural desert communities northeast of Los Angeles.
Thursday’s 4-1 vote by San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors highlighted a challenge California could face as it seeks to eliminate the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels.
State lawmakers passed a bill last year requiring utility companies to get 60% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and 100% from climate-friendly sources by 2045....more
The company sPower wants to build a 500-Megawatt solar project on the 6,350-acre site in western Spotsylvania County, with 3,500 acres being used to house 1.8 million solar panels. The land, currently owned by seven different landowners who plan to sell it to the company, has already been cleared for timber in anticipation of the project. sPower has said the project "will be safe, reliable, quiet and screened from public view."
But a vocal contingent of activist-residents are working to pressure county officials to deny special use permits for sPower, arguing it would have disastrous environmental, economic and cultural impacts on the area. They point out that the proposed site is nearly half the size of Manhattan....more
