News Clips

A multiagency study in the US has found limited potential for human exposure to chemicals from tire crumbs, concluding an eight-year federal project to examine the safety of recycled crumb rubber used on playgrounds and synthetic turf fields. Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at ...

The National Park Service has a toxic problem that no one wants to talk about, and that’s the problem. Across the agency there may be hundreds, possibly many hundreds, of employees claiming they’ve endured some form of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation. The overriding problem ...

With headlines drawing public attention to the contamination of drinking water after years of federal government neglect, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 10 new standards to reduce public exposure to PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly ...

The long-awaited US standard for PFAS in drinking water has been met with a lukewarm response from experts and environmental bodies, who say there is still a “fundamental problem” with the industry legislation. PEER said that the “fundamental problem” with the EPA’s approach is ...

What do you do when an employee comes forward, exposing their company for wrongdoing? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility can help whistleblowers, said Kyla Bennett, who is a director with that organization. As a previous whistleblower herself, she understands the importance ...

EPA isn’t looking to keep farmers from spreading sludge as fertilizer as regulators clamp down on “forever” chemicals that work their way into the material, the agency’s top agriculture official said Monday. Farmers in Texas are suing a biosolids management company ...

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a Texas-based company to halt a manufacturing process that used toxic chemicals. That ban has been overturned. “The court did not dispute EPA’s underlying decision that this is a danger to human health. What they did was ...

A preliminary experiment conducted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility reveals concerning levels of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on the skin of soccer players and coaches after playing on artificial turf fields. The Washington Post reported March 12 on the ...

Strong new limits for some PFAS compounds in drinking water set by the US Environmental Protection Agency this week are being celebrated for how far they go in reducing exposures to the dangerous chemicals. But public health advocates say the rules merely represent a first step that is ...

EPA released an updated draft on which methods effectively destroy or dispose of “forever chemicals,” keeping incineration on the short list of acceptable disposal methods. The update aligns with the interim guidance released during the Trump administration, which caught ...

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set legally enforceable drinking water limits for a group of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, marking what public health advocates hailed as “historic” rules that will dramatically improve the safety of the nation’s water. Though the rules ...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an opinion authored by Circuit Judge Cory T. Wilson, has vacated an action by the U.S. Environmental Protection  Agency (EPA) that had ordered the Texas-based manufacturer Inhance Technologies, L.L.C. to stop producing plastic ...

According to NOAA, more than 85 percent of all North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing lines at least once. And getting entangled in heavy gear can stress and injure the animals, making it difficult for them to swim, feed and breathe, the agency said. A study of more ...

On any given day, children play in the dirt area at the center of Bennett Park in Washington Heights, happily digging away. Rachel Graham Kagan’s 2-year-old daughter is often among them, though possibly not for much longer —  if the Parks Department moves forward with plans to replace ...

The National Park Service faces a lawsuit from a non-profit group. It stems from requested records of an eagle capture or killing in 2023. The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility filed the federal lawsuit after not receiving a response for either of its two requests. ...

Oak Bluff voters going to the polls for the annual town election on April 11 will notice one prominent official absent: Ewell Hopkins, longtime planning board chair, is not seeking re-election. Hopkins said that he will focus on his service as a board member to both the Vineyard ...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the U.S. on March 21 overturned previous orders by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that banned the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in product packaging by a plastics treatment company, Inhance Technologies. “The ...

The state of Maine’s plan to develop Sears Island into a logistical hub for future floating offshore wind facilities faces the same legal constraints that thwarted a state effort in the 1990s to transform one of the largest undeveloped islands remaining on the Eastern Seaboard into a ...

Maine’s plan to build an offshore wind port on an undeveloped island is facing pushback from some environmental groups, exemplifying the trade-offs and land use conflicts embedded in the clean energy transition. Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced this year that Sears Island was the “ ...

As public health experts raise alarm over the prevalence of highly toxic “forever chemicals,” as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are commonly known, one nonprofit investigative journalism outlet warned Saturday that a recent ruling could further tie up the ...