News Clips

Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey Points To NPS Morale Issues

by National Parks Traveler | December 19, 2023
Insights into morale issues within the National Park Service are contained in the latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which points to concerns with leadership as well as unsustainable workloads. “We know we still have room for improvement,” Park Service Director Chuck ...

Status hearing set Jan. 5 in suit against EPA over Oak Ridge landfill

by Exchange Monitor | December 19, 2023
A federal court wants to know more, by Jan. 5, about a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by a citizens group seeking access to some U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents about a radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge… Read the PEER Story&# ...

Timothy Whitehouse on the Corporate Capture of the EPA Chemicals and Pesticides Program

by Corporate Crime Reporter | December 19, 2023
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is maneuvering to shirk much of its responsibility for addressing the PFAS contamination crisis by narrowing the definition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) it will use. That’s according to a report released recently from Public ...

Watchdog: BLM not enforcing prairie chicken protections

by E&E News | December 19, 2023
A watchdog group says the Bureau of Land Management has allowed energy companies to sidestep timing restrictions and develop inside-buffer zones designed to protect the imperiled lesser prairie chicken in New Mexico. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, says records ...

Merit systems board sides with USGS scientist in whistleblower case

by E&E News | December 19, 2023
The Merit Systems Protection Board on Monday upheld a judge’s ruling that the U.S. Geological Survey unlawfully retaliated against an agency-scientist-turned-whistleblower. In a two-judge decision, the board largely sided with the judge’s ruling in favor of Eveline (Evi) ...

EPA Is Considering Approval of Pesticide Despite Not Meeting Safety Standards

by TRUTHOUT | December 16, 2023
Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist who now works with the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the emails provide more evidence that the EPA needs an overhaul and that it is steeped in an “industry-beholden culture” that persists regardless of which ...

PEER Sues National Park Service for Disclosure of Wi-Fi, Cell Tower Records in 3 Parks

by Communications Litigation Today | December 14, 2023
The public interest organization, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), sued the National Park Service (NPS) under the Freedom of Information Act Tuesday to compel the agency to disclose records related to Wi-Fi or cellular proposals and installations across three parks ...

‘Forever Fields’: How Pennsylvania became a dumping ground for discarded artificial turf

by Philadelphia Inquirer | December 13, 2023
Money doesn’t come easily to farmland owners in the tranquil, rolling hills of Pennsylvania. So at first, Jim Halkias thought he’d hit the jackpot. A real estate broker had approached him in late 2018, and explained that a Denmark-based recycling company called Re-Match wanted to pay $ ...

EPA gets until Friday to answer Oak Ridge Freedom of Information suit

by Exchange Monitor | December 12, 2023
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has given the U.S. government until this Friday, Dec. 15, to answer a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by an environmental group over documents concerning a low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s… Read the PEER Story&# ...

TSCA Orders Face Appellate Review But EPA Enforcement Suit May Continue

by Inside EPA | December 12, 2023
Inhance Technologies is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to scrap EPA’s landmark TSCA orders requiring the company to halt plastic fluorination that also produces PFAS, but both sides are also aiming to continue a first-of-its-kind suit — in a trial court in a ...

Plastics company fights federal order to block PFAS production

by E & E News | December 11, 2023
The Houston-based Inhance Technologies filed a petition in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, less than a week after EPA sent Inhance orders to stop making nine likely harmful PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as a result of its fluorination process. Independent ...

US EPA orders packaging firm Inhance to stop making PFAS

by Chemical & Engineering News | December 6, 2023
The US Environmental Protection Agency is cracking down on a fluorination process that enhances the barrier properties of certain plastic containers. The agency says the process, used by Inhance Technologies to treat millions of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic containers each year ...

3 Things You Can Do to Fight Toxic PFAS Forever Chemicals

by Food & Water Watch | December 6, 2023
Our Kyla Bennett appeared as a panelist at Food & Water Watch’s November Livable Future LIVE event to discuss how we can push for the PFAS policies we need. “When you educate the public and the public starts pushing back against the companies that are making these products, ...

Alexandria’s Natural Resources Manager ‘retires early in frustration’ after battles within city government

by ALXnow | December 6, 2023
Alexandria Natural Resources Manager Rod Simmons has been a prominent voice for environmental concerns around the city in recent years, but Simmons told ALXnow that battles behind the scenes have led him to retire after 27 years in city government. In recent years, however, the City has ...

EPA orders Inhance to stop its HDPE barrier coatings, citing PFAS concerns

by Plastics News | December 4, 2023
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered packaging barrier maker Inhance Technologies LLC to stop using its fluorination coating process on plastic containers, saying that it produces three “highly toxic” PFAS chemicals that… Read the PEER Story… ...

Pilots flying tourists over national parks face new rules. None are stricter than at Mount Rushmore

by Associated Press | December 4, 2023
Fewer planes and helicopters will be flying tourists over Mount Rushmore and other national monuments and parks as new regulations take effect that are intended to protect the serenity of some of the most beloved natural areas in the United States. “Mostly, the plans have been pretty ...

Environmental group says artificial turf popular in Arizona contains harmful chemicals

by Arizona's Family | December 1, 2023
You can find it nearly everywhere in the Valley: sports fields, parks and in the yards of homes. Artificial turf is popular in drought-stricken Arizona as a way to conserve water. But some environmentalists say it isn’t the “green” alternative it is made out to be. “You are ...

Artificial turf popular in drought-stricken Arizona but environmentalists warn of hidden dangers

by MEAWW | December 1, 2023
Artificial turf has become a ubiquitous sight across Arizona, adorning sports fields, public parks, and residential landscapes. While many hail artificial turf as a practical means of reducing water usage, critics like Kyla Bennett from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ...

Council Mulls Nursery Field Plan That Community Debates

by Rye Record | November 30, 2023
The National Audubon Society and the Westchester Historical Society have voiced concerns about the proposal, which also is opposed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. On Oct. 3, Rye’s Conservation Commission Advisory Council said it considered the artificial turf ...

EPA withdraws consent for Chemours to export GenX from Netherlands to Fayetteville

by NC Newsline | November 29, 2023
Timothy Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, issued a statement: “We welcome EPA’s reversal of its decision to allow the importation of toxic PFAS waste into the United States for reclamation and disposal. This whole fiasco must serve as ...
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