Category: Public health
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26,000 tons of radioactive waste under Lake Powell
The West’s uranium boom brought dozens of mills to the banks of the Colorado River — where toxic waste was dumped irresponsibly. This article was originally published on The River of Lost Souls and is reproduced by High Country News with permission. Beneath the murky green waters on the north end of Lake Powell, entombed…
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Chemical spill in Cincinnati might be headed toward Louisville
Photo: Matt Stone, Louisville Courier Journal Update: Official says it could take days for any spill to reach Louisville. Authorities are seeking to map what they suspect may be a spill of ammonium nitrate possibly headed toward Louisville from Cincinnati after structural failure on a barge, Kentucky environmental regulators said late Tuesday night. Louisville Water…
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Hydraulic fracturing negatively impacts infant health
Map: Locations of births and fractured wells in Pennsylvania. Credit: Currie, Greenstone, Meckel, Sci. Adv. 2017;3: e1603021 From North Dakota to Ohio to Pennsylvania, hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has transformed small towns into energy powerhouses. While some see the new energy boom as benefiting the local economy and decreasing U.S. reliance on foreign…
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EPA drops rule requiring mining companies’ funding to clean their pollution
Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said modern mining practices and state and federal rules already in place address the risks. (Dec. 4, 2017) President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday that it won’t require mining companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution, despite an industry legacy of…
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A rare victory for Iowa water quality
Following a public outcry, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has abandoned an effort to weaken the state’s E. coli water quality standards. Officials had designed the change with the explicit goal of reducing the number of Iowa waterways deemed impaired. Environmental advocates had warned public health would suffer if the DNR assessed waterways based…
