"On Tuesday night, BP said that the 'active cleanup' of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had been brought 'to a close.' Later Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said the response to the spill isn’t over yet, 'not by a long shot.'"
"It is touted as the largest Superfund cleanup ever, one that will remove 4.3 million cubic yards of sediment contaminated with a stew of pollutants from the Passaic River and even make it safe for people to fish there again without significantly raising their risk of cancer."
"The state Department of Public Health is adopting the nation's first-ever drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen found in water supplies across the state."
"Democrats are exploring a new attack line against the Koch brothers and Republican allies, telling voters the billionaire energy executives want to let home flood insurance premiums soar to help corporate America."
"A new study released Wednesday finds there are almost 10,000 schools across the country located within a mile of a chemical facility."
"A group of scientists and food activists is launching a campaign Thursday to change the rules that govern seeds. They're releasing 29 new varieties of crops under a new 'open source pledge' that's intended to safeguard the ability of farmers, gardeners, and plant breeders to share those seeds freely. It's inspired by the example of open source software, which is freely available for anyone to use, but cannot legally be converted into anyone's proprietary product."
The International Reporting Project (IRP) is accepting applications for a June 14-27, 2014 new media reporting trip to Ethiopia where there are a number of important environmental impacts on child health, such as food security and clean water. The IRP covers Fellows’ roundtrip air tickets to Ethiopia, visas, hotel costs, meals and local transportation. Apply by April 21st.
The Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle is the largest most comprehensive event of its kind in the region. The purpose of the conference is to assemble scientists, First Nations and tribal government representatives, resource managers, community/business leaders, policy makers, educators and students to present the latest scientific research on the state of the ecosystem, and to guide future actions for protecting and restoring the Salish Sea Ecosystem.
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| SEJ WatchDog project director Joseph A. Davis (right) talks EJ with SEJ members and friends at Local 16. |
Exxon had said it was planning to restart the aging pipeline — which was given to seam ruptures — by the end of March. But the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has so far refused requests to make public the restart plan. Elizabeth Douglass wrote about PHMSA's secrecy in InsideClimate News. Photo: The Pegasus pipeline, exposed and suspended in Houston County, 7 miles NW of Crockett, TX, in May 2013. Credit: Safe Community Alliance.
