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Author |
Published |
Section |
They're Busy Not Enforcing the Clean Air Act
EPA not enforcing Clean Water Act, says report |
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12 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 1:35 PM on 12 Oct 2007 The U.S. EPA is not so much enforcing the Clean Water Act, says a new report from green group U.S. PIRG. According to EPA data, 57 percent of the country's industrial plants and municipal wastewater facilities dumped more than the allowable level of pollutants and sewage into waterways at least once in 2005, the most recent year that records are available. The average vio ... |
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| Topics: Indiana, news, politics, regulation, US EPA, water pollution (all these topics) |
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We'll Worry About This Later
Boosting crops for fuel will hurt water supplies, says report |
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10 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:02 PM on 10 Oct 2007 Increased production of corn and other crops to fulfill America's biofuel gluttony could threaten both availability and quality of water supplies, according to a report released today by the National Research Council. Fulfilling President Bush's stated goal of producing 35 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2017 "would mean a lot more fertilizers and pesticides&quo ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol, news, scientific research, water conflicts, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Through Hell and High Yogurt
Yogurt-maker Dannon agrees to pay fine, treat wastewater in EPA settlement |
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10 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 6:21 AM on 10 Oct 2007 International yogurt giant Dannon has agreed to pay a fine of $71,350 and install a multimillion-dollar automated wastewater control system as part of a settlement with the U.S. EPA. There have been some 10 illegal discharges over the past few years at the company's 3-million-cup-a-day yogurt plant in Ohio -- and it's not just spilled yogurt. In February 2005, ... |
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| Topics: business, news, United States, US EPA, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Have You Herd?
China relocates Tibetan herders in interest of environment |
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03 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:48 PM on 03 Oct 2007 Ugh: China is ordering 100,000 ethnic Tibetans to give up their traditional nomadic habits and settle in towns because their way of life is threatening the environment, state press reported Tuesday. Glaciers in the province where the herders live are an initial source for both the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers; somehow we imagine that the impact on the rivers from overgrazing and erosion pales ... |
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| Topics: China, insanity, news, Tibet, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Lejeune Bugged
U.S. Navy must notify N.C.-based Marines of exposure to contaminated water |
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01 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:14 AM on 01 Oct 2007 Some 1 million Marines stationed at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune between 1958 and 1987 drank, cooked with, and showered in toxic water; under a defense reauthorization bill amendment recently approved by the Senate, the U.S. Navy would be required to, um, let them know. The federal government closed the base's wells in the mid-'80s after confirming they were contaminated w ... |
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| Topics: Department of Defense, health, news, North Carolina, toxics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Illegal sea slugs and undersea webcams
This week in ocean news |
Andrew Sharpless |
21 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| the European Union closed the bluefin tuna fishing season in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, calling the stocks 'exhausted' ... a developer proposed dredging up 2.6 million cubic yards of sand from the ocean floor in order to build an artificial beach in Nantucket. The developer will replace the 105 acres of seabed habitat with 28,000 concrete railroad ties over 60 acres ... A New York coastal manager told the state government that its 3,200 miles o ... |
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| Topics: endangered species, fishing, oceans, water pollution, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Tippecanoe and Tainted Too
Indiana county has three times more parking spaces than residents |
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19 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:23 PM on 19 Sep 2007 Indiana's Tippecanoe County is home to 155,000 residents whom apparently are swamped with visitors, as the county has 355,000 public parking spaces. We'll just float this by them: Parking lots can contribute to water pollution, erosion, the urban heat island effect, and local flooding. Which could be extra dangerous for those in a Tippecanoe -- if you get our drift. They ... |
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| Topics: Indiana, news, placemaking, sprawl, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Nuggets and Hummers and fish sticks, oh my!
PETA VP argues vegetarianism is the best way to help the planet |
Grist |
18 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from Bruce Friedrich, vice president for campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It was written in response to Alex Roth's essay "PETA's dogma is all bark and no bite." Friedrich has been an environmental activist for more than 20 years. In 1987, I read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and -- primarily for human rights and environmental reasons -- went vegan. Two decades later, I still believe ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, animal welfare, aquaculture, climate, deforestation, fishing, food, health, sustainable ag, vegetarianism and veganism, waste, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Permanent Depress
Top 10 most polluted places on earth tallied by Blacksmith Institute |
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13 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:11 PM on 13 Sep 2007 China, India, and Russia are each home to two of the most polluted places on earth, with sites in Azerbaijan, Peru, Ukraine, and Zambia rounding out the top 10, says the second annual tally by the nonprofit Blacksmith Institute. Some 12 million people total live in the affected areas, which are tainted largely by chemical-weapons manufacturing, heavy-metal and coal mining, and ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, health, news, toxics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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The wrong kind of bulk discount
Washington state caps the cost to pollute, rather than the pollution |
JMG |
06 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Sightline Institute (formerly Northwest Environment Watch) picks up a Seattle P-I report on yet another counterproductive incentive: making it cheaper to pollute in bulk. The more hazardous waste you produce in Washington, the better the deal you can get from the state. Companies that make chemicals, oil, paint, paper and airplanes must pay a Hazardous Waste Planning Fee for the toxic substances that they pump into the air and water or send to landfills. But because the f ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, business, toxics, Washington, waste, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Arsenic and a New Case
Drinking water across the globe contaminated by arsenic, says research |
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30 Aug 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:15 PM on 30 Aug 2007 Some 137 million people across the globe unknowingly consume water with unsafe levels of arsenic, according to new research. The odorless, tasteless chemical occurs naturally in soil, but also reaches drinking water from agricultural and industrial sources and the vials of paperback-mystery villains. Arsenic can lead to lung, bladder, and skin cancer and is "the mo ... |
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| Topics: health, news, toxics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Gorges Ain't Gorgeous
China's Three Gorges Dam plagued by environmental problems |
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30 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Gorges Ain't Gorgeous China's Three Gorges Dam plagued by environmental problems China's Three Gorges Dam got a lot of flak during construction for its environmental impact and for uprooting over 1 million people. A year after its completion, critics' concern about the world's largest hydroelectric project has only increased. The weight of the water behind the dam, along with frequent water-level changes, has begun to e ... |
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| Topics: China, dams, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
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The Best Defense Is a Good ... Marsh
Two years after Katrina, New Orleans is still succumbing to water |
Wayne Curtis |
29 Aug 2007 |
Dispatches |
| is a freelance writer who's written for The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, American Scholar, Preservation, and American Heritage, and is the author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. He recently traded Maine winters for New Orleans summers. Dispatch: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Wednesday, 29 Aug 2007 NEW ORLEANS, La. Katrina left these boats high and dry -- b ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Oil, Dispatches, Louisiana, Mississippi River, placemaking, severe weather, urban planning, water pollution, wetlands (all these topics) |
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Dave's Second Law of Sustainability Politics
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David Roberts |
28 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Clean up coal emissions and you end up with more -- and more toxic -- coal ash. You get cleaner air, but you get ash that can't be recycled (into, e.g., concrete). You breath free, but you've got arsenic and mercury leaching into your groundwater from coal-ash landfills. Look at this vintage coal magic: There are ways to remove the pollutants from emissions without making the ash unusable [for recycling]. But that equipment can be up to four times more expensive, ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, coal, energy, health, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Green movements or green paint
China's central government faces a choice between democracy and eco-collapse |
Jon Rynn |
27 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| 'Choking on Growth' is the apt title of the new New York Times series on the 'human toll, global impact and political challenge of China's epic pollution crisis.' Epic, indeed. The first installment shows how 'As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes.' The statistics are daunting: Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China's leading cause of death... Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, China, greenhouse-gas emissions, health, international politics, politics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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And Now for Something Completely Familiar
China's environment still terribly polluted, getting worse |
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27 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| And Now for Something Completely Familiar China's environment still terribly polluted, getting worse Almost nowhere else on earth today is a source for so much environmental gloom and doom as China. To sum up: It's bad. In fact, for those prone to hopelessness ... read on, there's plenty to get depressed about. Nearly 500 million people in China lack access to safe drinking water. About 750,000 people die every ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, China, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Victory, with a catch
BP promises to stop dumping waste into the Great Lakes |
Jon Rynn |
24 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| On July 15, the Chicago Tribune reported that BP wanted to significantly increase the discharge of ammonia and toxic wastes into the Great Lakes. The outcry was enormous -- even Republican congressmen from the area joined in the criticism, and several powerful congressional members, including Rahm Emanuel in the House and Barack Obama in the Senate, threatened hearings. The city of Chicago was considering legal action, and a large petition drive began. Apparently the pol ... |
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| Topics: business, Chicago, energy, George Bush, Indiana, oil, waste, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Lower the Pollution and Back Away Slowly
BP says it will back off from releasing more Lake Michigan pollution |
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24 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Lower the Pollution and Back Away Slowly BP says it will back off from releasing more Lake Michigan pollution In what's being billed as a victory for environmentalists, oil company BP has said it will back off from dumping more pollution into Lake Michigan. The company had just weeks ago received permission from Indiana state authorities to increase the amount of sludge particles and ammonia it could rel ... |
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| Topics: Big Oil, business, Indiana, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
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No Peaking
Bush administration eases restrictions on mountaintop-removal mining |
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24 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| No Peaking Bush administration eases restrictions on mountaintop-removal mining The Bush administration has given a big thumbs-up to mountaintop-removal mining, the practice of blasting the peaks off of mountains and dumping the rubble into watersheds and valleys. A proposed rule issued today will exempt mining waste from an inconsistently interpreted 1983 rule that disallows mining activity within 100 feet of ... |
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| Topics: mining, news, United States, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Don't go to BP Amoco!
And don't piss off Pearl Jam |
Sarah van Schagen |
21 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| BP's sludge dumpage into Lake Michigan has a whole mess of people pissed off. Including green-leaning band Pearl Jam, who performed an angry li'l ditty at this year's Lollapalooza festival. The lyrics are pretty simple; sing it with me: "Don't go to BP Amoco!" |
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| Topics: business, energy, music, oil, waste, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Strange Riverbed Fellows?
IBM partners with New York institute to create river-research center |
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16 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Strange Riverbed Fellows? IBM partners with New York institute to create river-research center Tech giant IBM is partnering with a state-financed science organization in New York to create a cutting-edge river research center. The project, launched with the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, will tap into the mad skillz of IBM engineers to provide 24-hour data collection along the Hud ... |
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| Topics: business, greenish companies, New York, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Dying For a Change
Pollution causes some 40 percent of deaths worldwide, says new research |
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16 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Dying For a Change Pollution causes some 40 percent of deaths worldwide, says new research Here's one small reason to join the save-the-environment cause: new research indicates that some 40 percent of deaths worldwide are a direct effect of air, water, and soil pollution. Dirty air contributes to cancer and birth defects; unclean water accounts for 80 percent of all infectious diseases; and contaminated s ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, news, population, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Evian Is Just Evil Misspelled
Hatin' on plastic water bottles is all the rage |
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15 Aug 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Evian Is Just Evil Misspelled Hatin' on plastic water bottles is all the rage Forget SUVs and Styrofoam: hip-to-the-times green folk are directing their ire at plastic water bottles. In the last few months, the energy-intensiveness of bottled water -- 1.5 million barrels of oil go into making the bottles for the U.S. market each year, and oodles more to transporting the H2O -- has seeped into ... |
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| Topics: food, green living, health, news, recycling, water pollution (all these topics) |
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But what about the economy?
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David Roberts |
15 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| According to David Pimentel and his team of researchers, water, air, and soil pollution cause 40% of all deaths worldwide. (via Hugg) |
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| Topics: air pollution, health, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Life's a beach
And then you die |
Kate Sheppard |
11 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| According to a new report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council, there were 25,000 beach closings or 'swimming advisory days' in 2006. That's 28 percent more than in 2005, and the highest number since they started keeping records on that sort of thing. Some 1,300 days of closings were attributed to sewage spills and overflows, and even more were closed because of 'fecal contamination,' which reminds me of that gross-yet-informative Flushie video t ... |
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| Topics: green living, health, waste, water pollution (all these topics) |
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