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| Certain ingredients of airborne particulates – especially carbon – apparently increase the risk of death in U.S. cities, according to a new nationwide study. The study of 72 urban areas builds on previous research that suggests the health effects depend on the pollution's composition. But it is the first on a national level to examine mortality risks of different particulate ingredients. More... New York imports Pennsylvania’s radioactive fracking waste despite falsified water tests. Questions about the integrity of official water tests are stirring the latest controversy over New York State’s embattled policy of allowing imports of radioactive waste from natural gas drilling operations in Pennsylvania. DC Bureau, District of Columbia. Berkeley researcher who questioned herbicide's safety loses lab financing. The University of California at Berkeley cut laboratory financing this week for Tyrone Hayes, a professor who has complained for years about corporate-led retaliation for his association of health risks with a widely used herbicide, atrazine. Chronicle of Higher Education Chemical plant explosions injure 3 in Georgia. At least three people have been injured in a chemical explosion that rocked an industrial complex in the south Georgia town of Valdosta, according to authorities. The fire and explosions appeared to be coming from a facility that processes hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials, but the cause of the fire and explosion is unclear. Valdosta Daily Times, Georgia. Before Bakken well violation, a $22M fraud case in the Texas oil patch. A little-known company called Halek Operating ND LLC is facing the largest fine North Dakota has ever levied against an oil and gas producer -- $1.5 million -- for jeopardizing drinking water near Dickinson. EnergyWire Appeals court blocks attempt by Vermont to close a nuclear plant. States cannot shut down nuclear plants over safety worries, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Wednesday, upholding a lower court’s decision that allowed the Vermont Yankee plant to keep running despite effort to close it. New York Times [Registration Required] EPA: New trove of emails shows Jackson used personal account for official business. Former U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson appears to have used her personal email address for official business in a potential violation of federal record-keeping rules. E&E Daily Vietnamese forest devastated by Agent Orange restored to health. The government of Vietnam is claiming victory in its battle to save a mangrove forest that was destroyed during the Vietnam War (1960-75) through the U.S. military’s use of the defoliant Agent Orange. Asahi Shimbun, Japan. Solar Energy: China's 'coal capital' tries to step into the sunshine. A decade ago, this ancient capital city in northern China was shrouded in coal dust. Now, in an ambitious bid to rebrand itself as a solar city, Datong has played host this week to Asia's first-ever Solar Decathlon, an international intercollegiate competition organized by the U.S. DOE to promote innovative solar-powered residential designs. ClimateWire 10 years after the great blackout, the grid is stronger, but vulnerable to extreme weather. More than 50 million people throughout the Northeast lost power in the great blackout of 2003. Could it happen again to the grid? Time Magazine NASA, JPL get set to study climate change on Earth in 2014. NASA is getting ready to turn its scientific instruments toward our home planet with a trio of Earth-observing missions set to launch in 2014. The three missions will allow scientists to measure water, wind and carbon dioxide with greater precision, and to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and climate change projections. Los Angeles Times [Registration Required] Extreme heat may aggravate gastrointestinal problems. Extremely hot weather makes us sweat and frizzes some people's hair, but a new study reports for the first time that it can also worsen some gastrointestinal problems. LiveScience Meet the town that's being swallowed by a sinkhole. What could possibly go wrong when miners, frackers, and drillers reshape the geology beneath our feet? Talk to the evacuees of Bayou Corne, Louisiana. Mother Jones Oregon Superfund cleanup nearing pivotal stage. As recently as 1990, the McCormick and Baxter Creosoting Co. dumped toxic chemicals into the river at its plant a mile south of the St. Johns Bridge — everything from the wood-treatment substance creosote to pentachlorophenol, arsenic, copper, chromium, zinc and other contaminants — which subsequently seeped into the soil and riverbed. Portland Tribune, Oregon. California faces battle with oil industry over proposed new fracking regulations. The next four weeks will determine how aggressively California regulates the controversial oil-drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing. And as state Sen. Fran Pavley points out, “four weeks is a long time, legislatively.” San Francisco KQED Public Radio, California. Why this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone is twice as big as last year's. This year's "biological desert" (NOAA's phrase) is much bigger than last year's, which was relatively tiny because Midwestern droughts limited the amount of runoff that made it into the Gulf. NOAA announced it has clocked in at 5,840 square miles – a bit bigger than Connecticut. Mother Jones Northern Territory nuclear waste dump 'contravenes UN declaration.' The government risks breaching an international agreement if it goes ahead with a controversial nuclear waste dump in a remote part of the Northern Territory, conservationists say, with Labor Senate candidate Nova Peris calling for the plan to be dropped. The Guardian, United Kingdom. Great Barrier Reef dredging could be more damaging than thought. Dredging could be more harmful to the Great Barrier Reef than previously thought, a government-commissioned report has found, amid fresh warnings over the impact of coastal industrialisation on sea turtles and dugongs. The Guardian, United Kingdom. Companies develop plan to 'recycle' wasted water. A river's worth of water gets hauled around the Bakken oil play every year, and two companies, working as one, hope to cut that wasteful flow down to size. Last year, 20 billion gallons of water were loaded on diesel-guzzling tanker trucks that clogged up highways and gravel roads in towns and countryside. Bismarck Tribune, North Dakota. More news from today Shortcuts to stories from today about The good news, Avian flu, Climate, Children's health, Air pollution, Cancer, Reproductive disorders, Endocrine disruption, Birth defects, Learning and developmental disabilities, Immune disorders, Environmental justice, Superfund, Water treatment/sewage, Food safety, Integrity of science, Green chemistry. You can also read last weekend's news. Plus: If you were on vacation last week, don't miss last week's top stories... Would you like to display the news stories from EnvironmentalHealthNews.org on your own web site? Check out our RSS feeds. Compiled by Environmental Health Sciences | |
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