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| Above the fold. News aggregated by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org | Read today's editorials |
| Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health. A neglected peril: Vietnamese Americans and Agent Orange. For the most part, Vietnamese Americans, especially former South Vietnamese veterans, have not demanded redress for harm caused by herbicides containing dioxin, even though there's evidence they are suffering from higher rates of some cancers tied to Agent Orange exposure. San Jose Mercury News, California. Dangers pesticides pose to workers force farmers to look for alternatives. Since the 1960s, California strawberry growers have fumigated their fields before each crop is planted. But expansion of urban development bordering berry fields on the Central Coast and in Southern California has increased unease over the dangers of fumigants to residents and farmworkers. Associated Press The biggest exposure to benzene, a carcinogen. Traditionally, people have thought of industrial facilities as the top emitters of benzene, a known carcinogen. The big "wow" is that, in Philadelphia, the biggest source of benzene overall is traffic, which emits three times what stationary sources produce. Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania. [Registration Required] Lead companies want to resume mining Thailand's Klity Creek. The prospect of lead mining resuming in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province on a major scale is once again threatening to divide local communities afflicted by contamination from the controversial Klity Creek mine. Bangkok Post, Thailand. Shrinking natural gas royalties. Farmers struggling to make a living from their land have welcomed gas companies that want to drill for natural gas on their property. Yet all too often royalty payments don't measure up to the promises. Living On Earth Japan to switch off nuclear power. Japan is about to be nuclear power-free for just the third time in more than four decades, and has no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy. Reuters Twelve hundred evacuated in Boulder, Colorado. Search and rescue teams on Saturday took full advantage of a break in the torrential rain that has been hammering Boulder County as more than 1,200 people have been evacuated so far in the wake of a 100-year flood in what officials said may be the largest aerial rescue since Hurricane Katrina. Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado. Sea change: Oysters dying as coast is hit hard. Half an ocean from Seattle, on a green patch of island below a tropical volcano, a Washington state oyster family built a 20,000-square-foot shellfish hatchery. Ocean acidification left the Nisbet family no choice. (Part 3 of 3) Seattle Times, Washington. [related stories] UK: Liberal Democrats vote to back nuclear power plants. Liberal Democrats have voted to support the building of a new generation of nuclear power plants - a policy U-turn which marks an important victory for the Party's leadership. BBC Search is on for a GOP climate convert. Environmentalists are searching for a Rob Portman to call their own – a high-profile Republican who would emulate the Ohio senator’s flip on gay marriage, only this time by supporting action on climate change. But the search for that elusive green Republican has so far come up short. Politico Higher sea levels mean more flood damage from storms like Isabel, experts say. Whether or not climate change leads to an increase in big hurricanes, one destructive effect of global warming is already at work in coastal Virginia — rising sea levels. Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia. Hurricane Isabel, 10 years later: Climate change increasing chances of more destructive hurricanes. You can't say for sure that Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or Hurricane Isabel in 2003 were caused by our warming climate. But climate change is increasing the probability that a storm will be big, some experts say. Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia. Clean air group pushes FirstEnergy boycott. A clean-air group is trying to convince Ohio consumers, for the second time, to boycott FirstEnergy Solutions. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio. Lawsuits against Exxon Mobil mount over big oil pipeline spills. At the center of the lawsuits is the question of whether Exxon officials heeded the government warnings and took the necessary steps to protect against accidents as seen in Arkansas and Montana. Dallas Morning News, Texas. Wall St. exploits ethanol credits, and prices spike. It was supposed to help clean the air, reduce dependence on foreign oil and bolster agriculture. But a little known market in ethanol credits has also become a hot new game on Wall Street. New York Times [Registration Required] Russia preparing patrols of Arctic shipping lanes. Russia on Saturday announced an initiative to address climate change. But it had nothing to do with smokestacks. Russia’s military said it planned to sail regular naval patrols along shipping lanes in its territory in the Arctic Ocean that opened to commercial vessels only in the last few years, as Arctic ice began melting at a record pace. New York Times [Registration Required] Massachusetts families still wait on study of contaminants. For years, the families of nearly two dozen Wilmington cancer victims have been awaiting the results of a state Department of Public Health study probing a possible connection between toxic chemicals in the town’s water supply and higher than average child cancer rates in their neighborhoods. Boston Globe, Massachusetts. [Subscription Required] Poop power: Ghana turning human waste into energy. Groundbreaking disposal methods, which have leapfrogged over Western technologies, transform human waste into valuable fertilizer, biofuel and biodiesel. Toronto Star, Ontario. Chicago residents challenge freight yard expansion. Residents in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods have complained for years about diesel fumes, noise and vibrations from a blocks-long rail yard that slices through their community. Now, plans for a massive expansion have prompted them to do something they say the city and company won't: Test the air around their homes for elevated pollution levels. Associated Press Public attitudes: What’s the use? By way of laws, regulation and subsidy, human behaviour towards other species is changing. And the reasons for preserving biodiversity are becoming more widely understood. Economist Shoppers in England to be charged for plastic bags. Shoppers will have to pay a 5p charge on every plastic bag they use in plans to be announced by Nick Clegg. The deputy prime minister will unveil the move next week during the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow. The Guardian, United Kingdom. Chipotle’s brilliant new anti-factory farm ad, with Fiona Apple singing Willy Wonka's "Pure Imagination." Malicious robotic crows run the dystopian factory farm featured in the sustainable fast food chain's latest video campaign. It works because it's not about the brand at all. Fast Company 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... 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