Transcript: Recently, the U.S. EPA announced its decision to defend its veto one of the nation’s largest proposed mountaintop removal coal mines, the Spruce No. 1 Mine.

Last week, the EPA filed court papers indicating that it plans to appeal a judge’s ruling that overturned the agency’s veto of the Spruce Mine. The EPA vetoed the permit for the Spruce Mine because of its devastating impact on Appalachian waters and the communities that rely on them.

After the district court overturned the veto of the Spruce permit, nearly 33,000 Earthjustice supporters sent messages to the EPA urging it to appeal the case, a request that the administration decided to listen to.

Here’s Earthjustice campaign manager Liz Judge, who has worked extensively to raise awareness about the destructiveness of mountaintop removal mining::

“The EPA’s appeal of this case comes as tremendous news. It’s a signal to us and to the American public that the EPA is pressing forward in its commitment to enforce the 40-year-old Clean Water Act. It’s a signal that the EPA is persevering in its dedication to protecting the waters and communities of Appalachia. And it’s a signal that the EPA is not buckling to the pressure of a powerful and influential coal industry. "

The initial case against the gas companies was brought by a Pennsylvania family whose health quickly deteriorated after they were surrounded by natural gas wells and processing facilities. Shortly after the fracking operations began, the family started suffering from unexplained headaches, nosebleeds, burning eyes and sore throats.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/mtr. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Recently, doctors, scientists and researchers lent their support to newspapers fighting for access to information that could shed light on the health impacts of fracking, a controversial form of gas development.

The newspapers are seeking to overturn a court’s decision to seal the record in a case in which a Pennsylvania family sued several gas companies over health impacts related to air and water pollution from nearby natural gas development operations. The natural gas companies are fighting to keep the records out of the public eye.

Represented by Earthjustice, the group filed a friend of the court brief supporting the newspapers. Here’s Earthjustice attorney Matthew Gerhart, who filed the brief on behalf of the group:

“Understanding and preventing any health risks from gas development depends on public access to information on the industry. The gas industry should spend less time trying to conceal information and more time disclosing information necessary to understand the true risks of fracking and gas development."

The initial case against the gas companies was brought by a Pennsylvania family whose health quickly deteriorated after they were surrounded by natural gas wells and processing facilities. Shortly after the fracking operations began, the family started suffering from unexplained headaches, nosebleeds, burning eyes and sore throats.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/fracking. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to block new Clean Water Act policies that will protect the waters of the United States.

Last year, the EPA issued the new policies to restore Clean Water Act safeguards that were in place for decades but put in jeopardy by two bad Bush administration rules that left millions of miles of streams and acres of wetlands unprotected.

Here’s Earthjustice Senior Legislative Counsel Joan Mulhern, who has worked on clean water issues for more than a decade:

“Clean water is critical to healthy communities and public welfare. Our waters are where our families swim, where we fish and where we get our drinking water. And yet, polluters and their friends in Congress are trying to block the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency from protecting the nation’s streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands from harmful pollution."

Though opponents of the EPA’s new policies have long argued that restoring Clean Water Act protections will hurt jobs, businesses and the economy, studies have shown that healthy rivers and lakes actually enhance the economic value of neighboring homes, businesses and communities. According to the American Sportfishing Association, angling alone generates $125 billion in annual economic activity and supports more than 1 million jobs across the U.S.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Recently, a Pennsylvania court delayed the implementation of a new state law that lets the oil and gas industry decide whether land within municipal borders will be used for fracking, a controversial form of gas development.

Seven municipalities, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and a physician concerned about fracking chemical disclosure issues challenged the constitutionality of the state law. The court also ruled that existing zoning provisions pertaining to oil and gas development can remain on the books until they are challenged and found invalid.

Earlier this year in New York State, courts twice ruled in favor of towns that have banned industrial gas development within their borders. Pennsylvania’s high court also recognized the right of localities to enact local zoning laws, but the state law overrode the court decision.

Here’s Deborah Goldberg, the managing attorney in Earthjustice’s Northeast office, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief and presented oral argument in one of the New York cases:

“For the third time in as many months, state courts have recognized that local municipalities have rights that must be respected when industrial activities are proposed for their communities. This is terrific news, not only for the people of Pennsylvania, but for communities across the country trying to defend their way of life from destructive gas development."

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/fracking. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, environmental and public health groups represented by Earthjustice sued the EPA to force the agency to update its standards for coal ash, a toxic byproduct of burning coal.

Every day, power plants generate over 400,000 tons of toxic coal ash. Most of this waste, which is filled with carcinogenic pollutants like arsenic, mercury and chromium, is dumped into unlined and unmonitored landfills and ponds.

Currently, there are more than 1,000 poorly regulated coal ash dumps across America. And nearly 200 of these sites have contaminated nearby groundwater supplies.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney and coal ash expert, Lisa Evans:

“The numbers of coal ash ponds and landfills that are contaminating water supplies continues to grow, yet nearby communities still do not have effective federal protection. It is well past time the EPA acts on promises made years ago to protect the nation from coal ash contamination and life-threatening coal ash ponds."

In December 2008, more than 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge burst through a waste pond in Tennessee, destroying nearby homes, poisoning rivers and contaminating residential areas. Since that spill, the EPA has promised to issue federally enforceable standards for coal ash, but has failed so far in doing so. The recent Earthjustice lawsuit is intended to make good on that promise.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/coalash. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, scientists and environmentalists working to reduce harmful air pollution and slow climate change are praising the release of the EPA’s new black carbon report.

Black carbon, a primary component of soot, is known as a short-lived climate pollutant because it only stays in the atmosphere for a few days or weeks. Because of this, reducing black carbon emissions is an effective rapid response to curb global warming in the near term by slowing melting in the Arctic ice sheets as well as snow pack and permafrost in the American west.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Erika Rosenthal, who has worked extensively on promoting policy and legislation that reduces black carbon emissions:

“Science tells us that we have a limited window of opportunity to reduce emissions of black carbon and other short-lived climate pollutants like methane if we’re to slow the rate of warming and melting in sensitive regions like the Arctic, the Himalayas, and western mountain ranges here in the U.S., as well as to have any chance at keeping global temperature rise at 2°C or less.

"This report gives us a unique opportunity to provide greater leadership to the international community and to take more action here to reduce black carbon particulate emissions to protect health and to slow climate change. It’s really a win-win for public health and climate.”

The EPA’s report is a good first step to mitigating black carbon emissions, but many say that there is more work to be done to achieve effective black carbon reductions that will slow global warming.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/blackcarbon. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the U.S. EPA took a landmark step towards protecting Americans’ health by proposing standards that will limit greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fired power plants.

The proposed rules require new power plants to average no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon pollution per megawatt of electricity produced. Since most existing U.S. coal plants emit about 1,700 pounds of carbon dioxide, this means that any new coal-fired power plant must be significantly cleaner under the new rules.

Though the EPA’s new standards are a great first step in cleaning up dirty coal plants, unfortunately the rules don’t apply to the approximately 300 existing power plants around the country. These plants are by far the biggest producers of the power sector’s pollution, which causes increased asthma, heart problems, hospital visits and premature death.

Here’s Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Sarah Saylor:

“We really applaud President Obama and EPA Administrator Jackson for proposing these landmark standards. We urge the administration to also begin the process of developing new standards to address carbon pollution from existing coal plants.”

Currently Earthjustice is working to close loopholes and retire dozens of the old plants while cleaning up those that continue to operate.

To learn more about our work on this issue and to encourage the EPA to finalize these life-saving standards, check out earthjustice.org/action. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, strawberry lovers rejoiced with the announcement that a cancer-causing pesticide slated for use on strawberries and other crops was pulled off the market.

Methyl iodide, a highly toxic fumigant, was pulled off of the shelves by its maker, Arysta LifeScience, after years of opposition by pesticide watchdogs and farmworkers concerned about the known carcinogen’s use on farmland.

Scientists have called methyl iodide “one of the most toxic chemicals on earth.” In fact, the chemical is so carcinogenic that scientists have used it for years to induce cancer in lab tissue.

In 2011, Earthjustice sued California for approving the hazardous pesticide, which was to be used on thousands of acres of California strawberries at rates of up to 100 pounds per acre. Currently, more than 85 percent of the nation’s strawberries are grown in the state.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Greg Loarie, who represented a coalition of farmworkers, community advocates and environmental health organizations in court:

“The news that methyl iodide will no longer be used in the United States is something that all Americans can celebrate. We can grow healthy and affordable food without toxic chemicals that are capable of poisoning not only the folks who work in the fields but also nearby communities. Methyl iodide is a pesticide that never should have been approved in the first place.”

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, a U.S. District Court handed down a decision that will help shape future fisheries management across the nation.

In April 2011, Earthjustice challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service for failing to protect sea herring, river herring and shad from overfishing.

Also known as forage fish, these species are the basis of the ocean food web and are a key food source for cod, striped bass, tuna, killer whales and countless other marine creatures.

Over the last two decades, fish species like river herring have declined by more than 90 percent due in significant part to industrial trawlers, giant ships that clear-cut the ocean floor.

The court’s ruling, which found that the government must protect Atlantic river herring and shad, makes it clear that federal fisheries management must shift to a more ecosystem-based approach that considers the health of both predator species and their prey.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Roger Fleming:

“The industrial midwater trawl fishery is simply unsustainable. Without adequate protections in place, New England commercial and recreational fishermen are losing businesses and a way of life that they’ve worked their whole lives for. Now federal fisheries managers will be required to protect fish at the bottom of the food chain, and this will lead to healthier oceans, rivers, and fisheries for everyone.”

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, environmental groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to get the lead out of aviation gas.

Though lead has been phased out of automobiles for more than 15 years, the planes that many of us use to fly around the world still burn gas that’s loaded with lead.

Earthjustice filed the suit on behalf of environmental group Friends of the Earth after the EPA ignored the group’s six-year-old request to regulate lead emissions from aircraft under the Clean Air Act.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Marianne Engelman Lado:

“Given concerns about the impact of lead on public health, EPA’s failure to take timely action on Friends of the Earth’s petition is inexcusable. We are simply asking the EPA to move more quickly and definitively in establishing regulations that would protect millions from ill health caused by the known toxic effects of lead.”

Aviation is the single largest source of lead emissions in the U.S. and poses a significant threat to public health, especially in communities located near airports where aircraft use leaded aviation gas.

According to a recent study, children living within a third of a mile of an airport where planes use leaded gas have higher blood lead levels than other children.

Even at extremely low doses, lead is toxic humans, wildlife and the environment.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, politics trumped science after the House of Representatives passed a bill that overrides a bipartisan, court-approved settlement to restore the San Joaquin River in California.

Among other things, the bill would toss out the 2009 San Joaquin River Restoration Agreement, the largest river restoration project in U.S. history, in order to placate industrial agriculture and commercial water interests.

For years, Earthjustice has worked to restore the San Joaquin River, which quenches the thirst of millions of Californians, is a haven for fish and wildlife, and is home to salmon runs that sustain fishing ports along a thousand miles of coastline.

Here’s Earthjustice Associate Legislative Counsel Marjorie Mulhall:

“This bill is a blatant attempt to boost corporate profits for some of the world's wealthiest agribusinesses and to wipe out important environmental protections that this bill’s supporters never liked. The changes proposed by Big Ag will result in more species going extinct, including species like Pacific salmon that are critical to the economies of West Coast states.”

Passed with strong Republican support and against the wishes of the vast majority of California Democratic House members, the bill is also opposed by the state of California and California’s two Senators, as well as commercial and recreational fishing associations, environmental groups, water districts, and many others.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, environmental group Friends of the Earth sued the State Department to find out whether it is letting lobbyists’ personal connections to Hillary Clinton or President Obama bias the government’s decision on the Keystone XL, a pipeline that would pump dirty tar sands crude from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

The suit, filed by Earthjustice, is intended to gain access to communications between the department and a broad web of lobbyists known to have campaign ties to Clinton or Obama.

Though last month President Obama rejected the permit for Keystone XL, since then, TransCanada—the company that seeks to build the pipeline—has been forging full-speed ahead on a new permit, and lobbyists are keeping the pressure on the State Department to approve the project.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Abby Rubinson:

“The billions of oil dollars backing this pipeline should not interfere with government transparency. The public has a right to know how our government is making decisions that have potentially grave consequences for our environment.”

This recent suit was prompted by a similar fact-finding lawsuit filed in 2011 against the State Department, which revealed an inappropriately cozy relationship between a TransCanada lobbyist and State Department officials.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, a federal appeals court once again upheld a national rule that will protect nearly 50 million acres of America’s most pristine public forest lands.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule has been under attack by logging and resource extraction interests, certain states and the Bush administration since it was first introduced.

The court’s decision marks another milestone in Earthjustice’s 13 year legal effort to protect roughly a third of our national forests and nearly 2 percent of the U.S. land base.

The announcement also comes on the heels of a U.S. Forest [Service] decision to block the expansion of the West Elk coal mine, which would have intruded upon roadless forest areas in Colorado.

Last year, Earthjustice challenged the mine expansion, which threatens forest habitat for elk, lynx, black bears and other wildlife next to the West Elk Wilderness.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Ted Zukoski, who has helped defend roadless areas in Colorado:

“This is a great result for the Sunset Roadless Area, which lies nestled under a 12,700 foot peak at Mt. Gunnison. And what this decision does is really a stay of execution for this area and we really hope that the Forest Service will take the opportunity of this decision to protect these roadless lands, rather than hand them over to one of America’s largest coal companies.”

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, we’re taking a look at industrial power plants, which are privately run facilities that provide heat and electricity to major industrial operations like chemical plants and oil refineries.

Also known as “boilers,” industrial power plants burn large quantities of coal and other dirty fuels, and many are poorly controlled for their toxic pollution. In 2010 alone, the dirtiest of these facilities released more than 160 million pounds of toxic air pollutants like mercury, lead, benzene and acid gases.

For more than a decade, Earthjustice has been working to reduce health threats from industrial power plant pollution. In 2011, after Earthjustice litigation forced a court-ordered deadline, the EPA issued revised Clean Air Act emission standards for industrial power plants.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew: “EPA’s new standards are not perfect, but they will save thousands of lives every year and they will prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks and asthma attacks by finally bringing the pollution from these extraordinarily dirty industrial power plants under control."

Currently, Earthjustice is fighting efforts by polluter industries to weaken the EPA’s new standards, or eliminate them altogether.

To learn more about our work on this issue, check out earthjustice.org/cleanair. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, a congressional committee hearing led by politicians friendly to the oil and gas industry went from anti-science to anti-First Amendment.

On Wednesday, members of the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment refused to allow an ABC news crew and the documentary filmmaker Josh Fox to videotape a hearing on groundwater contamination linked to fracking in Pavillion, Wyoming.

A controversial form of gas development, hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—involves blasting millions of gallons of toxic water into the ground to force oil and gas from deep inside the earth.

Here’s Earthjustice legislative associate Jessica Ennis: “For far too long, the oil and gas industry has operated under a shroud of secrecy. Industry-beholden politicians now seem determined to extend that secrecy to committee activities.”

In other news, this week conservation groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service to seek greater protections for coral reefs by stopping the overfishing of parrotfish, a species that plays a key role in keeping coral reefs healthy by eating algae off of the reefs.

The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice, asserts that the government’s authorization of targeted fishing for parrotfish poses a risk to both elkhorn and staghorn corals, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

To learn more about how Earthjustice is working to protect coral and other marine species, check out earthjustice.org/oceans. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, conservation groups filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service for failing to protect thousands of whales, dolphins and other marine mammals from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the West Coast.

The Navy’s training activities include air-to-surface bombing exercises and extensive testing for several new weapons systems, which can harm marine mammals, primarily as a result of harassment through exposure to sonar.

The Navy’s mid-frequency sonar has been implicated in mass strandings of marine mammals in the Bahamas, Greece, the Canary Islands, and Spain, among other places.

The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice, calls on the Fisheries Service to mitigate anticipated harm to marine mammals and biologically critical areas within the training range.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles: “It’s a big ocean and there’s room for both military training and protection for whales and dolphins. It’s also an increasingly loud ocean, and we brought this lawsuit because the Fisheries Service failed to protect marine life from harmful increases in noise."

In other news, the Obama administration recently revealed its long-term plans to manage the country’s expansive National Forest system, which is the single largest source of drinking water in the United States. Though the new rules are a positive step towards managing the forest and its waters in a holistic and sustainable way, only time will tell whether its standards are truly effective.

To learn more about our work on forests, check out earthjustice.org/forests. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the Obama administration rejected a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a proposed 1700-mile project that would have unlocked one of the most toxic fossil fuels on the planet: tar sands oil.

Opponents of the pipeline argue that production of tar sands pollutes water resources and destroys pristine lands. Tar sands also have a 20 percent higher carbon footprint than conventional oil.

Earthjustice is working to protect vulnerable habitats and endangered creatures like whooping cranes that are currently being harmed by Alberta’s existing tar sands mines.

In other news, this week environmental health groups announced their intent to sue the EPA to force the release of long-awaited public health protections against coal ash, a toxic byproduct of coal-burning power plants.

For nearly two years, the EPA has delayed the first-ever federal regulations for coal ash despite growing evidence that coal ash poisons groundwater supplies and poses a significant threat to public health.

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the EPA is legally required to ensure that safeguards are up-to-date to address threats posed by wastes.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans: “Politics and pressure from corporate lobbyists are delaying much-needed health protections from coal ash. The EPA must act quickly to set strong, federally enforceable safeguards against this toxic menace."

To learn more about this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the Obama administration finalized a decision to protect one million acres of public land around Grand Canyon National Park from new uranium mining. The new rule establishes a 20-year ban on both new uranium mining and mining of current claims.

Uranium pollution, which contains toxic and radioactive materials, already plagues the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. But the ban will protect Grand Canyon’s springs and creeks as well as imperiled species like the humpback chub from future uranium-mining pollution. It will also protect tourism-related jobs and drinking water for millions downstream.

Because dozens of new mines threaten to industrialize iconic and regionally sacred wildlands, destroy wildlife habitat, and permanently pollute or deplete aquifers, conservationists, scientists, tribal and local governments and businesses have all voiced support for the new protections.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Ted Zukoski:

“This is a really important victory for the planet. U.S. aircraft emissions account for nearly half of worldwide carbon dioxide from aircraft and that amount is expected to triple by the middle of the century.

"The Grand Canyon is really one of the wonders of the world and it’s an icon of the American West. Secretary Salazar did exactly the right thing. So we applaud the Obama administration for taking this bold action, and, more than that, we stand ready to defend the Obama administration’s decision in court from ill-considered attacks by the uranium industry.”

In 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a two-year order banning new mining claims around the world-famous national park. The Obama administration’s announcement this week makes the ban both final and long-term.

To learn more about this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, Europe’s highest court upheld a new European law that cuts carbon emissions from airplanes. The European Union Aviation Directive is the world’s only mandatory program to address aviation emissions. It went into effect on January 1, 2012.

The new regulation holds airlines accountable for their emissions associated with commercial flights into or out of EU airports.

Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and could be responsible for as much as 10% of human-caused global warming by 2050. Unfortunately, U.S. airlines and the Obama administration are opposed to the new rule.

Here’s Martin Wagner, a managing attorney at Earthjustice, which intervened in the European Court to defend the new law:

“This is a really important victory for the planet. U.S. aircraft emissions account for nearly half of worldwide carbon dioxide from aircraft and that amount is expected to triple by the middle of the century.

"Now, with the European decision, the airline industry should pressure the U.S. government to level the playing field by imposing equivalent restrictions on aircraft pollution in the United States. That would be good for the U.S. airline industry and, more importantly, it would be good for the planet.”

So how much will the new rules actually cost U.S. passengers? So far, only a few dollars.

Delta Airlines recently added a $3 surcharge each way on fares for trips from the U.S. to Europe to help offset the new costs. Despite its small price tag, the new rule will cut emissions equal to taking 30 million cars off the road each year.

To learn more about this issue, check out earthjustice.org. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the EPA made history by setting the first-ever toxic air pollution limits for our nation’s biggest polluters, coal-fired power plants.

These important safeguards, more than twenty years in the making, will save tens of thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks each year by cutting emissions of mercury, arsenic, and other hazardous pollutants by more than 90 percent. The new rules will also force polluting coal plants to clean up or shut down, helping to pave the way to a clean, healthy, and prosperous energy economy.

Here’s Earthjustice Attorney Jim Pew, who has led the charge for more than a decade on cleaning up coal plants:

"America is getting the gift of clean air this holiday season. We applaud the President for issuing these vital Clean Air Act protections that will save up to 11,000 lives each year by ensuring that the dirtiest power plants in the nation install available control technology to clean up the dangerous pollutants that sicken entire communities."

This historic accomplishment was brought about thanks to a strong Clean Air Act, years of unyielding litigation by Earthjustice to enforce that law, an unprecedented outpouring of public support, and an administration willing to stand up to the coal and utility lobbies. Years from now, President Obama’s momentous decision is sure to be looked upon as a pivotal moment in our long transition from dirty fossil fuels to a sustainable energy economy.

To learn more about our clean air campaign, and to thank President Obama for standing up to the nation’s biggest polluters, check out earthjustice.org/cleanair. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, Colorado adopted a new rule that requires full disclosure of the substances used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that involves blasting millions of gallons of chemically-treated water into the ground to force oil and gas from deep inside the earth.

The original rule proposal would have made it easier for fracking companies to shield toxic chemicals from public view by declaring them trade secrets, with virtually no questions asked. Under the new rule, however, companies must justify and certify their trade secret claims under penalty of perjury. The rule also makes it easier for citizens to legally challenge companies’ trade secret claims.

Earthjustice’s Denver office was actively involved in shaping the fracking rule, one of the strongest in the country. Here’s Earthjustice Attorney Michael Freeman:

“This rule is an important first step forward that should provide Coloradans with the information they need to ensure that their drinking water is safe. The conservation community didn’t get everything it wanted with this rule, but Colorado’s disclosure requirements will provide a good foundation to ensure that hydraulic fracturing is done safely in this state.”

While the volume of chemicals in any single fracking operation may be small, the fluids used in fracking can contain chemicals that are highly toxic. In fact, seventy-eight percent of known fracking chemicals are associated with serious short-term health effects such as burning eyes, rashes, vomiting and dizziness.

The new rule comes on the heels of a recent EPA finding that fracking led directly to contaminated drinking water in a small Wyoming town. This contradicts the industry’s oft-repeated claim that there have been zero confirmed instances of contaminated drinking water from the process.

To learn more about how Earthjustice is using the courts to fight fracking in Colorado and elsewhere, check out earthjustice.org/fracking. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Yesterday, the EPA announced that the controversial form of gas development known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, played a role in contaminating a Wyoming community’s drinking water.

The EPA’s findings contradict the industry’s often cited claim that there have been zero confirmed instances of contaminated drinking water from fracking.

Little is known about the many of the chemicals used in fracking, which involves blasting millions of gallons of water treated with toxic chemicals into the ground to extract oil and gas. And what is known is sobering. Seventy-eight percent of known fracking chemicals are associated with serious short-term health effects such as burning eyes, rashes, dizziness and vomiting.

The agency began investigating water quality concerns in private drinking water wells three years ago in response to complaints of foul taste and odor problems in the water. Along with a fracking-fueled gas rush have come troubling reports of poisoned drinking water, polluted air, mysterious animal deaths and sick families.

The following is a statement from Earthjustice Policy Associate Jessica Ennis:

“With this finding by the Environmental Protection Agency, we can confirm what residents of the gasfields have been saying all along: the chemicals used in fracking can indeed migrate into groundwater and, in fact, they have. This lays an oil and gas industry myth to rest once and for all.”

To learn more about how to fight fracking in your own community, check out earthjustice.org/fracking. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Recently, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Endangered Species Act protections for Yellowstone’s iconic grizzly bears. The court ruled that the bears need ESA protection until the federal government can determine how the bears will survive the loss of high-fat seeds from whitebark pine, a key food source for grizzlies.

Warming temperatures have allowed mountain pine beetles to kill whitebark pine trees at alarming rates. Historically, in years when whitebark pine failed to produce large crops of seeds, Yellowstone grizzly bears gave birth to fewer cubs. Fewer seeds also mean that the bears seek foods elsewhere, resulting in increased encounters with people and, subsequently, higher mortality rates.

Here’s Earthjustice Managing Attorney Doug Honnold, who’s been working on this issue for more than a decade:

“The science says that in the Yellowstone ecosystem whitebark pine drives grizzly bear reproductive and mortality rates, so the appeals court rightly rejected the government's efforts to ignore the loss of whitebark pine. If we want to protect the grizzlies of Yellowstone, we have to confront squarely the loss of whitebark pine.”

The court’s recent decision secures protections for hundreds of threatened grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

Though they’re still a long way from recovery, as Yellowstone grizzlies settle into their dens for a long winter's nap, this most recent court ruling ensures that they can hibernate in peace. In fact, the Yellowstone grizzlies are just one of the many species that are now better protected thanks to recent court victories. To learn more about what Earthjustice is thankful for, check out our Thanksgiving message at earthjustice.org/thanksgiving. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, several groups represented by Earthjustice asked the EPA to strengthen long overdue pesticide protections for farmworkers.

The petition seeks to eliminate an unfair standard that provides fewer workplace protections against pesticide exposures for farmworkers than for workers using hazardous chemicals in non-agricultural sectors.

The health and safety of most American workers falls under the jurisdiction of OSHA and the USDA.

However, farmworkers must rely on EPA standards, which are far more lenient than OSHA rules.

According to many scientific studies, a significant number of farmworkers are sickened from pesticides.

On average, for every 100,000 agricultural workers, nearly 60 experience poisoning, illness or injury from pesticides each year.

As a result of increased long-term exposures, farmworkers and their children are at risk of developing serious chronic health problems such as cancer, brain damage and Parkinson’s disease.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, the EPA has not effectively updated worker protections for almost 20 years.

Here’s Eve Gartner, lead attorney for Earthjustice:

“Most American workers enjoy workplace protections created by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but that’s not the case for farmworkers. Farmworkers get second class treatment and this exposes them to high levels of extremely dangerous pesticides on the job. This is not only unhealthy but fundamentally unfair. We must speak up for the very people who help to put the food on our tables. Their work is integral to our daily lives. For this reason any further delay in providing basic protections to these workers is just unacceptable.”

The EPA expects to publish proposed revisions to its worker protection standards early next year.

The groups’ recommendations for those revisions focus on three key protections that would afford stronger safety measures for agricultural fieldworkers who handle and apply pesticides.

Check out earthjustice.org to learn more about this issue. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, the EPA released new data that found a threefold increase in the number of hazardous coal ash ponds in the U.S.

Coal ash ponds are unlined pits that hold millions of tons of liquid coal ash, a toxic byproduct of burning coal.

Just this past Monday, a major coal ash spill occurred on the shores of Lake Michigan, which serves as a source of drinking water for more than 40 million people.

Experts estimate that about twenty five hundred cubic yards of ash, or enough to fill about 200 dump trucks, may have reached the water.

In 2008, a coal ash spill in Tennessee unleashed more than a billion gallons of toxic sludge, flooding three hundred acres, destroying dozens of homes, and totaling cleanup costs of more than one billion dollars.

The EPA continues to stall on plans to release the first-ever coal ash regulations, while the House tries to block the EPA from regulating coal ash at all.

Here’s Lisa Evans, Senior Administrative Counsel at Earthjustice:

“How many spills are going to have to occur before Congress and EPA acknowledge the very real dangers? This is not some ‘freak accident.' For a century, billions of tons coal ash has been buried, piled and ponded without regulation and without consideration of the consequences. Coal ash ponds are threatening hundreds of communities and their drinking water, but the current approach in Congress is to turn their backs and walk away.”

Despite government foot dragging, the Wisconsin spill has, at the very least, caught the eyes of the media.

Earlier this week, Rachel Maddow devoted an entire segment of her show to the issue, mocking the industry’s oft-repeated claim that coal ash is not a hazardous material, even though it contains arsenic and lead. Maddow also pointed out that survivors of the 2008 Tennessee spill were recently told that it would take up to four years to clean up the coal ash spill. Originally, the estimate was four weeks.

Only time will tell how long it takes to clean up the coal ash mess in Lake Michigan.

Check out earthjustice.org/coalash to learn more about this issue. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Last week, a federal court reinstated a landmark ruling that secured critical protections for nearly 50 million acres of pristine national forests.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects wild national forests and grasslands from new road building, logging and development.

It is considered one of the most far-reaching conservation initiatives ever, providing critical habitat for grizzly bears, wolves and wild salmon.

Once passed, the rule came under relentless attack by logging and resource extraction interests, a few conservative state governments, and the Bush administration.

Over the past thirteen years, Earthjustice and its allies have defended the rule on behalf of the vast majority of citizens who rely upon these pristine lands for recreation.

Recently, that long battle came to an end after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver unanimously upheld the rule.

Here’s Patti Goldman, Earthjustice’s Vice President of Litigation:

“Fighting this battle has meant more than a dozen lawsuits, including four appeals. At least that many Earthjustice attorneys spent thousands and thousands of hours responding to spurious industry claims and defending the rule when the Bush administration did not want to do so. Reading the Tenth Circuit’s decision has made so proud to be part of the Earthjustice team.”

Now that the Roadless Rule is protected, all eyes are on the Obama administration to support and enforce the rule as the law of the land.

Doing so means protecting national forests in Alaska and Idaho whose roadless area protections are still under attack.

Check out earthjustice.org to learn more about this issue. And subscribe to EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: Last week, the Society for Environmental Journalists held their annual conference in Miami, Florida, where Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spoke at the opening reception.

During his speech, Secretary Salazar covered such environmental topics as the BP oil spill and oil and gas regulations, as well as the need for more conservation programs in the U.S.

Specifically, Salazar highlighted President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, which tasks various government agencies with developing a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda that addresses pressing environmental challenges to America’s public places.

Each year we lose approximately 1.6 million acres of our working farms, ranches and forests to development and fragmentation. And, many of our lakes, coasts, rivers and streams are polluted and beach closures occur frequently.

The initiative’s premise is built on the idea that lasting conservation efforts should come from the American people. It calls for a grassroots approach to protecting our lands and waters from environmental problems like development and fragmentation, unsustainable use, pollution and climate change impacts.

In his speech, Salazar touched on just a few of the efforts of industry, nonprofits, individuals and others to help share in the responsibility to conserve and restore the environment.

Here’s Interior Secretary Salazar:

"What’s happening in the rivers of America, what’s happening in the Dakota grasslands and the Flint Hills of Kansas … and what’s happening right here in the Everglades, which you will see tomorrow, is nothing short of a revolution on behalf of conservation

"President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, which we launched last year, is empowering and encouraging and supporting these local efforts because we know what is making a difference and it’s making a difference on the ground."

One conservation effort underway is the effort to protect public lands and wildlife in the Crown of the Continent, a ten million acre expanse of land in northwest Montana that’s one of the wildest places left in the lower-48 states.

Currently, Earthjustice has several legal cases working to preserve the Crown, including efforts to protect the area’s threatened wolverine population.

Check out earthjustice.org/crown to learn more about our work in this area, and check out EJ90 on iTunes for more environmental news that affects you.

Transcript: This week, a recent report found that new federal regulations for coal ash, a hazardous byproduct of burning coal, could create as many as 28,000 new jobs per year. The report, authored by Frank Ackerman of Tufts University, directly refutes industry and congressional claims that regulating coal ash would kill jobs.

Currently, the EPA is considering regulating coal ash, which contains arsenic, lead and mercury and has been found to be more radioactive than nuclear waste.

To date, researchers have identified many health hazards associated with coal ash disposal sites. For example, one study found that drinking water from wells near a certain type of coal ash waste site can create a one-in-50 chance of getting cancer from arsenic in the water.

Despite these threats, Congress is currently considering a bill that would prevent the EPA from protecting Americans from the hazardous effects of coal ash. The Obama Administration, however, recently announced that it strongly opposes congressional efforts to scrap coal ash protections.

Here’s Earthjustice coal ash expert Lisa Evans:

“While the coal ash world burns, House Republicans and their cronies are tuning their fiddles and ignoring the obvious. Coal ash is poisoning our communities. The White House recognizes this and strongly opposes the House effort that would ignore cancer threats, the creation of 28,000 new jobs every year and the protection of our drinking water.”

In other news, Earthjustice recently sued the Obama Administration for rejecting stronger ozone standards. Scientists say that these standards are needed to save lives and prevent thousands of hospital visits.

The EPA proposed the stronger standards almost two years ago, but last month President Obama directed the EPA to drop the proposal. According to leading medical organizations, rejection of the protective standards leaves tens of thousands of Americans at risk of suffering serious health impacts.

The suit was filed on Tuesday on behalf of public health and conservation groups.

Related:
· Press Release: White House Strongly Opposes Congressional Efforts to Scuttle Coal Ash Protections
· Video: Coal Ash: An Ill Wind
· Report: Employment Effects of Coal Ash Regulation

Transcript: Yesterday, a coalition of Alaska Native and conservation groups, led by Earthjustice, challenged the Obama administration’s decision to allow offshore oil drilling in the Beaufort Sea in America’s Arctic Ocean.

After the devastating Deepwater Horizon spill, the Obama administration wisely delayed plans by Shell Oil to drill in the Arctic. But this August, the administration reversed course by approving Shell’s plans to start drilling in the Beaufort Sea as early as this summer.

Research suggests that a spill in the Arctic Ocean would devastate polar bears, bowhead whales and other marine mammals and would severely affect Native communities, which have thrived in this region for generations.

Here’s Earthjustice Campaign Director Jared Saylor:

“Allowing Shell to drill in the Arctic’s icy waters when it has no credible cleanup plan for an oil spill isn’t just irresponsible. It’s unrealistic and, frankly, insulting.”

A report on the most recent drill for oil spills in the Beaufort Sea, which took place more than 10 years ago, described mechanical cleanup in icy conditions as a “failure.” To date, nothing has changed since that report.

In addition, a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey makes clear that basic scientific information about nearly every aspect of the Arctic Ocean ecosystem is missing. This lack of data makes it impossible to adequately assess the risks and impacts of drilling to wildlife and to people in the Arctic. And, as a result, it makes it impossible to make informed, science-based decisions.

Related:Arctic Shell Game: No Spill Plan, No Problem—Feds Say Just Drill
Coalition Seeks to Block Offshore Drilling in Beaufort Sea (AP)

Transcript: This Saturday, hundreds, or even thousands, of people will gather to celebrate the removal of the Elwha River Dams, two large fish killing dams that block salmon from most of their historic spawning habitat.

Twenty years ago, local tribal members and visionary activists, together with legal support from Earthjustice, began an undertaking for the dams’ removal, the largest in U.S. history.

Experts say that removing the two massive dams on the Elwha River, which runs through Washington state’s Olympic peninsula, is considered one of the most promising acts of salmon habitat restoration in the region and the nation.

Once the Elwha’s waters flow free, experts predict that the river’s salmon population will swell from their current number of about 3,000 to nearly 400,000 fish spawning annually by 2039.

The river also is expected to be especially important as climate change reduces habitat for salmon elsewhere.

Here’s Earthjustice attorney Todd True:

“What will happen on the Elwha River with the dams coming down is the restoration of a historic wild river salmon run on that river that once produced one hundred pound salmon, phenomenal fish. Behind that story is a story of enforcing our environmental laws, citizen activists taking the years that were necessary to pursue enforcement of those laws and the real change that enforcing our environmental laws can ultimately bring about."

Conservationists hope that the removal of the Elwha dams may inspire other restoration projects across the country.

Demolition and removal of the dams should take approximately three years and eventually will allow the 45-mile Elwha River to run free once again.

Related: Long-Awaited Freedom Comes to Olympia NP’s Elwha River (NYT)

Transcript: Last week, President Obama undermined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to clean up deadly smog in our air.

In 2008, weak national standards for ozone—the primary ingredient in smog—were adopted by the Bush administration, standards that the EPA’s own scientists said would not protect public health.

Thousands of lives and tens of thousands of cases of asthma were at stake, so Earthjustice sued the EPA on behalf of several clean air advocacy groups.

However, before the court ruled on our challenge, the incoming Obama administration promised to revise the standard to better protect public health. As a result, Earthjustice put its litigation on hold and waited for action from the administration.

Unfortunately, last week the President caved to pressure from big business and dirty industry. He rejected the EPA’s proposed improvement on the standard and asked the agency to reconsider and in essence to do nothing until 2013.

Here’s Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen:

“Last week, President Obama tried the yank the rug out from under years of work by Earthjustice and our clients and allies to clean up deadly smog in the air across the United States. But despite this decision, the President’s action doesn’t take anything away from our litigation. Instead, it demonstrates why court action is necessary to make meaningful progress toward clean air for all.”

In other news, Earthjustice recently released a report on the potential health effects of oil dispersants used during clean up in the aftermath of the BP oil spill.

The report found that of 57 chemical ingredients found in dispersants eligible for use during the disaster, 5 are associated with cancer, 11 are suspected or potential respiratory toxins or irritants and 10 are suspected kidney toxins.

The report’s alarming findings demonstrate the need for more research on these toxic chemicals before they’re used in the field.

Transcript: This week, a major new poll found that a majority of Appalachian voters oppose mountaintop removal mining.

Often described as “strip mining on steroids,” mountaintop removal involves blowing the tops off of mountains in order to extract coal.

In some of the strongest and most surprising data, the poll reveals intense support in the heart of Appalachia for fully enforcing and even increasing clean water protections to combat the negative impacts of mountaintop removal. For example, seventy-five percent of Republican voters and sixty-eight percent of Tea Party supporters said that they support increasing Clean Water Act protections for the practice.

Here’s Earthjustice campaign manager Liz Judge:

“The people in this region are making it clear that they recognize the threats that mountaintop removal presents to their health, their lives, their families, their homes and their communities. We’re hoping that this poll is a wake-up call for elected officials. It’s time for them to stop representing the will of the coal industry and special interests and start representing the will of the public.”

In other news, Earthjustice recently filed a brief in the Kansas Supreme Court seeking to overturn an air pollution permit that was granted to Sunflower Electric to build a new coal-fired power plant in Kansas.

The coal plant has been the subject of a multi-year controversy after being denied a permit in the fall of 2007. In 2010, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a new permit to Sunflower.

The proposed plant will send most of its power to Colorado and most of its air pollution, including mercury, arsenic and other toxics, into the lungs of Kansans.

Transcript: Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior took a dangerous and disappointing leap towards drilling in the fragile waters of America's Arctic Ocean. Federal regulators recently approved a plan by Shell Oil to drill in the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean, which would allow drilling to begin as early as summer 2012.

Unfortunately, Shell's drilling risks a major oil spill, and neither Shell nor the government have proven that they could respond adequately to such a catastrophe.

Here’s Holly Harris, a member of Earthjustice’s Arctic legal team:

"This is a disaster waiting to happen, but still the government is moving forward with Arctic Ocean drilling. Scientific integrity and government accountability have taken their familiar back seat to oil company profits and power. This decision to disregard science and gamble with a region that is crucial to endangered bowhead whales, polar bears and other marine wildlife, and that Native subsistence communities rely upon so heavily, is inexcusable."

Among other concerns, Shell's plan assumes that it can recover an unprecedented 95 percent of oil spilled in Arctic waters using booms and skimmers. However, these same tactics only recovered about 8 percent of oil after the Exxon Valdez spill, and only 5 percent of oil after the BP oil spill.

In addition, Shell's oil spill strategy only plans for a "worst case" spill in relatively warm and ice-free August conditions, even though Shell plans to drill through October when ice, darkness and bad weather prevail in the Arctic.