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The now-closed Waukegan Generating Station, on the shore of Lake Michigan in Waukegan, Illinois. The coal fired power plant still has unregulated coal ash ponds threatening the environment. (Jamie Kelter Davis for Earthjustice)
Update April 25, 2024

New Rule Will Force Cleanup of Hundreds of Toxic Coal Ash Dump Sites

A major victory for communities living near coal ash plants, the rule closes a loophole that left over half of coal ash exempt from federal clean-up requirements.

Earthjustice attorneys Jacob Kopas and Mae Manupipatpong before a hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Press Release April 23, 2024

Historic Hearings on Climate Change at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Earthjustice attorneys will be presenting before the Court

After years of inaction by the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed long-overdue limits on six PFAS in drinking water. (Getty Images)
feature April 19, 2024

Inside EPA’s Roadmap on Regulating PFAS Chemicals

Toxic “forever chemicals” remain laxly regulated.

Firefighters walk through foam used to extinguish a four alarm fire in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston in 2018. Firefighting foam is one source of PFAS contamination in the environment. (David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Press Release April 19, 2024

New EPA PFAS Designations Will Spur Contamination Cleanups

The EPA has designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, which requires polluters to fund cleanup of contaminated sites

In the News: Context April 16, 2024

Peru pollution ruling a ‘gigantic step’ for environmental justice

Jacob Kopas, Attorney, International Program: “This case is the first time that the court is … really recognising a connection between the health of an environment and the health of human communities. Now with this precedent, we can point to it and say yes you have access to justice – this has been recognised as…

In the News: ProPublica April 16, 2024

EPA Finalizes New Standards for Cancer-Causing Chemicals

Adam Kron, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office: “This is an incredibly significant rule that will curtail some of the nation’s biggest drivers of cancer risk.”

In the News: Los Angeles Times April 12, 2024

‘It’s environmental racism’: Monterey County sued over farm chemicals near mostly Latino schools

Greg Loarie, Attorney, California Office: “Parents and teachers certainly have a right to know when toxic pesticides are being sprayed right next to their schools, and this process needs to be public and needs to be meaningful. What we really want, at the end of the day, is we want the poisoning to stop. We…

document April 11, 2024

Citizen Petition under TSCA Section 21 to Regulate PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA Manufactured During Plastic Fluorination

The petition asks EPA to regulate PFAS created that leach from more than 100 million fluorinated plastic containers into household products and the environment.

(iStockphoto)
Press Release April 11, 2024

Health and Environmental Advocates Petition EPA to Regulate PFAS in Plastic Containers

The petition asks EPA to regulate PFAS created that leach from more than 100 million fluorinated plastic containers into household products and the environment

(Yipeng Ge / Getty Images)
feature April 10, 2024

Breaking Down Toxic PFAS

What PFAS are, why they’re harmful, and what we can do to protect ourselves from them

Drinking water is one of the most common routes of exposure to PFAS. PFAS have polluted the tap water of at least 16 million people in 33 states and Puerto Rico, as well as groundwater in at least 38 states.
(Yipeng Ge / Getty Images)
Update: Victory April 10, 2024

New Limits on PFAS in Drinking Water Will Protect Communities Across the U.S.

Highly toxic PFAS chemicals are present in the drinking water of as many as 200 million Americans.

(Cavan Images)
Press Release April 10, 2024

EPA Completa Primeros Estándares de PFAS Para Proteger El Agua Potable

Las nuevas normas requerirán medidas para limpiar el agua potable de decenas de millones de personas alrededor del país

feature April 9, 2024

What You Need To Know About Chlorpyrifos

The neurotoxic pesticide harms children and the environment. There are no safe uses for chlorpyrifos.

Press Release: Victory April 9, 2024

Nueva Norma de la EPA Reducirá Toneladas de Emisiones Químicas Que Causan Cáncer

Las actualizaciones reducirán más de 6 mil toneladas de la contaminación del aire más dañina del país, incluidos carcinógenos como el óxido de etileno y el cloropreno

Almost everyone in the U.S. has traces of PFAS in their body because the chemicals have contaminated the air, soil, and water — including the drinking water for approximately 200 million people nationwide. (Cavan Images)
Press Release April 9, 2024

EPA Finalizes First Drinking Water Standards for Toxic PFAS

The new standards will require action to clean up drinking water for tens of millions of people nationwide

John Beard, Robert Taylor, Sharon Lavigne and Harry Joseph, left to right, speak to fellow activists from "Cancer Alley" to call on President Biden to declare a state of emergency in St. James Parrish, La., during a protest outside the White House on Oct. 25, 2022. The procession of activists carried photographs of fellow community members who died because of the toxic impact of fossil fuels. (Kevin Wolf / AP Images for Fossil Free Media)
Press Release: Victory April 9, 2024

New EPA Rule Will Reduce Tons of Cancer-Causing Chemical Emissions from Plants

The updates will reduce more than 6,000 tons of the nation’s most harmful air pollution, including the carcinogens ethylene oxide and chloroprene

document April 4, 2024

Monterey Fumigant Petition

Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, Safe Ag Safe Schools, Center for Farmworker Families, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, and Californians for Pesticide Reform petition for judicial review of six permits allowing the use of highly toxic, restricted pesticides near three schools in the Pajaro Valley area of Monterey County.

A farmworker harvesting strawberries in Salinas, about 20 miles from the Pajaro Valley. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Press Release April 4, 2024

Teachers, Community Groups, and Farmworkers File Lawsuit Challenging Toxic Pesticide Approvals Near Public Schools in Monterey County

Regulators are failing to protect children from repeat exposure to the most dangerous pesticides