Open detonation releases toxic chemicals into environment and threatens human health

Senate Bill 674 is a critical step for public health and quality of life for fenceline communities

Based in Washington, D.C., Rachel is the managing attorney of the Community Partnerships program.

Senate Bill 674 is a critical step for public health and quality of life for fenceline communities

U.S. EPA and Guam EPA do not believe that the Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB) permit application submittal provided information that demonstrates that the open burning and open detonation units at AAFB will be addressed in a manner that will ensure protection of human health and the environment. U.S. EPA and Guam EPA are requiring AAFB to submit a revised permit renewal application that addresses the noted deficiencies.

Angela Johnson Meszaros, Managing Attorney, Community Partnerships Program: “We’ve been working with them eight years, and the community learns about it by reading the notice in the newspaper. Really? People are literally breathing hazardous materials and they are in their homes and yards and schools and bodies. And they just deserve better.”

Bill would help clean New Jersey’s air at a time of exploding warehouse and port pollution

Byron Chan, Attorney, Community Partnerships Program: “You’ll see a pattern of violating the law, paying a penalty, and then violating the law again.”

Angela Johnson Meszaros, Managing Attorney, Community Partnerships Program: “What they’ve really been denying the community is the ability to really call the question, should this facility, based on its past operation, receive a renewal of its hazardous waste permit? The community’s position is no. And I think that they have the receipts for why the…

It has been over thirty years since Congress told EPA to protect the public from the harms of this incinerator pollution, and environmental justice communities are still waiting for those protections. EPA has committed to advancing equitable outcomes in environmental justice communities and building meaningful engagement with these communities. The time to deliver on those commitments is now.

EPA’s proposed revisions to its LMWC Standards come over thirty years after Congress told EPA to protect the public from the harms of incinerator pollution. The Proposed Rule is a welcome, if overdue, step in the right direction towards achieving Congress’s mandate.

Al negar la renovación de permiso a Phibro-Tech, DTSC puede comprobar a residentes de Los Nietos y a todos los Californianos, que el departamento está dispuesta a tomar la guarda críticamente en contra de la contaminación tóxica de industrias.

By denying Phibro-Tech’s permit renewal, the Department of Toxic Substances Control can prove to Los Nietos residents, and all Californians, that the department is a critical safeguard against industry’s toxic contamination.

Colin Parts, Attorney, Community Partnerships Program: “EPA should use this rulemaking opportunity to gather data on existing emissions of PFAS to support a future rulemaking requiring emissions reduction.”

Colin Parts (he / him) is an associate attorney in the Community Partnerships Program, based in New York. Prior to coming to Earthjustice, Colin was a fellow in the toxics program at the Environmental Defense Fund. He went to college and law school at the University of Chicago (the city of Chicago still holds a…

Jonathan Smith, Attorney, Community Partnerships: “For far too long, municipal waste incinerators have been exposing environmental justice communities across the nation to unnecessary risks and far dirtier air. We’re relieved to see the EPA is finally taking action to strengthen its oversight of waste incinerators, and we’re hopeful that the updated standards will provide overburdened…

Angela Johnson Meszaros, Managing Attorney, Community Partnerships Program: “It can’t be that a system that’s held together at best by bubble gum and baling wire is the thing that we’re doing in a developed nation to manage hazardous waste.”

Thein Chau, Attorney, Community Partnerships, Program, Earthjustice: “Under the law, there are minimum requirements that hazardous waste incinerators need to meet, and they can’t go any lower. LDEQ failed to apply the law correctly despite the clear language.”