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In the News: Grist March 22, 2024

EPA is regulating sterilizers, but not the warehouses that store sterilized products

Marvin Brown, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office: “Up until eight years ago, a lot of people had no idea that the sterilizer facility, which looks like your regular office park facility, was poisoning them. Now we have this additional issue of these warehouses that are continuing to poison people, and most people have no idea that…

document March 21, 2024

Fact Sheet: Protecting Communities and Building a Sustainable American Steel Industry

The EPA’s finalized rule will yield billions of dollars in public health benefits for nearby environmental justice communities, who are overexposed to toxic pollution.

The Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex, an oil refinery, is located in Norco, La., 10 miles upriver from New Orleans. (Gerald Herbert / AP)
Press Release March 21, 2024

EPA Closes Emissions Loopholes Abused by Refineries and Chemical Plants

The rule removes loopholes companies used to avoid reporting harmful toxic emissions during force majeure events

document March 19, 2024

Justicia Demorada: La Lucha para Justicia Ambiental y la Renovación de Permiso de Phibro-tech

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.

document March 19, 2024

Justice Delayed: The Fight for Environmental Justice and Phibro-Tech’s Permit Renewal

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.

Press Release March 18, 2024

Over 70 State and Nationwide Groups Oppose DEC Permits for the Proposed Saratoga Biochar Solutions LLC Facility in the Town of Moreau

Saratoga Biochar Solutions LLC proposes to manufacture harmful sewage sludge-derived biochar for agricultural use on a scale unprecedented in New York State

Clean Air Laredo Coalition and Rio Grande International Study Center rally in front of Midwest Sterilizer facility in Laredo, TX. The facility ranks among the most polluting facilities in the nation of ethylene oxide emissions. (RGISC)
Press Release March 14, 2024

EPA Finalizes Rule on Ethylene Oxide Sterilizer Facilities’ Emissions

Nearly 14 million people in the US live near facilities that emit one of the most toxic air pollutants regulated by the agency

Clean Air Laredo Coalition and Rio Grande International Study Center rally in front of Midwest Sterilizer facility in Laredo, TX. The facility ranks among the most polluting facilities in the nation of ethylene oxide emissions. (RGISC)
Update March 14, 2024

Industry Is Trying to Weaken Regulations on Cancer-Causing Emissions

The EPA has finalized stronger rules on the cancer-causing emission ethylene oxide.

Alyssa Anderson, a second-generation beekeeper, works with bee hives in a California orchard. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
Update: Victory March 12, 2024

Beekeepers Triumph Against Deadly Insecticide

A California court ruled in favor of beekeepers represented by Earthjustice, shielding pollinators from the pesticide sulfoxaflor.

Workmen prepare to replace old water pipes with new copper pipes in Newark, New Jersey in 2021. The city replaced nearly all of its 23,000 lead service lines with new copper pipes. (Seth Wenig / AP)
Article March 11, 2024

This Toxic Metal is Still Contaminating Our Drinking Water. Is Change Coming?

Lead-contaminated water continues to plague many U.S. cities and rural areas alike, but a renewed focus by the federal government and state-based efforts offer hope for finally dealing with this nationwide crisis.

Residents observe the fire consuming the TPC Group plant on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in Port Neches, Texas. Two massive explosions 13 hours apart tore through the chemical plant and one left several workers injured. (Marie D. De Jesús / Houston Chronicle via AP)
Article March 6, 2024

The Country’s Deadliest Chemical Plants are Now Required to Prepare for Extreme Weather

A new EPA rule protects nearly 180 million people at risk of chemical disasters.

In the News: The Colorado Sun March 6, 2024

Suncor gets tougher “forever chemicals” and toxins limits in new Colorado water permit

Michael Freeman, Attorney, Rocky Mountain Office: “This permit gives Suncor an extraordinarily long time to comply with permit limits. The company won’t have to meet its PFAS limits for three years. For several other pollutants, Suncor will get more than six years to comply. That timeline is problematic because this is only a five-year permit.…

In the News: Grist February 29, 2024

An invisible chemical is poisoning thousands of unsuspecting warehouse workers

Marvin Brown, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office: “The method of sterilization has been to over sterilize. The result for communities is that they are exposed to higher amounts of ethylene oxide, because more ethylene oxide is being used than necessary.”

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 February 29, 2024

Inside EPA’s Roadmap on Regulating PFAS Chemicals

Toxic “forever chemicals” remain laxly regulated.

A sign warns visitors from a contaminated stream in Fort Edward, N.Y. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was dumped by a nearby factory into the ground. The toxic chemical subsequently entered the underground soil and water aquifers in a plume area underneath homes in the neighborhood. (Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images)
feature February 28, 2024

What you should know about trichloroethylene

The carcinogenic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) has contaminated drinking water for decades and been linked to cancer clusters across the country.

Lori Phillips grew up in Franklinville, New York where her family lived on a farm, growing corn and raising livestock. During the summer, the windows of her house would be open while her father sprayed a herbicide on the crops. Years later, Lori developed Parkinson’s disease. (Tina Russell for Earthjustice)
Article February 27, 2024

This Weed Killer Is Linked to Parkinson’s. Why Isn’t It Banned Yet?

Paraquat damages farmworkers’ respiratory system, their kidneys, and their eyes. Help us urge the EPA to ban it.

The Suncor refinery in North Denver. (Martin do Nascimento / Earthjustice)
Press Release February 27, 2024

Community Groups Left in the Dark on Suncor Fenceline Monitoring Settlement

State provided little time for intervening groups to review key documents before approving settlement

document February 26, 2024

Suncor Fenceline Monitoring Settlement Agreement Response

Community and conservation groups filed a response to the recently-announced Suncor Energy fenceline monitoring settlement agreement, expressing frustration and concern over the plan approved by the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division.