Chemicals

"A 2015 explosion at the company's refinery near Los Angeles came frighteningly close to releasing a lethal gas into a neighborhood; a ban may result".

The National Response Center, run by the Coast Guard, takes reports of toxic spills and is supposed to keep a database on spill incidents. But a new study shows that it does nothing of the sort -- putting the public at risk by keeping them in the dark.

"In the final weeks and months of the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs issued a flurry of reports on some of the country’s most widely used pesticides. Decisions made on the basis of these environmental and health assessments will likely determine the level of pesticide residue allowed on the food we eat. They will affect children’s neurological health and development, particularly in agricultural communities. They will determine how farmworkers are protected from pesticide exposures. And they will affect the fate of threatened and endangered species across the country."

"For years, when spring rolled around in St. Louis, Mich., songbirds dropped to the ground, dead."

"A federal appeals court [Thursday] breathed new life into a challenge by environmental groups to U.S. EPA's registration of nearly 400 pesticides."

"Scientists are seeing an uptick of the legacy toxic in Great Lakes fish and birds. Warming waters are the suspected culprit. More coal will make it worse."

"Oakland is one of several California cities still waiting on more than $1 billion to pay for the removal of lead paint, which is threatening children’s health in neighborhoods such as Fruitvale. Even though a judge ruled in favor of Oakland more than two years ago, the money remains tied up in in the courts."

"Chemical regulation: EPA cranks out toxics rules during Obama’s last days in office"

"A new National Academy of Sciences' risk assessment could accelerate public health protection from pesticides."