"A little-spoken-of war is taking place behind California's fences and property lines – trespassing marijuana growers are setting booby traps, resorting to violence and vandalism, and spoiling the land by stealing water and spraying dangerous chemicals that leach into streams."
"High levels of pesticide exposure in pregnant women have been linked to lower IQs in their children, according to three separate US studies."
"Mexican American school children in California are contaminated with seven times more flame retardants than children in Mexico and three times more than their own mothers, according to a new study. The 7-year-olds in the Salinas Valley had more of the chemicals in their bodies than almost all other people tested worldwide."
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control are trying to develop a new product that both repels and kills insects. Called nootkatone, it is found in Alaska yellow cedar trees and citrus fruit. Consumers may prefer it to DEET, and that may mean a chance to lower the chances of insect-borne disease.
"The U.S. EPA is considering a ban or restriction on consumer insulation and sealant products containing a family of chemicals known as diisocyantes."
"If you didn’t know, there are about 70,000 gallons of oil and industrial waste pooling beneath the city of Pittston. That’s about 10 of the petroleum tankers you’ve seen at your local gas station."
"Over the years, rat poison has spared [California] residents untold filth and disease. But a new generation of highly toxic, long-lasting poisons is killing not only rats, mice and ground squirrels, but whatever feeds on them, too."
State governors elected amid the Tea Party fervor are setting about dismantling laws and rules that protect people from environmental pollution, saying they are too burdensome on business.
"Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005-2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday."
"Wild rice is sacred to the Ojibwe of Minnesota, but that may not be enough to protect it from the promise of jobs that a new copper-nickel mining industry would bring to the state."
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