By Lea Yu on August 11, 2010
BP continued to operate its Texas City refinery after critical equipment broke down, illegally releasing 500,000 pounds of toxic air pollutants in April and May, the Texas attorney general contends in a lawsuit.
The state’s action follows an investigation that documented poor maintenance practices and multiple violations of the state’s Clean Air Act. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality referred the case to ... Read more »
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health, News & Notes, Workplace Safety
By Lea Yu on August 10, 2010
Citing dramatic public health and environmental benefits, federal authorities on Monday sharply cut back the volume of mercury and particle emissions allowed from cement plants.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that its new rules to cut air pollution would reduce respiratory problems and prevent 960 to 2,500 premature deaths a year.
The rules apply to new and existing ... Read more »
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on August 9, 2010
Hundreds of U.S. military service members and contractor employees serving in Iraq and Afghanistan claim they have suffered respiratory illnesses or cancer from exposure to open-air burn pits that were used to destroy trash, The New York Times reports.
Nearly 250 service members, civilian workers and their families have joined a lawsuit in Maryland against Pentagon contractor Kellogg Brown & Root, ... Read more »
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on July 2, 2010
The Environmental Protection Agency has struck down air quality permits the state of Texas issued to industrial plants because they violate federal standards, the agency said.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued flexible permits that set pollution caps for entire plants. But the EPA wants to restrict emissions from the individual parts of a plant ... Read more »
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health, News & Notes
By Deborah Schoch on June 16, 2010
The wood fire has been a source of comfort and cheer since ancient times. Even today, wood stoves are widely considered a benign alternative to heating with fossil fuels. In fact, smoke from stoves and fireplaces contains many of the toxic compounds found in vehicle exhaust, power plant emissions and secondhand smoke. Amid growing awareness that wood smoke is hazardous and should not get a pass, regulators are cracking down. But California, traditionally a leader in environmental protection, has taken a scattershot approach. Deborah Schoch, a senior writer for the Center for Health Reporting, reports.
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health, FairWarning Investigates
By Deborah Schoch on June 14, 2010
Science is swiftly turning upside down the common notion that a fire built with wood is kinder to humans’ well-being than gas and other modern fuels.
From California to Sweden and China, researchers are reporting that wood smoke contains large amounts of harmful pollutants, including some of the same toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke.
Those reports ... Read more »
Posted in Airborne Hazards, Environmental Safety and Health
