Environmental Health

Court Rules EPA Must Ban Chlorpyrifos Pesticide — Or Prove It Is Safe

"A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must ban a widely used pesticide linked to neurological damage in children from being sprayed on food crops, unless the agency can demonstrate safe uses for the chemical."

Source: Washington Post, 04/30/2021

Deadly Air Pollutant Disproportionately Harms Americans Of Color: Study

"Black, Latino and Asian Americans face higher levels of exposure to fine particulate matter from traffic, construction and other sources".

"Nearly every source of the nation’s most pervasive and deadly air pollutant disproportionately affects Americans of color, regardless of their state or income level, according to a study published Wednesday. The analysis of fine-particle matter, which includes soot, shows how decisions made decades ago about where to build highways and industrial plants continue to harm the health of Black, Latino and Asian Americans today.

Source: Washington Post, 04/29/2021

13 U.S. Refineries Exceeded Emissions Limits For Cancer-Causing Benzene

"Thirteen U.S. oil refineries released the cancer-causing chemical benzene in concentrations that exceeded federal limits last year, according to government data published by the green group Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) on Wednesday."

Source: Reuters, 04/29/2021

The Uproot Project

This Grist-supported network is for journalists of color who cover environmental issues, or aspire to. Open to journalists and students of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds, but with a primary directive to grow the careers of journalists of color and to expand diversity in newsrooms, especially those covering communities disproportionately affected by the climate emergency.

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"Scientist: Extent of DDT Dumping In Pacific Is ‘Staggering’"

"Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be more than 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to World War II has long been suspected."

Source: AP, 04/28/2021

Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout

Telling the local climate change story may mean you’ll have to dip a wading-boot-clad toe into the nearest stream, virtually at least. A decline there of a bellwether species, freshwater trout, could signal climate change-driven changes in critical water temperatures. To help guide your investigation, Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights a government database that taps into a massive network of monitoring stations. 

SEJ Publication Types: 
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"The Fight to Clean Up the EPA"

"The Environmental Protection Agency recently acknowledged what was plain to most outside observers throughout the Trump era. “Over the past few years, I am aware that political interference sometimes compromised the integrity of our science,” Michal Freedhoff, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, wrote it in a March 10 internal memo."

Source: The Intercept, 04/27/2021

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