"A sprawl of mobile home parks house 10,000 people in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, but their drinking water is chronically contaminated. Now some solutions are in sight."
"The Environmental Protection Agency says it has recovered 517 containers of 'unidentified, potentially hazardous material' from highly contaminated toxic waste sites in Texas that flooded last month during Hurricane Harvey. The agency has not provided details about which Superfund sites the material came from, why the contaminants at issue have not been identified and whether there’s a threat to human health."
"When Jane Horton bought her dream 800-square-foot farmhouse in 1975, she thought little of the semiconductor manufacturing plant across the street. Even after the company’s buildings were demolished and a chain-link fence went up around the campus, she still had no knowledge of the toxic dangers lurking beneath her feet — let alone of the fact that they were invading her home."
"Fraud. Bribery. Incompetence. The military’s use of contractors adds to a legacy of environmental damage."
"France reaffirmed on Monday its opposition to plans by the European Commission to extend its approval for the weedkiller product glyphosate, the prime minister’s office said."
Flooding disasters can unleash some nasty substances into the environment, whether from Superfund sites, sewage plants or petrochemical and other industrial facilities handling toxic and hazardous materials.This week's TipSheet identifies some of the biggest risks, and offers starting points for your local reporting.
"According to a CDC study, up to 75 percent of the contiguous United States may provide suitable conditions for several species of disease-spreading mosquitoes."
"Johnson & Johnson trained its employees to reassure anyone concerned about whether the company’s talcum powder contained asbestos that the cancer-causing substance 'has never been found and it never will' in its iconic baby powder, according to an undated memo unsealed in a lawsuit against the drugmaker."
"Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has met regularly with corporate executives from the automobile, mining and fossil fuel industries — in several instances shortly before making decisions favorable to those interest groups, according to a copy of his schedule obtained by The Washington Post."
"A dam in Puerto Rico weakened by heavy rains from Hurricane Maria was in danger of failing on Sunday, posing a flood threat to thousands of homes downstream as the storm-battered U.S. island territory struggled through a fifth day with virtually no electricity."
