Environmental Health

"A U.S. study has found an unusually high incidence of gastrointestinal disease in a small U.S. town located downstream from a Teck smelter in Trail, B.C."

"The modern world has long thought of refugees in strictly political terms, victims in a world riven by competing ideologies. But as climate change continues unabated, there is a growing population of displaced men, women and children whose homes have been rendered unlivable thanks to a wide spectrum of environmental disasters."

"The US state of Texas is battling an outbreak of the West Nile virus, with 17 deaths being blamed on the mosquito-borne disease, authorities said Wednesday."

Rural residents near forest tracts in Oregon have tested positive for 2,4-D (an ingredient in Agent Orange) and atrazine in their urine -- and they think timber companies are to blame.

"BLACHLY, Ore. -- Six years ago, Eron King, an artist and young mother, moved from the edge of Eugene to a creekside plot of forest valley so her two boys could grow up raising hens and Toggenburg goats.

"DALLAS - Suffering from the nation's deadliest outbreak of West Nile virus this year, Dallas County authorized aerial spraying of insecticide on Friday for the first time in nearly five decades to help fight the mosquito-born illness."

"Millions of Americans may be drinking water that is contaminated with dangerous doses of lead. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows it; state governments know it; local utilities know it. The only people who usually don’t know it are those who are actually drinking the toxic water."

"GHENT -- The head of a Columbia County chemical recycling company whose plant was destroyed in an inferno last week knows hundreds of gallons of toxic hazardous PCBs were at the site before the fire, but won't know how much burned until the tangled wreckage can be examined."

"LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by nearly 3,000 Filipino workers claiming injury from pesticide exposure while worked for Dole Food Co."

"The damage caused by a fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond will take months to repair and will hobble one of the West Coast's biggest sources of fuel, industry experts said Wednesday."