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When Extreme Weather Amplifies Hazardous Waste Threats [1]

Toxic waste is bad enough when it’s in one spot. But it can be even more dangerous when it is made mobile by climate-induced natural disasters. The latest TipSheet looks at just a few of the problems that can arise — or have already arisen. Plus, story ideas and reporting resources to cover this issue in your locale.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [14]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [15]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
Visibility: 
Public [17]

Tilling the Storytelling Fields on the Food, Ag and Environment Beat [18]

In his more than a decade at the helm of the Food & Environment Reporting Network, Samuel Fromartz was instrumental in shaping a new way of covering food, agriculture and environmental issues. As he prepares to turn over the top editor’s job to his successor, Fromartz talks about FERN’s innovative business model and the power of narrative.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Features [19]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [20]
Biodiversity [21]
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [22]
Economy & Business [23]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Food [25]
Government [26]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [14]
Visibility: 
Public [17]

"US Approves Temporary Nuclear Waste Storage In New Mexico" [27]

"The U.S. nuclear energy regulator on Tuesday issued a license to Holtec International to build and operate a temporary facility to store nuclear waste from power plants, despite a New Mexico state law that could present a hurdle to the project."

Laws & Regulations [28]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [29]
Waste [12]
Public [17]
National (U.S.) [14]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
Source: Reuters [30], 05/10/2023

Black Alabamians Endured Poor Sewage For Decades. Now They May See Justice. [31]

"Officials in Alabama discriminated against Black residents in a rural county by denying them access to adequate sanitation systems, imposing burdensome fines and liens and ignoring the serious health risks plaguing the community, according to a landmark environmental justice agreement announced Thursday by the Biden administration."

Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [24]
Environmental Politics [32]
Infrastructure [33]
Laws & Regulations [28]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Public [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [15]
Source: Washington Post [34], 05/05/2023

Enviros Want FTC Green Guides to Shun ‘Chemical’ Recycling of Plastic Waste [35]

"The plastics industry says heating and treating plastic waste with chemicals enables it to make new plastics. But environmentalists say that process, emitting large amounts of climate and air pollution, isn’t recycling and isn’t green."

Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Energy & Fuel [36]
Environmental Health [7]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Public [17]
National (U.S.) [14]
Source: Inside Climate News [37], 05/03/2023

New Book: "Did a Military Lab Spill Anthrax Into Public Waterways?" [38]

"Unsterilized laboratory wastewater from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, spewed out the top of a rusty 50,000-gallon outdoor holding tank, the pressure catapulting it over the short concrete wall that was supposed to contain hazardous spills."

Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Military [39]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Public [17]
National (U.S.) [14]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [40]
Source: KFF Health News [41], 04/26/2023

"EPA Reaches Deal To Police Pennsylvania’s Pollution of Chesapeake Bay" [42]

"The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to step up enforcement in Pennsylvania to ensure that it meets targets for reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, state and environmental officials announced Thursday."

Agriculture [20]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [32]
Fish & Fisheries [43]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Natural Resources [44]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Public [17]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [40]
Source: Washington Post [45], 04/21/2023

"US Cities See 'Urban Mining' Potential In Building Deconstruction" [46]

"The cavernous Maryland warehouse housing Community Forklift bulges with doors, windows, flooring and light fixtures, some lightly used, some more so, but all for sale at big discounts."

Infrastructure [33]
Waste [12]
Public [17]
National (U.S.) [14]
Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn. [47], 04/19/2023

"New York City Appointed A Rat Czar. Her Job Will Be A Tall Ask" [48]

"New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been locked in a multiyear war with millions of his constituents. "Everyone that knows me knows one thing: I hate rats," he said in an October 2022 press conference."

Biodiversity [21]
Consumer [22]
Environmental Health [7]
Waste [12]
Wildlife [49]
Public [17]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [50]
Source: NPR [51], 04/14/2023

Indiana Plastics Fire Extinguished, But Residents’ Health Concerns Remain [52]

"After firefighters spent two days battling an inferno fueled by plastics in eastern Indiana, the fire has been fully extinguished, officials said. “We’re now able to turn our attention to collecting air and water samples to determine when the evacuation order can be lifted,” Richmond Mayor Dave Smith told CNN Thursday night."

Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [7]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Waste [12]
Public [17]
National (U.S.) [14]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [53]
Source: CNN [54], 04/14/2023

Pages

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/when-extreme-weather-amplifies-hazardous-waste-threats [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [14] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [15] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [16] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [17] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [18] https://www.sej.org/publications/features/tilling-storytelling-fields-food-ag-and-environment-beat [19] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/features [20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [21] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [25] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/food [26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [27] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-approves-temporary-nuclear-waste-storage-new-mexico [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation [30] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-approves-temporary-nuclear-waste-storage-new-mexico-2023-05-09/ [31] https://www.sej.org/headlines/black-alabamians-endured-poor-sewage-decades-now-they-may-see-justice [32] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [34] https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/05/04/these-black-alabamians-endured-poor-sewage-decades-now-they-may-see-justice/ [35] https://www.sej.org/headlines/enviros-want-ftc-green-guides-shun-chemical-recycling-plastic-waste [36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [37] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01052023/plastic-waste-chemical-recycling-ftc/ [38] https://www.sej.org/headlines/new-book-did-military-lab-spill-anthrax-public-waterways [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/military [40] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [41] https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/lab-leak-biohazard-wastewater-book-excerpt-pandoras-gamble-alison-young/ [42] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-reaches-deal-police-pennsylvania-s-pollution-chesapeake-bay [43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [45] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/20/chesapeake-bay-epa-cleanup-pennsylvania/ [46] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-cities-see-urban-mining-potential-building-deconstruction [47] https://www.context.news/green-cities/us-cities-see-urban-mining-potential-in-building-deconstruction [48] https://www.sej.org/headlines/new-york-city-appointed-rat-czar-her-job-will-be-tall-ask [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [50] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast [51] https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1169851616/new-york-city-appointed-a-rat-czar-her-job-will-be-a-tall-ask [52] https://www.sej.org/headlines/indiana-plastics-fire-extinguished-residents-health-concerns-remain [53] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [54] https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/13/us/richmond-indiana-recycling-plant-fire-thursday/index.html [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=31 [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=28 [57] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=29 [58] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=30 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=33 [60] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=34 [61] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=35 [62] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=36 [63] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste?page=102