Showing 1276-1290 of 1423

  • Trump administration, GOP strip out PFAS standard, cleanup requirements from defense bill

    Policy

    10 Dec 2019

    U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-MI acknowledged some key provisions were taken out, including requiring that a standard be set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration that would require intervention when it was exceeded. However, the legislation still contains key provisions to help reduce PFAS contamination, especially as it relates to military uses.

  • Defense bill boosts climate resilience, ends PFAS foam use (2)

    News

    10 Dec 2019 | Bloomberg Environment

    “The provisions for nationwide water testing and phasing out PFAS in military firefighting foam are a major milestone in the fight against PFAS,” Tom Bruton, a senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, said in a statement. “Just a few years ago achieving these critical protections, especially the foam phaseout, seemed impossible.”

  • Environmental group laments PFAS provisions missing from federal bill

    News

    9 Dec 2019 | WAMC

    The annual federal defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, does not include certain provisions that would address PFAS water contamination. A Washington-based nonprofit group accuses Congress of caving on cleaning up the toxic substances.

  • House Democrats pull key PFAS provisions from defense bill

    News

    6 Dec 2019 | Politico

    House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) have pulled from negotiations the provisions that would force the cleanup of the chemicals PFOA and PFOS under the Superfund law and to regulate them in drinking water. The Superfund provision, in particular, had been a major source of tension as House and Senate negotiators seek to finalize a deal on the defense bill this week.

  • Commentary: What ‘Dark Waters’ reveals about corporate science

    News

    2 Dec 2019 | Chicago Tribune

    When government agencies consider potentially harmful exposures and activities... they should insist the regulated industries... be required to pay for the research, but the studies... be conducted by scientists without conflicts of interest, under provisions that ensure their complete independence.

  • White House, CDC feuding over PFAS health study, causing delays, sources say

    News

    29 Nov 2019 | USA Today Network

    Scientists say significant delays could limit the effectiveness of the study... “It seems like these kinds of studies should get really expedited reviews because of the concerns these communities have,” Southerland said. Southerland also said the OMB process can serve as a “black box,” where other federal agencies are able to exert influence away from the public eye.

  • The packaging industry takes on PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in our food supply

    News

    26 Nov 2019 | Civil Eats

    In recent years, a series of studies revealed a large portion of compostable and paper food packaging is contaminated with PFAS. World Centric acted quickly, however, and is now part of a massive, industry-wide effort to remove PFAS products from their catalogs.

  • What ‘Dark Waters’ reveals about corporate science

    News

    26 Nov 2019 | Bloomberg Opinion

    When the first public concerns abound the compound emerged, DuPont did what too many corporations do: They took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook and hired a firm to sow doubt about the scientific evidence.

  • [Public comment] U.S. EPA requests public input on adding PFAS chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory

    Policy

    25 Nov 2019

    U.S. EPA is seeking public comments on potentially adding certain PFAS to the list of chemicals companies are required to report to the agency as part of the Toxics Release Inventory.

  • ‘Dark Waters’ just the tip of the iceberg

    News

    22 Nov 2019 | The Boston Globe

    What happened to Parkersburg is a tragedy — tens of thousands of people were poisoned by a cancer-causing chemical called PFOA. What’s more tragic is that Parkersburg is far from alone.

  • Mark Ruffalo and Robert Bilott on the new film ‘Dark Waters’

    News

    21 Nov 2019 | NPR, All Things Considered

    “In the end, part of what the debate, I think, about this film should be - and I think it's a debate that we're having nationally - is, do these systems that are made to protect us - are they actually in service of us, or are they in service of a corporate political system? And that's why we can't end this movie with our hero driving away in a SUV and a happy ending.”

  • Pentagon admits it undercounted military bases contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

    News

    21 Nov 2019 | EWG Blog

    “The Defense Department worked with 3M to create fluorinated foams and has known it was toxic for decades but failed to alert service members or clean up legacy pollution,” said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs. “Now we learn they haven’t even tallied up the full scope of PFAS contamination on military bases."

  • The list of military sites with suspected ‘forever chemicals’ contamination has grown

    News

    21 Nov 2019 | Military Times

    “As part of this process, we think there are probably more installations, and I’m not ready to tell you what that number is, but we found that we under-counted,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment McMahon told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon.

  • Mark Ruffalo hopes his ‘Dark Waters’ film leads to environmental ‘revolution’

    News

    20 Nov 2019 | Roll Call

    “Are we a country that is going to be responsive to people and make sure that our people remain healthy?” star of the upcoming film “Dark Waters,” asked a crowd gathered Tuesday on Capitol Hill. “Or are we going to be responsible only to the bottom line of corporations and their greed? Because right now the people are losing.”

  • Mark Ruffalo’s environmental drama ‘Dark Waters’ gets DC premiere

    News

    20 Nov 2019 | The Hill

    In his new film, Ruffalo plays lawyer Robert Bilott, who spent 20 years fighting a class action lawsuit against the DuPont chemical company, winning a more than $600 million settlement in 2017. The suit was over toxic runoff from a DuPont landfill with PFAS chemicals, which linger and contaminate water and food sources long after their initial use. There is no federal regulation of these chemicals, though the US EPA acknowledges that exposure to them can be dangerous for humans and that the chemicals can be found in food and water supplies.