Former PA Landfill Contaminates Nearby Wells

July 15, 2009 - Five decades after the first sludge, wastewater and spent pesticide containers were dumped into the Herceg Landfill on the border of Bushkill and Upper Nazareth townships, a toxic punch of contaminants is leaching into the groundwater and putting residents' health at risk.

"Back then, you did not perceive a danger from something that was a mile or so away,'' said Robert Grew, who has lived on Knauss Road, near the landfill, for 40 years. ''I don't think anyone foresaw a drinking water problem. But now it's only a matter of time until the chemicals spread.''

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Washington Car Lot Makes History With Meth Contamination

July 15, 2009 - A North Whidbey used car lot earned the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first dealership to have its license yanked by the state due to methamphetamine contamination.

The state Department of Licensing issued a summary suspension of O&J Sales’ license last week. The notice of summary suspension states that meth contamination of vehicles, as well as the business’ failure to transfer titles in a timely manner, as the reasons for the action. Brad Benfield, spokesman for the department, said it was the first time meth contamination has been cited in a suspension.

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Abandoned Industrial Site Haunts Tennessee Neighborhood

June 13, 2009 - The Smalley-Piper Industries property in Collierville, Tennessee has been abandoned for years, but the hazardous waste and deadly chemicals left behind are holding a community hostage. For nearly two decades, workers at Smalley-Piper manufactured battery-casings. One step of that process included dumping a liquid solution of hexavalent chromium into the drainage ditches, threatening the health of the town's residents.

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Illinesses Afflict Homes With a Criminal Past

July 14, 2009 - Federal data on meth lab seizures suggest that there are tens of thousands of contaminated residences in the United States.

One family in Tennessee had three children who suffered medical conditions such as breathing problems and trips to the emergency room. The parents, too, suffered from migraines and kidney ailments. It took five years for them to discover that the house they had purchased and started their family in was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left by the previous occupant.

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Midland, Texas wells contaminated with chromium

July 10, 2009 - Texas environmental officials are still trying to determine the extent of the contamination. Later this month, they will ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider the site for federal Superfund status.

After that, efforts will begin to find who dumped the dangerous chemical, which appears to have been in the area for years, according to one environmental investigator.

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Possible Cancer Cluster Investigated in Pennsylvania

July 9, 2009 - More than 40 people are suffering from a very rare form of cancer in Schuylkill, Carbon, and Luzerne counties. After one failed attempt to collect data from that area, government officials are back at it. But the people in that region say they know exactly what the cause of the cancer cluster is.

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McCook, Ohio Residents Want Testing For Toxic Gases

July 9, 2009 -

The neighborhood, recently declared a national Superfund site by the EPA, is located around the Behr Dayton Thermal plant, 1600 Webster Street, which produces vehicle air conditioning and cooling systems. The area is plagued by the Behr VOC Plume, a cloud of underground toxic gases that has contaminated groundwater and released hazardous chemicals into the air.

The plume contains dangerously high levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic gas linked with cancer and other health problems.

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Old Dry Cleaner Site Causes Groundwater Contamination 30 Years Later

July 7, 2009 - The City Council took the first step Monday night toward extending the city’s public water supply to an area along Route 120 with groundwater contamination. The contaminated property at 3004 W. Elm St. (Route 120), now home to Enterprise Rent-a-Car, was the home of Gem Cleaners from 1970-77.

It was not unusual at that time for cleaners to release chemicals into the water supply, McHenry City Administrator Doug Maxeiner said. Solvents used in dry cleaning contaminated the soil and groundwater with volatile organic compounds, according to an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency report. The contamination extends beyond the property to the west toward the Fox River. Most homes and businesses along the Route 120 stretch use private wells, Maxeiner said.

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CDC Launches New Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

July 7, 2009 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now offers an on-line network the public can use to track environmental exposures and chronic health conditions. On Tuesday the CDC announced the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, a public health surveillance tool that scientists, health professionals, and members of the public can use.

“The ability to examine many data sets together for the first time has already resulted in faster responses to environmental health issues. We believe the Tracking Network holds the potential to shed new light on some of our biggest environmental health questions,” said Howard Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., DrPh., director, of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

The web-based tool unites vital environmental information from across the country, including air and water pollutants and information for some chronic conditions, including asthma, cancer, childhood lead poisoning and heart disease into one resource.

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Study shows environmental contamination increase in Canada

July 4, 2009 - Researchers in Canada have linked male low birth rates to an increase in lower fertility and an increase in environmental contaminants. According to UPI, researchers studied the male birth weights of five million children born in Canada between 1981-2003 from records kept in the database of the Public Health Agency of Canada. The lead researcher was Dr. Guy Van Vliet of Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center in Montreal.

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