August 31, 2009 - The project starting Monday will remove the soil polluted with arsenic, cyanide, lead and other contaminants to a depth of two feet from about 100 properties. Houston-based Southern Union agreed to pay $11.5 million for the cleanup to end a lawsuit filed by residents.
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Water Contamination, Land Pollution & Hazardous Waste Material are issues families all across America are afflicted with daily.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Depleted Uranium in Honolulu Causing Concern
August 31, 2009- After years of denying the existence of depleted uranium (DU) at its installations in Hawaii, the Army is now seeking a permit to possess tons of the radioactive material.
DU has been confirmed at Schofield Barracks and the Pohakuloa Training Area, and is suspected at the Makua Military Reservation and Kahoolawe. The toxic material was used to make M101 spotting rounds for the Davy Crockett recoilless gun, one of the smallest nuclear weapons ever built. Soldiers were trained on the weapon in Hawaii and at least eight other states throughout the 1960s.
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DU has been confirmed at Schofield Barracks and the Pohakuloa Training Area, and is suspected at the Makua Military Reservation and Kahoolawe. The toxic material was used to make M101 spotting rounds for the Davy Crockett recoilless gun, one of the smallest nuclear weapons ever built. Soldiers were trained on the weapon in Hawaii and at least eight other states throughout the 1960s.
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Tiverton, RI. Neighborhood Soil Contamination Suit Settled
August 31, 2009- The long saga regarding contaminated soil in the Bay Street neighborhood has finally ended. Litigation in the case of Corvello vs. New England Gas Co. formally came to a close on Tuesday. The parties dismissed the actions and held a closing for the $11.5 million dollar settlement reached with Southern Union Co., a Texas-based utilities company that was deemed responsible for the contamination.
After more than four years of court proceedings and six years of living with a soil moratorium that prevented residents from digging or coming into contact with contaminated soil, residents will soon be able to use their yards and gardens again.
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After more than four years of court proceedings and six years of living with a soil moratorium that prevented residents from digging or coming into contact with contaminated soil, residents will soon be able to use their yards and gardens again.
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DEP Wants More Tests at Dorm in Wilkes-Barre, PA
August 31, 2009- The state Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday ordered the drilling of four holes through the foundation slab at the Gateway Corners building – a new King’s College dormitory – so soil and groundwater testing can be conducted.
DEP has been concerned about the sewer backups and vapor intrusion for months. The vapors could come from the soil beneath the building, which is built on the site of the former Mary MacIntosh dry cleaning company. Underground storage tanks that held petroleum products and dry cleaning fluids were removed from the site.
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DEP has been concerned about the sewer backups and vapor intrusion for months. The vapors could come from the soil beneath the building, which is built on the site of the former Mary MacIntosh dry cleaning company. Underground storage tanks that held petroleum products and dry cleaning fluids were removed from the site.
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EPA Earmarks $7.1 Million to Clean Up Petroleum Leaks in Michigan
August 31, 2009- EPA announced the distribution of $7.1 million to Michigan under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to assess and clean up underground storage tank petroleum leaks. The agency said the move is an effort to protect people where they live, work, and play, because the greatest potential hazard from a leaking underground storage tank is that the petroleum or other hazardous substances might seep into the soil and contaminate groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly one-third of all Americans.
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EPA Says Wells in Wyoming Show Possible Pollution From Frac'ing
August 31, 2009- Government scientists believe they have found indications that natural-gas drilling activities may have polluted groundwater sources in Wyoming. Scientists testing water from domestic wells in the area around Pavillion, Wyo., for the Environmental Protection Agency say they have found methane gas, hydrocarbons, lead and copper in water from the well of a rancher named Louis Meeks.
When Meeks submitted water from a second well, according to reports published by the ProPublica nonprofit news organization, the same substances were detected. Scientists reportedly found traces of those and other contaminants, known to be used in drilling procedures, in 11 of 39 wells tested since March.
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When Meeks submitted water from a second well, according to reports published by the ProPublica nonprofit news organization, the same substances were detected. Scientists reportedly found traces of those and other contaminants, known to be used in drilling procedures, in 11 of 39 wells tested since March.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
Air Quality Concerns Stall New Construction in Wilkes-Barre, PA
August 26, 2009 - Air quality test results over the next few days could determine if a new building constructed to house King's College students, offices and a day care facility.
Citing two concerns, the state Department of Environmental Protection has recommended the city not issue an occupancy permit for Gateway Corners, the new building at the corner of North Main and North streets.
According to DEP spokesman Mark Carmon, the two concerns are sewage backing up into neighboring homes along Meyers Court and potential vapor intrusion in the building caused by old petroleum and dry cleaning storage tanks that have been removed from the site.
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Citing two concerns, the state Department of Environmental Protection has recommended the city not issue an occupancy permit for Gateway Corners, the new building at the corner of North Main and North streets.
According to DEP spokesman Mark Carmon, the two concerns are sewage backing up into neighboring homes along Meyers Court and potential vapor intrusion in the building caused by old petroleum and dry cleaning storage tanks that have been removed from the site.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking
August 25, 2009 - Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or metals, in 11 of 39 wells tested there since March.
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Monday, August 24, 2009
Polluted Kansas Mining Town Seeks $3.5 Million From Federal Government to Buy Out Residents
August 24, 2009- It is barely a town. A ghostly remnant of nearly a century of mining is more like it — not much left except for a few dilapidated houses nestled amid mountains of gray mine wastes. Massive sinkholes and uncapped shafts dot the landscape, a deadly reminder for the unwary of the abandoned underground mining caverns below. The smell of sulfur wafts across the road. A creek runs red from minerals left behind by long-gone lead- and zinc-mining operations.
Children have grown up here swimming in some of the 200-feet deep sinkholes where the blue water is so acidic that for years people thought they were getting a sunburn playing in them. Toxic dunes of lead-ridden crushed rock and sand called chat have beckoned a generation of motorcycle and four-wheeler enthusiasts.
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Children have grown up here swimming in some of the 200-feet deep sinkholes where the blue water is so acidic that for years people thought they were getting a sunburn playing in them. Toxic dunes of lead-ridden crushed rock and sand called chat have beckoned a generation of motorcycle and four-wheeler enthusiasts.
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Army Plays Down Threat From World War I-Era Chemical Munitions in D.C.
August 24, 2009- The U.S. Army says that World War I-era chemical weapons pose no threat to the air or water in a Washington, D.C. neighborhood despite an ongoing search for buried munitions, the District's congressional delegate said yesterday.
"Our position is that the corps must remain until there is an objective all-clear here," said Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D). "Nobody need move out of this beautiful neighborhood. It really isn't fair to alarm people. ... There is no indication that the neighborhood is unsafe."
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"Our position is that the corps must remain until there is an objective all-clear here," said Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D). "Nobody need move out of this beautiful neighborhood. It really isn't fair to alarm people. ... There is no indication that the neighborhood is unsafe."
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DuPont Sends Notices to Middlesex County, NJ Neighbors Detailing Cleanup Work
August 24, 2009- About 3,000 property owners in Sayreville and Old Bridge will receive a notice in the mail about an on-going off-site remediation project to remove contaminates found in the groundwater in their communities.
"We're notifying residents as part of the new rules set by the state DEP (Department of Environmental Protection)," said Tim Ireland, a spokesman for DuPont Imaging Technologies. "The project has been going on for years and local officials, the DEP and even some residents have known about it. We just want residents to know that, as far as we are aware, there is no health risk here.
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"We're notifying residents as part of the new rules set by the state DEP (Department of Environmental Protection)," said Tim Ireland, a spokesman for DuPont Imaging Technologies. "The project has been going on for years and local officials, the DEP and even some residents have known about it. We just want residents to know that, as far as we are aware, there is no health risk here.
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Water Worries Bullville, NY Residents
August 24, 2009- The Department of Environmental Conservation knew of gas station spills that would pollute the water of a firehouse and taint the wells of residents since 1994. The gas station's water even tested high for the contaminating gas additive MTBE in 2001. But the DEC didn't tell neighbors of the contamination from the Hit or Miss Mobil until 2008, after two more spills and a truck accident at the Bullville firehouse well.
All of which makes neighbor George Larsen ask:
"I'm wondering why it took so long for anyone to find out? I came down with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998 and I had no idea the spill took place. I'm wondering if there's any connection."
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All of which makes neighbor George Larsen ask:
"I'm wondering why it took so long for anyone to find out? I came down with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1998 and I had no idea the spill took place. I'm wondering if there's any connection."
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Getting the Lead Out of Evansville, IN.
August 24, 2009- Some of Evansville's oldest and poorest neighborhoods are on the verge of becoming a Superfund site targeted for a widespread cleanup of soils contaminated with lead from the smokestacks of factories long gone. But children there will remain at risk because of the area's aging homes even after the cleanup is complete.
What makes the need for the cleanup so compelling, officials said, is the number of residential properties and the possibility that children will be exposed to the lead through contact with the soil.
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What makes the need for the cleanup so compelling, officials said, is the number of residential properties and the possibility that children will be exposed to the lead through contact with the soil.
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Delaware's Cherry Island- A Growing Mountain of Garbage
August 24, 2009- It bulges from the riverside landscape near East 12th Street, a bustling and costly monument to leftovers in a land of plenty, a place where northern Delaware's trash and castoffs become part of the skyline. Named Cherry Island after the marsh that it buried, the east Wilmington landfill has emerged as a symbol of Delaware's troubled history of waste management and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority's role in that story.
"I'm against it 100 percent. It's not healthy. I think they should find somewhere else to put that stuff," said Karoyn C. Fitzgerald, a lifelong Wilmington resident who lives in Southbridge. "I'm wondering why they're doing it in south Wilmington. It seems like it's been the low-income areas where they just dump stuff, because they think nobody will say anything."
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"I'm against it 100 percent. It's not healthy. I think they should find somewhere else to put that stuff," said Karoyn C. Fitzgerald, a lifelong Wilmington resident who lives in Southbridge. "I'm wondering why they're doing it in south Wilmington. It seems like it's been the low-income areas where they just dump stuff, because they think nobody will say anything."
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Camden, NJ Cleanup Aided by Stimulus
August 24, 2009- In one short sentence, Gloucester City Mayor William James summed up the mission and frustration of a decade of radioactive-waste removal north and south of the Walt Whitman Bridge: "Just get it out of here."
Residents welcome $22 million in federal stimulus money that will finish the cleanup of a portion of the Welsbach/General Gas Mantle Superfund site. The former factory at Fourth and Jefferson Streets in Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood is one of 50 sites nationwide sharing $600 million. The factories left behind thorium, a radioactive chemical used to make mantles glow brighter. It's tasteless and odorless, and it lingers for 14 billion years. Prolonged exposure can increase the chance of cancer and lung disease.
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Residents welcome $22 million in federal stimulus money that will finish the cleanup of a portion of the Welsbach/General Gas Mantle Superfund site. The former factory at Fourth and Jefferson Streets in Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood is one of 50 sites nationwide sharing $600 million. The factories left behind thorium, a radioactive chemical used to make mantles glow brighter. It's tasteless and odorless, and it lingers for 14 billion years. Prolonged exposure can increase the chance of cancer and lung disease.
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Ithaca, NY Neighborhood Pushing for Pollution Cleanup
August 24, 2009- The president of the South Hill Civic Association is pleading with city leaders for more help in the fight to rid South Hill of toxic pollution.
Association president John Graves said he lives half-a-block from the Columbia Street manhole that registered highest for toxic vapors such as trichloroethylene (TCE) in 2007 testing by Emerson Power Transmission. Yet almost two years later, Graves said that neither he nor any of his neighbors have been contacted to have their houses tested for potential contamination.
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Association president John Graves said he lives half-a-block from the Columbia Street manhole that registered highest for toxic vapors such as trichloroethylene (TCE) in 2007 testing by Emerson Power Transmission. Yet almost two years later, Graves said that neither he nor any of his neighbors have been contacted to have their houses tested for potential contamination.
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Polluted Industrial Past Threatens Mancelona, MI.
August 24, 2009- Beneath the streets of Mancelona, as far as 400 feet under rock and clay, chemicals have roamed for half a century. And they have moved with what seems to be an awareness of the area's most sensitive regions -- its residential neighborhoods, its well systems and its recreational areas.
This is a village plagued by its past. Its main industrial property, a parcel that provided jobs to thousands in the 20th century and gave the tiny town its identity for generations, left behind hazardous substances that have survived in the groundwater. And that groundwater has helped spread the problems northwest beyond the village into Mancelona Township and adjacent Custer Township.
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This is a village plagued by its past. Its main industrial property, a parcel that provided jobs to thousands in the 20th century and gave the tiny town its identity for generations, left behind hazardous substances that have survived in the groundwater. And that groundwater has helped spread the problems northwest beyond the village into Mancelona Township and adjacent Custer Township.
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Attorneys to Visit the Acreage in Palm Beach, Florida
August 24, 2009- Weitz & Luxenberg P.C., (www.weitzlux.com) with a commitment to helping families who have fallen victim to corporate polluters, has responded to worrisome events in the Acreage, Fla. area. Recently, residents of the Acreage, a rural suburb of West Palm Beach, contacted famed environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, who is now affiliated with our firm, about a possible cancer cluster in their community. When Brockovich alerted the firm's environmental lawyers, they mobilized to investigate the problem.
"We are actively investigating pollution discharged to the area and that pollution's likelihood to be responsible for the residents' illnesses," Srolovic said. "We are working with the community to determine appropriate legal recourse for families affected by that exposure."
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"We are actively investigating pollution discharged to the area and that pollution's likelihood to be responsible for the residents' illnesses," Srolovic said. "We are working with the community to determine appropriate legal recourse for families affected by that exposure."
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Monday, August 17, 2009
Plaintiffs in SC cite health risks in suit against mill
August 17, 2009 - A group of Georgetown County residents has filed a lawsuit against International Paper Co. The lawsuit alleges the company knowingly released dioxins and other substances which cause health problems in animals and humans, according to court documents.
"As a direct consequence of their exposure to the hazardous substances, plaintiffs' health have been impaired and they have suffered injuries. Moreover, as a result of the leans and level of the exposure to the hazardous substance, plaintiffs' long-term health is at risk," court documents read.
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"As a direct consequence of their exposure to the hazardous substances, plaintiffs' health have been impaired and they have suffered injuries. Moreover, as a result of the leans and level of the exposure to the hazardous substance, plaintiffs' long-term health is at risk," court documents read.
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A gritty problem in New Bedford, MA
August 17, 2009 - Brenda Mattos’s voice rises as she leads a toxic tour of her neighborhood. A block away is the section of the high school lawn that tested high for probable cancer-causing chemicals in April. Behind her house is the tiny church whose expansion plans are on hold because the soil is so polluted. Next door? A vacant house, one of six the city bought in the last year because the property was so contaminated.
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Friday, August 14, 2009
Amarillo, TX Landowner Says He'll Bulldoze Meth House
August 14, 2009- The extreme danger of a meth lab has become all to clear to folks in Randall county. The property, 1904 Greg Street in Randall County, has been owned for years by Kory Sargent. In 2000 he rented it to the people arrested Monday for cooking meth in the house. He said he was"shocked to say the least. I never expected something like that."
Now Sargent has an expensive problem on his hands. He says, "I'm going to just bulldoze the property, get the house and everything off it and sell the land."
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Now Sargent has an expensive problem on his hands. He says, "I'm going to just bulldoze the property, get the house and everything off it and sell the land."
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Silent Killer Has Palm Beach Fl. Residents On Edge
August 14, 2009- During the course of the past few months an unusual number of brain tumors and cancers have surfaced among residents living in the sprawling, rural community of 55,000 in north-western Palm Beach County.
The $400,000 Acreage home the Purifoy’s purchased was to have been their dream home, instead it has become their personal nightmare and now sits vacant, like other homes in the area, abandoned by their owners who watched helplessly as slumping home sales stalled even more in the face of a possible cancer cluster. In Matt Purifoy’s case, he later learned that his home’s previous owner had succumbed to cancer.
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The $400,000 Acreage home the Purifoy’s purchased was to have been their dream home, instead it has become their personal nightmare and now sits vacant, like other homes in the area, abandoned by their owners who watched helplessly as slumping home sales stalled even more in the face of a possible cancer cluster. In Matt Purifoy’s case, he later learned that his home’s previous owner had succumbed to cancer.
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Cleanup at Irvine, California's El Toro Base Continues
August 14, 2009- Great Park construction and business plans are taking up most of the spotlight at the former El Toro air base, but a behind-the-scenes cleanup of what was once one of the nation's most contaminated military installations is just as key to the ambitious project's success.
The decades long, multimillion-dollar cleanup effort encompasses both the city-owned Great Park, as well as adjacent areas owned by Lennar Corp., both of which must get the Navy's environmental sign-off before construction can commence.
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The decades long, multimillion-dollar cleanup effort encompasses both the city-owned Great Park, as well as adjacent areas owned by Lennar Corp., both of which must get the Navy's environmental sign-off before construction can commence.
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Police Bust Colorado Springs Meth Lab
August 14, 2009- Colorado Springs Police have busted a confirmed methamphetamine lab in the 3300 block of Queen Anne Way, in the area of Austin Bluffs and Academy Thursday afternoon. When Narcotics arrived they found a man and woman inside the home. The man was arrested on illegal manufacturing charges.
Authorities tell us more meth labs are popping up. "The price of meth on the streets has gone up from a couple of years ago and we relate that to why we are seeing more and more of these labs again," said Sgt. Robert McDonald with CSPD Narcotics.
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Authorities tell us more meth labs are popping up. "The price of meth on the streets has gone up from a couple of years ago and we relate that to why we are seeing more and more of these labs again," said Sgt. Robert McDonald with CSPD Narcotics.
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Illinois wells test positive for arsenic
August 7, 2009 - EVANSVILLE — Nearly 20 private water wells on the East Side of Mount Vernon, Ind., recently have tested positive for high levels of salt and arsenic.
The contaminated wells along Lower Mount Vernon Road and Bluff Road were discovered more than two months ago after an area resident was admitted to the hospital, suffering from "pretty serious" exposure to high levels of arsenic, said Chuck Gray, waterworks superintendent for Mount Vernon.
New York City Says Exxon Is Liable for Tainted Well Water in Queens
August 6, 2009 - Lawyers for New York City are trying to convince a jury in a federal trial that Exxon Mobile knew that an additive that it used in gasoline would contaminate groundwater.
The trial, which began on Tuesday is one of hundreds of cases that have been presented around the country against oil companies over the additive, M.T.B.E., a chemical compound that replaced lead in gasoline as an octane enhancer. Such enhancers boost engine performance and help prevent knocking.
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The trial, which began on Tuesday is one of hundreds of cases that have been presented around the country against oil companies over the additive, M.T.B.E., a chemical compound that replaced lead in gasoline as an octane enhancer. Such enhancers boost engine performance and help prevent knocking.
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Potential Cancer Cluster Investigated Near Pratt In Florida
August 8, 2009 - Public health officials in Florida are investigating a potential brain cancer cluster in a residential community near a Pratt & Whitney facility in West Palm Beach and expect to release early findings later this month.
A vast Pratt-sponsored study of brain cancers among its Connecticut employees, begun in response to concerns about workers at a former plant in North Haven, is now in its eighth year.
The Florida Department of Health began its inquiry in May, after a request from a single household in The Acreage, a community of 50,000 residents in Palm Beach County, according to Michelle Dahnke, a department spokeswoman. The Acreage is about 6 miles from Pratt's space propulsion and jet engine test facility.
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A vast Pratt-sponsored study of brain cancers among its Connecticut employees, begun in response to concerns about workers at a former plant in North Haven, is now in its eighth year.
The Florida Department of Health began its inquiry in May, after a request from a single household in The Acreage, a community of 50,000 residents in Palm Beach County, according to Michelle Dahnke, a department spokeswoman. The Acreage is about 6 miles from Pratt's space propulsion and jet engine test facility.
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Tigard contamination victims seek to change Oregon law
August 6, 2009 - As it stands now, Oregon Statute 465 does not give victims of soil or groundwater contamination the right to seek reimbursement for litigation costs if they prevail in court.
With the law the way it is, Debbie said, you’re victimized by the polluters – and “you’re basically just revictimized by the state.”
Meth Lab Disclosures - Homebuyers Need to Know
August 10, 2009 - What if you buy your dream home only to discover it used to be a meth house? It's something you'd expect to be told beforehand, but there's no law in Illinois requiring the seller to inform you now legislation could change that.
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
New Jersey Homeowners Learn Developer Built on Contaminated Soil
August 4, 2009 - Homeowners in Montville, New Jersey, learn that their upscale development had been built on pesticide-contaminated soil from a former apple orchard.
New Jersey and other states have laws that require property owners to notify potential buyers if a property is near a former toxic waste site, for example, but those laws generally don't apply to farmland where pesticides were used.
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New Jersey and other states have laws that require property owners to notify potential buyers if a property is near a former toxic waste site, for example, but those laws generally don't apply to farmland where pesticides were used.
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Monday, August 3, 2009
Meth lab pollution haunts Oklahoma homebuyers
August 2, 2009 - Darla Hugaboom’s home on five acres north of Arcadia is spacious, clean, quiet and safe. But it came with a dirty past.
Police raided the house in 2004 and arrested the then-owner on drug complaints. They found more than 440 pounds of chemicals used to make methamphetamine and a once beautiful home in a filthy state of neglect.
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Police raided the house in 2004 and arrested the then-owner on drug complaints. They found more than 440 pounds of chemicals used to make methamphetamine and a once beautiful home in a filthy state of neglect.
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State to Test Well Water in Florida Community Where Residents Complain of 'Unusually' High Brain Cancer Rate
July 31, 2009 - The state Department of Environmental Protection says it will begin next week testing well water in a western Palm Beach County community where residents have complained about an unusually high number of brain cancer cases.
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South Florida May Have More Than One Cancer Cluster
July 31, 2009 - The CBS4 I-Team has brought you the story of a Palm Beach County neighborhood with a disproportionately high number of children with brain tumors and cancers, but apparently they're not alone.
Gail Martin continues to fight the odds, battling the recurring grip of cancers her doctors believe are linked to the type of contaminants that poisoned ash-laden soil of Durrs, an African-American neighborhood in Ft. Lauderdale. Generations in this community grew up in the shadow of a trash incinerator.
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Gail Martin continues to fight the odds, battling the recurring grip of cancers her doctors believe are linked to the type of contaminants that poisoned ash-laden soil of Durrs, an African-American neighborhood in Ft. Lauderdale. Generations in this community grew up in the shadow of a trash incinerator.
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