Another Attempt to Delay Crucial Transportation Safeguards

A proposed bill in Congress would throw a wrench into transportation safety standards, just in time for many families' summer travel plans.

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Two Years After Quebec Disaster, Thousands Rally to #StopOilTrains

Two years ago this week, a 74-car freight train derailed in a Quebec city, killing 47 people. The massive explosion leveled nearly half of the city’s downtown.

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Pennsylvania Residents Near Fracking Sites Report Health Problems

Last week, Food & Water Watch released the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s log of health complaints from communities living near fracking sites. The logs include many of the health complaints that critiques have linked to fracking for years – and the state’s inadequate response. 

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Map Displays Five Years of Oil Pipeline Spills

On June 14, a natural gas pipeline ruptured and burst into flames near Cuero, Texas, releasing an estimated 165,000 pounds of toxic volatile organic compounds into the air. Nearby residents evacuated their homes, but no one was injured. Still, the accident serves as another reminder of the dangers of transporting natural gas and other hazardous materials.

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Fracking and Water: It’s about more than Contamination

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent study on the connection between fracking and water contamination made headlines earlier this month, with environmental groups seeing it as proof that fracking threatens drinking water and industry using it to argue that fracking is safe.

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A Third New York County Passes a Toxic-Free Toy Bill

Suffolk County became the third county in New York State to pass a bill limiting toxic substances in children’s toys. The Toxic Free Toy Act passed unanimously on Tuesday and now goes to County Executive Steve Bellone for approval.

The bill sets limits on six heavy metals linked to serious health and developmental issues:

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Long-awaited EPA Study Shows How Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water

UPDATE (June 24, 2015): Last week, the University of Texas at Arlington released a study finding widespread contamination of drinking water from fracking. The study examined 550 drinking water wells located near fracking operations on the Barnett shale in northern Texas.

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The Public Wants EPA – Not Congress – to Protect Our Drinking Water

UPDATE (May 28, 2015): Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Water Rule, closing loopholes that historically allowed polluters to dump waste into the streams and wetlands that feed our drinking water supply. One in three Americans’ drinking water comes from these sources, and so EPA’s rule is a win for public and environmental health. Among other provisions, the rule grants protection under the Clean Water Act to streams, wetlands, and rain-dependent waters that connect to navigable waters. 

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Banning Fracking Bans: The Paradox of Local Control

UPDATE (June 3, 2015): On May 29, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law a bill prohibiting local cities and counties from banning fracking operations. The bill allows communities to issue “reasonable” restrictions dealing with traffic and noise, but all other oil and gas drilling operations will be regulated by the state. This means all drilling operations will be overseen by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, made up of three Republicans, two of whom have ties to the petroleum industry.

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There is a new paradox emerging in the fracking debate.  

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Ten Years after Toxic Chemical Settlement, DuPont Failing to Keep Its Promises

UPDATE (Oct. 8, 2015): This week, one of the alleged victims of DuPont’s toxic cover-up won a settlement against the company. Jurors found that Carla Marie Bartlett contracted kidney cancer as a result of being exposed to C8 and awarded her $1.6 million. Kidney cancer is one of at least six diseases linked to toxic C8 exposure. The Ohio woman previously resided next to the same river that was contaminated by DuPont’s West Virginia Manufacturing plant.

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