Source: https://www.coloradoan.com/, September 2, 2020 By: Pat Ferrier A 12-story office tower in downtown Fort Collins has been shuttered since mid-August after a major asbestos spill occurred during renovations. The spill was reported to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Aug. 6, just as some businesses had returned to their offices amid […]

Source: https://www.delmarvanow.com/, September 2, 2020 By: Julia Rentsch The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will designate the town of Blades, Del., a Superfund site for the purpose of cleaning up industrial chemicals contaminating the town’s groundwater. The listing is primarily related to cleaning up metals associated with electroplating compounds, the EPA announced Wednesday in a news release. […]

Source: https://www.nny360.com/, September 2, 2020 By: Ellis Giacomelli The state Department of Environmental Conservation continues to monitor a chemical gas leak from a stationary rail car at the SABIC Innovative Chemicals facility in Albany County. First reported early Tuesday morning, the leak led to the evacuation of non-essential businesses within a half-mile of the facility, […]

Source: https://kjzz.org/, September 1, 2020 By: Nicholas Gerbis The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered many buildings. As prospects for reopening rise, so too does the need to contend with water systems potentially contaminated during the shutdown. Stagnant water in pipes or tanks can breed microorganisms like Legionella pneumophila, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease. Read more.

Source: https://www.msn.com/, September 1, 2020 By: Elizabeth Elkind Health officials are warning parents and students returning to in-person instruction that COVID-19 might not be the only health risk they should be concerned about. Traces of Legionella — Legionnaires disease — have been found at multiple schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania after months of sitting empty during the pandemic-related lockdowns.  […]

Source: https://www.mlive.com/, September 2, 2020 By: Garret Ellison A major national packaging company is accused of failing to control noxious odors and dust around one of its Michigan paper mills in a new class action lawsuit. Graphic Packaging International is named as a defendant in a complaint filed Tuesday, Sept. 1 in U.S. District Court […]

Source: MassLive.com, September 1, 2020 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com/ Two companies in Massachusetts have reached a settlement with the office of Attorney General Maura Healey, agreeing to pay a total of $185,000 over allegations that the companies illegally discharged polluted industrial stormwater into local rivers. UAVE LLC in Norwood and Cargill, Inc. and Salt City, Inc. […]

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/, August 31, 2020 By: Edvard Pettersson Seattle scoffed at the $650 million Bayer AG agreed to pay to settle class-action claims by about 2,500 cities, counties and ports over pollution from polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, saying it plans to opt out of the deal. According to a filing by Seattle last week in […]

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/, August 27, 2020 By: Max Horberry The new coronavirus is not the only illness that teachers, students, parents and staff will have to worry about as some schools attempt to reopen this fall. Legionella could lurk in the water supplies of school buildings, and some measures to keep people in schools safe from coronavirus […]

Source: The Independent (UK), August 24, 2020 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com/ Virgin Atlantic is offering Covid-19 insurance cover, free of charge, to all passengers. The airline has launched what it claims is “the most comprehensive Covid-19 cover provided by any major airline” for all new and existing bookings up until 31 March 2021. Read more.

Source: Chicago Tribune, August 21, 2020 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com/ Hundreds of new lawsuits have been filed against Sterigenics alleging that health problems including cancer and miscarriages were caused by ethylene oxide emissions from the Willowbrook facility, bringing the total number of cases filed in Cook County against the sterilization company to more than 700. This […]

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/, May 7, 2020 The temporary shutdown or reduced operation of a building and reductions in normal water use can create hazards for returning occupants. Two potential microbial hazards that should be considered prior to reopening after a period of building inactivity are mold and Legionella (the cause of Legionnaires’ disease). For mold, a “prolonged period” may be days, weeks, […]