Source: https://abcnews.go.com/, July 1, 2020 By: Matthew Brown State regulators are taking over maintenance of a decades-long environmental cleanup in two northwestern Montana towns where lung-damaging asbestos contamination has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday transferred responsibility for protecting the towns of Libby and Troy from further contamination […]

Source: https://www.bigrapidsnews.com/, July 1, 2020 Groundwater contamination at the former Electro-Plating services facility that was determined to be the source of a green ooze leak last year will be treated by injecting chemicals into the soil and treating the contaminants in place. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state announced a plan on Tuesday […]

Source: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), July 1, 2020 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com/ A panel of scientists has recommended that all forms of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in waterproofing, nonstick cookware, fightfighting foams and other heat – and stain – resistant uses be classified collectively as problematic and restricted in uses. PFAS — made by […]

Source: https://www.miamitodaynews.com/, July 1, 2020 By: Jesse Scheckner Miami-Dade has sufficient legal standing to sue – and should sue – the makers of so-called “forever chemicals,” a class of some 4,000 substances prevalent in the water supply linked to cancer and birth defects, County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams has confirmed. A recommendation from Ms. Price-Williams’ office […]

Source: https://www.njherald.com/, June 28, 2020 By: Eric Obernauer After its superintendent denied for months that there was evidence of mold in the elementary school, the Montague School District now faces fines of thousands of dollars per day if health and safety violations — including microbial contamination — aren’t remedied promptly. In an April 30 order […]

Source: https://www.king5.com/, June 24, 2020 The agrochemical giant Monsanto has agreed to pay Washington state $95 million to settle a lawsuit that blamed it for pervasive pollution from PCBs — toxic industrial chemicals that have accumulated in plants, fish and people around the globe for decades. The announcement Wednesday from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson […]

Source: https://www.insurancejournal.com/, June 24, 2020 By: Ludwig Burger and Tina Bellon Bayer AG, after more than a year of talks, agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle close to 100,000 U.S. lawsuits claiming that its widely-used weedkiller Roundup caused cancer, resolving litigation that has pummeled the company’s share price. The German drugs […]

Source: https://pittsburgh.legalexaminer.com/, June 20, 2020 According to a new firefighting foam lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, a Pennsylvania woman was exposed to toxic chemicals in drinking water originating from firefighting foams used nearby. Companies like 3M, Tyco Fire Products, DuPont, and Chemguard manufactured aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) for decades, […]

Source: https://science.thewire.in/, June 22, 2020 Salyersville, Kentucky: In May 2012, Hanson and Michael Rowe noticed an overpowering smell, like rotten eggs, seeping from an abandoned gas well on their land in Kentucky. The fumes made the retired couple feel nauseous, dizzy, and short of breath. Regulators responding to the leak couldn’t find an owner to fix […]

Source: https://www.wane.com/, June 20, 2020 By: Britt Salay The town of Andrews has filed another lawsuit against Raytheon, formally known as United Technologies, after chemical levels found to be “very high” in one of the town’s water wells. On Friday, Huntington County advised Andrews residents to avoid using their water for any purpose after water test […]

Source: https://www.freep.com/, June 21, 2020 By: Keith Matheny Clark’s Marsh, a natural area near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda so tainted with potentially harmful nonstick chemicals that almost every living creature tested there shows excessive levels of them, will get more attention from the U.S. Air Force. But area residents, frustrated by years of […]

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/, June 18, 2020 Commercial insurers are scrutinizing building managers’ efforts to avoid outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease as they re-open movie theaters, gyms, schools and offices that had been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources told Reuters. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe, sometimes-lethal form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria […]