News tagged with 'Environmental Pollution'

The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that a public health emergency exists at the Libby asbestos site in Montana. This is the first time the agency has made a determination under the Superfund law, which governs sites contaminated or threatened by hazardous substances.

Ozone pollution eminating from fossil fuel plants, chemical solvents, and cars, is linked to an increase in respiratory deaths in this published study. Los Angeles and Riverside California are particularly high in ozone levels.

It may be the most significant criminal prosecution ever brought against a corporate polluter. The town of Libby, Montana is finally having its day in court. Town residents claim that the vermiculite mining operation, W.R. Grace, withheld information about the dangers of asbestos that blanketed the entire town with a fine dust.  More than 1,200 died or developed lung disease from asbestos fibers. 

Cleaner air translates to a longer life, concludes a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 51 cities around the country were studied and the life expectancy has increased by nearly five months in the cities with the cleanest air. 

Following federal litigation, the EPA has agreed to slash the amount of allowable airborne lead to one-tenth the amount currently allowed.  The problem is the lead recycling industry must comply and there is a lack of lead monitors nationwide. 

While the pink bandwagon will be raising funds to fight breast cancer during October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, few resources are focused on the causes of breast cancer.  Many supporters of the month are industries with something to gain.   

The value on replacing a life has been quietly reduced by the EPA as part of its cost/ benefit analysis. The Associated Press discovered the reduction of about $1 million on human life which goes directly to weighing the cost versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth, the less a need for imposing regulations on pollution and toxic cleanup.