IN BRIEF: Groups ask EPA to correct study on artificial turf
From: Reuters “Two environmental groups have filed an administrative complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking it to correct a study concluding that exposure risks from toxic chemicals in shredded rubber artificial turf were likely low. Filed with the agency ...
NGOs seek retraction of US agencies’ crumb rubber study
From: Chemical Watch “Two NGOs have filed a request for the US EPA to retract its recent study on recycled tyre crumb rubber materials, claiming that the report violates information quality guidelines. The 6 August complaint from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ...
Earth Talk: Mobile service in national parks
From: Augusta Free Press “Cell service in national parks has become a flashpoint in recent years as cellular providers compete to blanket the U.S. with coverage—even in remote, traditionally off-grid areas. On one side of this most modern of environmental debates stand wilderness ...
How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill the Arctic
From: Politico “The only thing standing in the way of establishing an oil and gas leasing program is the environmental review process, which includes an assessment of the proposed seismic surveys and an evaluation of the impacts of leasing and future development on the refuge. ...
Agency Move Favors Oil and Gas Industry, Critics Say
From: Daily Yonder “The Trump administration announced last week it will move another federal agency out of Washington, D.C., relocating dozens of management-level employees of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). While the administration claims the move is necessary to increase ...
Agencies Affirm Few Complaints of Interference with Science
From: FEDWeek “The PEER organization said that of the 57 allegations made at Interior since 2011 only one was sustained, and of the 30 at Agriculture since 2014 only five. Of the 99 at EPA since 2013, only four were substantiated and almost all of the rest were dismissed, designated ...
Group says lawsuit pushed FAA to implement air traffic management plan for parks
From: Federal News Network “Few things spoil a visit to a majestic national park than the noise of helicopters and low-flying airplanes. Now the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, say their lawsuit has pushed the FAA to implement an air traffic ...
Cellular Towers in Wilderness Areas: Really?
From: Environment Magazine “Cell phone towers have sprouted up in national parks across the country because the National Park Service lacks any coherent policy and instead lets telecommunications companies decide where and how many towers will be constructed,” says Jeff Ruch of the ...
‘He couldn’t breathe’: How playing soccer on artificial turf nearly killed a teen
From: WJLA “In late June, a recycled tire field in Northwest DC’s Palisades Park was roasting. 7 On Your Side used both an infrared laser spot thermometer and a more sensitive infrared camera to test wider areas. Both consistently showed surface temperatures on artificial turf ...
Bureau Of Land Management’s Acting Director Faces Controversy
From: NPR “JEFF RUCH: We’ve likened it to putting an arsonist in charge of the city fire department. SIEGLER: Jeff Ruch is with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that represents whistleblowers inside federal agencies. RUCH: The whole mission of the BLM ...
Local Grocery Stores Are Selling Toxin-Tainted Bottled Water
From: Boston Magazine “New Hampshire officials discovered last month in random testing that the water from Haverhill company Spring Hill Farm Dairy—which is sold at stores across New England under various different names—contained abnormal amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl ...
Investigation Finds National Park Service Fails To Accurately Track Cell Tower Installations
From: National Parks Traveler “An investigation into cell tower installations in national parks has found not only that the National Park Service doesn’t know how many of the installations exist across the National Park System, but that the agency is either overcharging or ...
House Rep. trying again to help federal retirees who saw cuts to Social Security
From: Federal News Network “Seen any good management skills lately? The EPA wants to hear about it. Acting Deputy Administrator Henry Darwin asks employees to record video of their department’s team huddles, and submit them to EPA’s Office of Continuous Improvement before Aug. 16 ...
EPA Inspector General wants to know how something like this was OK’d
From: Raw Story “Under the current administration, EPA is a pollution watchdog not only on a leash but under a muzzle, as well,” said Kyla Bennett of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the nonprofit that sued for the records on behalf of WaterLegacy. Kevin Pierard, ...
Salmon study may foil Trump’s plan to boost water deliveries to Central Valley farms
From: L.A. Times “Federal biologists worked frantically this year to meet a deadline to assess the environmental impacts of Trump administration plans to send more water to Central Valley farmers. But the biologists’ conclusion — that increased deliveries would harm endangered ...
There May Finally be a Move to Crack Down on Noisy National Park Overflights
From: Adventure Journal “While it seems national parks would be protected from an overabundance of loud flight tours, few flight plans are made or enforced above the parks; it’s a kind of Wild West in the skies. Last year alone saw nearly 50,000 overflights at national parks. A ...
The EPA’s New ‘No Surprise’ Policy Protects Everything Except the Environment
From: Esquire “If it were up to me, I’d want the people who own power plants and chemical factories to wake up every morning in cold dread that someone from the Environmental Protection Agency might drop buy to see what corners we’ve been cutting recently. That way, I ...
EPA halts surprise inspections of power, chemical plants
From: The Hill “Environmentalists are criticizing the policy change for limiting the tools EPA enforcement officials can use to make sure power plants, chemical facilities and other emitters are not illegally polluting across states. “Taking the element of surprise away from ...
EPA’s ‘no surprises’ enforcement principle unlikely to impact TSCA
From: Chemical Watch “The US EPA has announced plans to require federal regulators to notify their state counterparts before inspecting power and chemical plants. But despite public outcry over this ‘no surprises’ principle, the agency said that the policy does not spell the end ...
Giving “Upper Hand to Corporate Polluters,” EPA Drops Surprise Inspections
From: Truth Out “Watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) publicized the development in a press statement on Thursday. It cites a memo, dated July 11, 2019, to regional administrators from Susan Bodine, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement ...