A proposed power-line project that would span the length of Nevada and allow more than a dozen commercial-scale solar projects from Las Vegas to Reno to deliver green energy across the West, has moved a step closer toward final approval. The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday announced ...

It was nearly 15 years ago that Grand Canyon National Park banned the use of plastic water bottles, which, at the time, made up a a third of the waste generated by visitors. Soon after, 23 other national parks made the same move. “All told, the 23 plastic-free, bottle-free parks ...

The press release that came across my desk last week should have been satire. It announced the news that “political interference with science” will now be considered a no-no at the Environmental Protection Agency. Among concessions granted by the agency, EPA scientists will finally be ...

A federal circuit court has upheld a recent prohibition on helicopter tours over Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Badlands National Park in South Dakota, rejecting motions from aircraft companies to repeal the ban. In January, three aircraft tour companies — Badger Helicopters, Black ...

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) has introduced legislation that seeks to create a national support hub and storage center for native plants of all US states and territories. The bill is endorsed by Chicago Botanic Garden; Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility; California Native ...

New restrictions on air tours at Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Badlands National Park will stay in effect while a lawsuit against them proceeds, a federal court has ruled. Noise and other complaints about air tours over National Park Service sites led Congress to adopt the National ...

With a one-sentence ruling the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to stay, pending appeal, commercial air tour bans approved by the National Park Service for Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. The ruling by the 8th Circuit last week ...

For more than 40 years, the city of Columbia has applied tens of thousands of tons of wastewater sludge as fertilizer on farms across mid-Missouri. Now, it turns out its sludge contains “forever chemicals” known to cause cancer and other health problems. Public Employees for ...

US regulators failed to prevent toxic PFAS in fertilizers from contaminating farmland across the country, alleges a lawsuit filed this week by a watchdog group on behalf of two Texas farm families who suffered health problems after their properties were polluted. The Environmental ...

“Send it back. Send it back,” residents chanted at Wednesday’s Montclair Board of Education meeting. The “it” they referred to is the artificial turf field currently in temporary storage at Woodman Field. The turf is slated for eventual installation as part of the Woodman Field ...

Five Texas farmers and ranchers are suing EPA over its failure to limit “forever chemicals” in sludge, a problem that they say has killed their animals, jeopardized their health and devalued their land. “EPA is avoiding its long-standing legal responsibility to protect ...

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals that are used commercially for their nonstick or waterproof properties. The problem is that they don’t readily break down and have been associated with harmful health conditions. Today, these chemicals can be found everywhere. ...

Astroturfing is bad for the environment — and not just metaphorically. New research suggests that athletes playing on artificial turf may be exposed to higher levels of toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” than those who play on real grass, raising concerns about the safety of these ...

A group of five Texas farmers and ranchers sued the EPA on Thursday for its alleged failure to properly regulate PFAS in fertilizer. “EPA is avoiding its longstanding legal responsibility to protect our health and environment from PFAS in biosolids,” Kyla Bennett, science policy ...

America’s farmland is a dumping ground. Industrial food waste and sewage sludge are being spread on millions of acres nationwide. Some call it free fertilizer, rich in nutrients. Others say the practice should be halted due to threats from emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals, ...

The U.S. EPA’s updated its interim guidance for the tricky problem of how to dispose of PFAS waste has boosted interest in incineration, one of the agency’s sanctioned disposal methods. But research is still lacking on the pathways and effects of combustion byproducts. PFAS, a class of ...

In Texas, five farmers are suing Synagro for providing fertilizer they said contaminated their water supply, affected their health, damaged their land and killed their livestock after a neighboring farmer spread it on his land. Dana Ames, an environmental crimes investigator with the ...

Compared to cattle, wild horses and burros cause much less damage to public rangeland, according to a new analysis. The advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility – or PEER – has analyzed nearly three decades of Bureau of Land Management data detailing the ...

A group representing organic farmers in Maine has announced it will sue the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act for the agency’s failure to protect their land, crops, and livestock from toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” The group, the Maine Organic Farmers and ...

The EPA allegedly failed to report PFAS detected in pesticides samples sent to the agency for testing, according to a complaint filed last week by watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA tests all pesticides prior to registration due to the known ...