An examination of monitoring data available for the first time concludes that 91 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants with monitoring data are contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of toxic pollutants. The study by the Environmental Integrity Project, with assistance from Earthjustice, used industry data that became available to the public for the first time […]
By Rachel Leven Engineer Jim Southerland was hired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1971 to join the nascent war on air pollution. He came to relish the task, investigating orange clouds from an ammunition plant in Tennessee and taking air samples from strip mines in Wyoming. Among his proudest accomplishments: helping the […]
By Martha Roberts The imposing limestone government building in central Washington where Scott Pruitt holds sway is increasingly operating away from public view with decisions made behind closed doors, once-public information blacked out, and influential insiders taking charge. As the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pruitt has also proven elusive, having spent […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s inspector general has launched a “preliminary investigation” into administrator Scott Pruitt‘s frequent trips back to his home state of Oklahoma “at taxpayer expense” following congressional requests. The Office of Inspector General said in a letter it will investigate the “frequency, cost and extent of” Pruitt’s travel to Oklahoma through […]
So far, the Trump administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been lighter on the pocketbooks of polluters than previous administrations, collecting 60 percent less in civil penalties than previous administrations had recovered from environmental violators on average by the end of July in their first year after taking office. Federal records reviewed by the […]
A coalition of environmental and public health advocates filed suit Wednesday to challenge a Trump administration rollback that could wipe out critical protections for cleaning up America’s leading source of toxic water pollution: coal power plant waste. The federal lawsuit seeks to invalidate an April 25 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order that abruptly put […]
By Jonathan Hahn On President Trump’s first Earth Day in the White House, he declared on Twitter that “we celebrate our beautiful forests, lakes and lands”—an amiable if blasé arm-punch to the planet from the leader of the free world. Until a few hours later that is, when the president resorted to his usual right […]
The DC Circuit Court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday to close a loophole that has allowed hazardous substances released into the environment by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to go unreported. “We applaud the DC Circuit Court’s clear decision to enforce this vital environmental safeguard to protect public safety,” said Earthjustice attorney […]
As incoming President Donald Trump prepares to appoint an anti-regulatory U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator based on claims that environmental regulations “kill jobs,” a new report that synthesizes decades of economics research documents that this claim is false. 5 Things You Need to Know Trump's EPA Pick Scott Pruitt https://t.co/gASl3w4OuE @HuffPostGreen @greenpeaceusa — EcoWatch […]