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In The News /
May 20
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Five water-purification plants halted some filtration operations Friday and Saturday after hazardous formaldehyde was detected, stirring fears the contamination came from the upstream part of a major river system of the Kanto region.
Kyodo News, Japan
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Reservoirs supplying the majority of Shanghai's water have been closed after a fuel ship sank at the mouth of the Yangtze River on Friday night, the city government said yesterday.
Shanghai Daily, China
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Emergency tugs have been sent to rescue a cargo ship that has broken down on the Great Barrier Reef after its engine lost power yesterday. Greens said the breakdown, which could cause "significant environmental damage", should prompt the government to halt plans to increase shipping for fossil fuel exports throughout the Great Barrier Reef.
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
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One of Canada's top experts on Arctic issues is warning of the "near-inevitability" of an Exxon Valdez-scale oil spill at a fragile choke point in Alaskan waters if Canada ends up shipping oilsands fuel to China via pipeline terminals on the British Columbia coast.
Postmedia News
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Experts are calling for the asbestos removal safety regulations in Abu Dhabi to be expanded to the rest of the country. The UAE has prohibited the use of asbestos since 2006, which means the safe removal of the material will remain an issue for years.
Abu Dhabi National, United Arab Emirates
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The environmental group Food & Water Watch published 70 pages of emails between Gov. Martin O'Malley and a lawyer for Perdue Farms that the group says shows O'Malley's unduly "cozy" relationship with the Maryand-based chicken company.
E&E Daily
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The debate over raw milk is on high boil. In Minnesota, one farmer accused of breaking state law barring the off-farm sale of raw milk is slated for trial in July. Another is facing criminal charges and a civil suit over an E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak.
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota
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They are some of the world's most threatened natural landscapes, devastated by decades of pollution and deforestation.
Now a major new project is aiming to restore some of the most damaged habitats on the planet to their former glory.
The Telegraph, United Kingdom
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The number of people in Massachusetts who have contracted Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne virus, has grown in recent years. State health officials said nine people have contracted it since 2006.
Brockton Enterprise, Massachusetts
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Some environmental groups claim that the DuPont fracking wastewater incidents in 2009 and 2010 prove Delaware has a direct stake in an interstate fight over regulations, even though the nearest gas-bearing layers of Marcellus Shale are well north and west of watersheds that provide northern Delaware’s drinking water.
Wilmington News Journal, Delaware
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Government officials have rejected shale gas technology as a solution to Britain's energy crisis, with senior coalition figures having agreed that shale gas has the potential to be deeply controversial without securing major benefits in lowering carbon emissions or reducing energy costs.
The Independent, United Kingdom
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Nobody knows the extent of the shale gas resource in Australia but the potential is big, perhaps big enough to reduce coal seam gas to a sideshow.
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
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Plaintiffs diagnosed with a disease as a result of medical monitoring will retain their rights to sue chemical giant Monsanto if a court next month approves a proposed multimillion-dollar settlement in the class-action lawsuit against the company. But some class members object to the agreement.
Charleston Gazette, West Virginia
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By James Osborne
Philadelphia Inquirer
20 May 2012
To scientists, routinely eating one’s catch is the health equivalent of smoking and sunbathing — an anachronistic practice to be discouraged. Yet on waterways around Philadelphia, the practice persists due to skepticism, generational and cultural differences, and, for poorer families, the lure of virtually free food.
more…
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By Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post
20 May 2012
India’s rivers and creeks continue to be ravaged for sand to fuel a boom in construction and a massive urban transition. The result, analysts warn, is an impending environmental disaster.
Sand is a natural aquifer, and ecologists say unauthorized sand mining reduces the recharge of rivers and has depleted the groundwater table in many areas. It also increases the risk of flooding and harms coastal farm soil by making it saline.
more…
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New Science
Understand the latest scientific findings
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Exposure to bisphenol A at levels commonly found in the general population may cut a woman's chance of getting pregnant if she is undergoing fertility treatment, a study from Harvard University finds. Women with higher levels of the chemical, widely used in food can linings and receipt paper, were less likely to get pregnant than women with lower levels. more…
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Women exposed to low levels of cadmium in their food have changes in DNA markers that alter gene regulation and increase their cancer risk. This study for the first time suggests that cadmium may be turning genes on or off in a way that triggers disease. more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/media_review/inspector.html
Media Notes
Notable media news and reviews
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The lack of scientific information in a Daily Mail article undermines the credibility of a possible link between a cluster of birth defects and the widely used herbicide atrazine. Readers will find it hard to understand the issue based on the incomplete coverage. more…
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A story in the Windsor Star is one of the first to cover a new type of flame retardant that has contaminated the air of U.S. cities and remote areas of the world. The story, though, doesn't mention research that shows these chemicals already have accumulated in mammals and household dust. more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/editorials/inspector.html
Editorials
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Baltimore Sun
CDC's revised guidelines on the risks to children from exposure to lead show the need for greater public investment in remediation of older homes. A war on childhood lead poisoning is one we can win. We know how. All that is required is the will.
more…
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Washington Post
If Republicans come to their senses on global warming, a clean electricity standard could hold the most political appeal of any big approach to carbon cutting.
more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/opinions/inspector.html
Opinions
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Nicholas D. Kristof
New York Times
Chances are that if you’re sitting on a couch right now, it contains flame retardants. This will probably do no good if your house catches fire — although it may release toxic smoke. There is growing concern that the chemicals are hazardous, with evidence mounting of links to cancer, fetal impairment and reproductive problems.
more…
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Robert Mccartney
Washington Post
Just because you’re promoting a worthy cause doesn’t justify distorting the truth.
That’s a principle violated in Washington perhaps more than anywhere, and most recently in an attention-grabbing report by an environmentalist organization declaring the Potomac to be “America’s #1 Most Endangered River.”
more…
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By Lisa Palmer
Daily Climate
20 May 2012
The drive to improve climate science education in public schools – and the effort to add 'balance' to those lesson plans – is reshaping how science is taught in America. Starting Monday, a two-part DailyClimate.org series by reporter Lisa Palmer explores the leading edge of this changing landscape of science education.
more…
By Douglas Fischer
Daily Climate
3 May 2012
With Asia's energy demands pulling more U.S. coal to West Coast ports, rail-line communities across Montana fear the effects: More train traffic, health problems, noise and congestion.
more…
By Peter Dykstra
Daily Climate
1 May 2012
A Fox TV commentator, midgame, links global warming to home runs, and fans on all sides of the climate debate call foul.
more…
By Rae Tyson
Daily Climate
30 April 2012
Snakehead with a side of Kudzu? Washington, D.C.'s Barton Seaver is pushing boundaries in the kitchen, urging restaurants to use menu choice to help sustain diversity – and connect the dots – in a changing climate.
A Climate Query.
more…
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Hot Topics
From today's news and archives
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In The News (CONTINUED) /
May 20
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In Reedley, a farming town southeast of Fresno and within a few miles of three rock quarries, residents fear that even gravel trucks, with their dirty exhaust, will be on the road if nearby mining is expanded. And that is exactly what is in the pipeline. Fresno Bee, California
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When you think of the environmental obstacles facing New Bedford Harbor, a heightened level of nitrogen isn't the first thing that comes to mind. PCBs and heavy metals are already the focus of major remediation efforts, but nitrogen pollution are what residents often complain about. New Bedford Standard-Times, Massachusetts
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When landowners defy established conservation restrictions — and informal resolution efforts fail — the country’s 1,700 or so land trusts find that they have little option but to take them to court. But some trust officials worry that the litigation costs could erode their ability to protect land. New York Times
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Atlantic salmon farms around Vancouver Island have begun testing and formed a special outbreak management team after a virus outbreak at one farm led to the cull of more than half a million fish. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the virus does not affect human health or food safety. Canadian Press
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After the scandal of the devastating birth defects caused by the morning-sickness drug Thalidomide in the 1950s, it seems inconceivable that the same situation could occur again. But for thousands of families in the UK, the word "Epilim" has the same sinister connotations. London Daily Mail, United Kingdom
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More news from today
>60 more stories today, including:
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Delhi traffic cops to get anti-pollution masks
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Climate: Vanishing Welsh sheep; Chemistry of climate change; Queensland has second thoughts about coal port expansion
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US stories from MA, NY, NJ, DE, WV, NC, WI, MI, KY, TX, WA, CA
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Editorials: No easy answers to green energy; Europe's return to coal; American Rivers sounds the alarm on Chattahoochee
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