In The News / May 16

Last ones left in a toxic town.

At the entrance to Treece, Kan., something strange happens: Mountains appear on the horizon. Except they’re not really mountains. They’re mounds of toxic stone. Gray, treeless monuments to the town’s more profitable past.

When the minerals started to run out in the 1960s, the largest mining companies went bankrupt or left, and their workers left, too. Only 170 residents still live in Treece with those toxic towers of stone.

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Medical records could yield answers on fracking.

A proposed study of people in northern Pennsylvania could help resolve a national debate about whether the natural gas boom is making people sick. If the study goes forward, it would be the first large-scale, scientifically rigorous assessment of the health effects of gas production.

In recent years, there have been lots of anecdotal reports about people who say they have been harmed by the chemicals associated with gas wells and the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The study would look at detailed health histories on hundreds of thousands of people who live near the Marcellus Shale, home to about 5,000 natural gas wells.

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New Science

Understand the latest scientific findings
  • BPA diminishes in vitro success. 16 May 2012

    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…

  • Low-level cadmium exposure can increase female cancer risk. 14 May 2012

    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…

Media Notes

Notable media news and reviews

Editorials

  • North Dakota should jealously guard water.

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided not to push the issue of charging North Dakota users for water from the Missouri River, at least until it has a national policy. Water in the West has always been a big deal. The state needs to be prepared to eventually take on the corps. more…

  • Pollution act change shouldn't become law.

    Efforts to stop the Savannah River dredging project may save a key pollution-fighting tool -- private citizens' right to sue under South Carolina's Pollution Control Act. more…

Opinions

  • Cherry blossoms in Fukushima.

    On a recent visit to Fukushima, it was comforting to be reminded that even unprecedented disasters cannot entirely sap Japan’s resolve. People are getting back on their feet, and most of the larger Tohoku area is slowly coming to life. more…

  • Is there a bigger environmental issue than climate change? Scientists say yes.

    Climate change is a serious issue, but it may not be the biggest threat to life on Earth as we know it. Instead, it may be loss of biodiversity, which can have dire consequences if it's ignored to focus on climate change. more…

More news from EHN From Environmental Health News

Rising coal exports have Montana rail communities braced for worst.

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.

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Professor McCarver's 'baseball bat' theory of climate change.

A Fox TV commentator, midgame, links global warming to home runs, and fans on all sides of the climate debate call foul.

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The Cook: A celebrated chef preaches sustainability.

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.

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Essay: Lies in the energy debate.

The heartbreaking irony is that nothing about the energy debate in Washington or the Keystone XL pipeline fight will bring down gas prices or alter unemployment. It will not free us from foreign oil. These are the WMD equivalents trotted out by politicians and industry. They are lies.

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In The News (CONTINUED) / May 16

More news from today
>110 more stories, including:
  • Insecticide resistance threatens malaria fight
  • Climate: Natural sinks still sopping up carbon; England is stuck in drought despite wettest April on record; Brown coal's allure in new coal economy; When oil and gas talks, Obama team listens more closely
  • Consumption, population, and declining Earth: Wake-up call for Rio 20
  • Stories from UK, France, S Africa, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Haiti, Canada
  • FDA delays deadline for new US sunscreen labels
  • US stories from ME, MA, NY, NJ, PA, NC, FL, MN, WI, MI, OH, MO, MS, TX, ID, CO, UT, WA, CA
  • Editorials: Court case shouldn't halt Fox River cleanup; Barking up wrong tree on 'fracking' for gas