Washington, DC-- Today, the House Oversight Committee is hosting a hearing on the PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical) crisis polluting communities and harming public health across the country. Coloradan, veteran, and clean water activist Mark Favors submitted written testimony about his personal experience -- sharing the stories of his family and his community’s suffering from PFAS pollution originating at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
Washington, DC-- Tomorrow at 10:00 am, Harlem resident and army veteran Mark A. Favors will testify before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the military’s contamination of community drinking water systems surrounding military bases with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (man-made chemicals known as PFAS).
Mr. Favors’ relatives, including seven military veterans, residing in polluted areas have been contaminated. 16 have been diagnosed with cancer.
Washington, DC -- Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) announced that it will study eight military bases and adjacent communities where there was long-term exposures to harmful per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
El Paso County, CO -- Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) announced they will study eight military bases and adjacent communities where there was long-term exposures to harmful per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS exposure is linked to decreased effectiveness of childhood vaccines, liver and kidney damage, increased risk of thyroid disease, decreased fertility, pregnancy complications, lower birth weights, and cancer.
Philadelphia, PA -- Today, Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the EPA’s national action plan on PFAS. PFAS chemicals are widely detected in drinking water and toxic at very low levels. However they are currently exempted from most environmental safeguards. Still, EPA has the power to mandate water testing, stop on-going pollution, and clean up contaminated places.
Tomorrow at 10:00 am at the Riverfront Community Center, the EPA Region 7 office is hosting a press conference in Leavenworth, Kansas where they will announce their PFAS national action plan.
In the first week of the legislative session, Rep. Carl Albrecht introduced HB 220 - Radioactive Waste Amendments, which provides for the disposal of higher classes of nuclear waste than is currently allowed by State law, including depleted uranium and Class B and C waste, at the discretion of the Director of the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control.
Tomorrow, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote on advancing acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s nomination. On top of being cozy with polluters and rolling back our biggest protections against climate pollution, Wheeler is in the hot seat for his refusal to address toxic emissions and clean up polluted communities from per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals. These toxic chemicals are fueling a water contamination crisis in hundreds of communities across the country. As many as 110 million Americans could be drinking PFAS contaminated water.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler will not consider federal limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals that are fueling a water contamination crisis in hundreds of communities across the country, including in Colorado. PFAS chemicals have been detected in water supplies for more than 100,000 Colorado residents.
Washington, DC-- This week, The Intercept reported on the Sierra Club discovery that the U.S. military is sending its stockpiles of toxic PFAS chemicals to hazardous waste incinerators -- a dangerous and contamination-prone approach.
The Sierra Club and partner organizations filed an appeal today challenging a key permit for a massive proposed petrochemical facility known as an “ethane cracker” in Belmont County. The plant is part of the industry’s push to steeply increase U.S. plastic production.
Hundreds of people from Cowlitz County and neighboring areas attended a public hearing held by the Port of Kalama and Cowlitz County on the proposed fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery in Kalama, WA.