Thursday 13 November 2014

Fwd: EHN Thursday: NPR Investigation - Coal mines operate despite injuries, violations, fines.




Environmental Health News
Thursday, November 13, 2014
 Top Stories

Coal mines keep operating despite injuries, violations and millions in fines. A joint investigation by NPR and Mine Safety and Health News found that thousands of mine operators fail to pay safety penalties, even as they continue to manage dangerous — and sometimes deadly — mining operations. National Public Radio

Study: Fracking fluid has same chemicals as everyday products. A study of one component found in the fracking fluid injected into shale to release oil and gas contains chemicals found in substances most people ingest all the time, including ice cream, laxatives and toothpaste, according to new research from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Washington Post

Fracking sand in oilfields stirs up a serious health risk for workers. Health concerns about oil field fracking have been focused on the mixed brew of chemicals injected into wells. But it is another innocuous-sounding substance — sand — that poses a more serious danger to workers. Denver Post, Colorado

Toxic levels of a chemical in plastic medical devices could endanger preemies. A potentially toxic chemical that is strictly regulated in children's toys is also used in abundance in neonatal intensive care units, where premature babies are often struggling to survive. Washington Post

WHO spotlights dangers posed by household air pollution. The World Health Organization on Wednesday released its recommendations for indoor air quality, highlighting the dangers of burning fuels like unprocessed coal and kerosene at home, and set targets for reducing emissions of health-damaging pollutants. Xinhua News Agency, China

John Muir's legacy questioned as centennial of his death nears. John Muir is the patron saint of environmentalism. But now some critics are arguing that the world has changed so much in the century since his death that Muir has gone the way of wheelwrights. He is no longer relevant. Los Angeles Times

Monsanto, Maui County sued over GMO farming moratorium. Global seed companies Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences promised litigation after Maui County residents approved a voter initiative to ban genetically modified crops on Election Day, but five residents have beaten them to the punch. Honolulu Civil Beat, Hawaii

Monsanto settles farmer lawsuits over experimental GMO wheat. Monsanto said on Wednesday it reached a settlement with U.S. wheat farmers who sued the seed company over market disruption after unapproved genetically-engineered wheat was discovered growing without oversight in Oregon. Reuters

Are record salmon runs in Northwest the result of controversial CO2 reduction scheme? Did an ambitious 2012 experiment to "fertilize" the ocean with iron filings reduce CO2? That remains a controversy. But Pacific salmon seem to have enjoyed it (Part 1 of 2). ClimateWire

US-China climate change deal already facing challenges. A landmark agreement on climate change between the U.S. and China, the world's top two polluting nations, faced immediate challenges from experts who warned that it would require an overhaul of China's economy and from Republicans in Congress who vowed to undermine the deal. Los Angeles Times

Post climate pact, IEA warns fossil fuel trends dire. The IEA says the world's fossil fuel consumption in the coming decades is leading to an average global warming of 3.6°C, or 6.5°F, making catastrophic sea level rise, polar ice cap loss, water shortages and other severe effects nearly inevitable. Climate Central

Are these nicotine-like insecticides killing bees? Scientists are still unable to pinpoint a single cause of colony collapse disorder, but many believe that neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides that is now the most widely used in the world, are a significant factor. Modern Farmer

7 things to know before you eat your next strawberry. Strawberry growers rely on some of the riskiest and hardest-to-control pesticides used in agriculture. Growers use a lot of pesticides. And they often use them close to schools, homes and businesses. Center for Investigative Reporting

Shell 'warned Nigeria pipeline could leak before spills.' Oil firm Royal Dutch Shell was told a pipeline had reached the end of its life years before it spilled up to 500,000 barrels of oil, according to court documents seen by the BBC. BBC

Court dismisses Shell's pre-emptive lawsuit against environmentalists. Royal Dutch Shell's Kulluk drillship in the Beaufort Sea in fall 2012. Royal Dutch Shell photo A federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out a Royal Dutch Shell lawsuit that was intended to inoculate the company's oil-spill plans from challenges by environmentalists. Alaska Dispatch News, Alaska

Dow Chemical a no-show in court hearing over Bhopal disaster. U.S. chemical giant Dow has dodged justice again today by failing to comply with an Indian court summons over the catastrophic 1984 gas leak in Bhopal which left thousands dead. Times of India, India

Fishermen in Brazil save a river Goliath, and their livelihoods. With the twin threats of overfishing and habitat degradation, riverbank dwellers and biologists in the Amazon are working together to save the pirarucu by prohibiting outsiders from catching the fish and overhauling their own methods of pursuing it. New York Times

Alien fish poisoned by the thousands to save San Francisco's Mountain Lake. The end came quickly Wednesday for the invasive fish that had turned San Francisco's historic Mountain Lake into a mucky swamp-like pond filled with gluttonous aliens. The carcasses began floating up shortly after 9 a.m. San Francisco Chronicle, California

More news from today
  • These chem-lab creations are the future of food
  • The disturbing ways that fast food chains disproportionately target black kids
  • Climate: Secret talks and a personal letter: How US-China climate deal was done; Obama clears the air on climate-change deal with China
  • Stories from: UK, Nigeria, Kenya, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Canada
  • US stories from: VT, NY, NJ, MD, WV, NC, FL, LA, OK, CA, AK
  • Smoking: Australia put cigarettes in standardized packs with graphic labels - and they're working
  • Editorials: The challenges of the US-China climate deal; Green leap forward

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