Environmental Health

"Hospitals in Southeast Louisiana, already burdened with extremely high numbers of covid patients, took a beating from Hurricane Ida, with roofs ripped off or damaged, leaving water pouring inside and forcing three bayou-country hospitals ravaged by the eye of the storm to evacuate their patients. Patients at a fourth hospital were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard."

"Many Pennsylvania school districts have detected lead and other contaminants in their drinking water and documented problems with mold and radon in school buildings—but not all of them removed the hazards, according to a new report."

"The EPA says it will fully investigate allegations from a public interest group that it illegally destroys the original versions of its internal communications and draft documents once they’re edited, according to an agency spokesman."

"Three common neonicotinoid insecticides were ruled "likely to adversely affect" thousands of endangered species and critical habitats, according to draft biological evaluations released by EPA on Thursday, Aug. 26."

"Harmful indoor air quality has been listed as one of the top five environmental risks to public health, according to Environmental Protection Agency comparative risk studies. Yet there’s no comprehensive regulation that addresses those harms outside of a patchwork of protections and standards of care."

"President Biden has made a push to remove the nation’s lead pipelines a cornerstone of his infrastructure agenda, but a requirement to make that happen is noticeably MIA in EPA’s current rule. Advocates hope that changes."

"Efforts to expand production and exports of ethane—a natural gas byproduct used to make plastics—were criticized by groups that told the Department of Energy Tuesday that any job gains wouldn’t benefit regions bearing the brunt of environmental damage."

"Heat kills in the big city. So does lack of air conditioning. Of the roughly 70 New Yorkers directly killed by heat exposure in their own homes over the past decade, the majority — some 80% — did not own air conditioners, and those who did weren’t running them when they died."

"Although the formaldehyde assessment has grave implications for public health, Trump administration officials refused to allow the EPA to release it."