Environmental Health

"The Trump administration has directed all agency rulemaking activities to continue despite growing calls from lawmakers, state attorneys general, and regulated entities to postpone consideration of any rule that doesn’t address the novel coronavirus pandemic."

"ARTESIA, N.M. — When the new pastor arrived at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church a few years back, he was struck by the sight and smell of the towering refinery a block east of his chapel. The Rev. A.L. Vijaya Raju had a question: Were fumes from the flares, pipes and tanks to blame for breathing problems afflicting some parishioners?"

"As the National Park System continues to shut down in piecemeal fashion, a few complete units here, some visitor centers there, the National Parks Conservation Association is calling for the entire park system to be closed during the coronavirus pandemic."

"In less than a week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced two policy changes that could have far-reaching consequences for the air above Massachusetts."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that asbestos poses an unreasonable risk of cancer to both workers and consumers who inhale it, ramping up pressure on the agency to ban the substance."

"The Grand Canyon National Park announced in a press release on Wednesday that it would close to the public after receiving a request to do so from Coconino County health officials."

"This year’s United Nations-sponsored climate talks, widely regarded as the most important climate meeting of the past four years, were postponed on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic."

"In a highly unusual move, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is calling on the agency's inspector general to scrap a new report that faults a lack of outreach to communities potentially exposed to a cancer-causing chemical."

"Three days before EPA issued a policy signaling to industry it would not penalize companies for failing to comply with environmental laws during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the American Petroleum Institute sent the agency a wish list. The oil and gas lobby got more than it had hoped for."

"The EPA has failed to warn residents who live near most plants that emit significant amounts of the carcinogenic gas ethylene oxide about the potential dangers to their health, the agency’s inspector general concluded Tuesday."