Posts

Plastic Pipes are Polluting Drinking Water Systems After Wildfires – It’s a Risk in Urban Fires, Too

/in , /by /The Conversationby Andrew J. Whelton, Amisha Shah, Kristofer P. Isaacson

When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard.

Our testing has now confirmed a source of these chemicals, and it’s clear that wildfires aren’t the only blazes that put drinking water systems at risk.

Full Story

BPA Added to California Toxic Chemical List Despite Challenge

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Maeve Allsup

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment can list bisphenol A under the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act despite challenges regarding the lack of evidence of its harm to humans, a state appeals court said Monday.

The agency added BPA, a chemical used to coat food and beverage packaging, to the so-called Proposition 65 list in 2013, based on a study published by the National Toxicology Program’s Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction.

Full Story

San Diego, Chula Vista Among Cities Receiving Funds in Monsanto Settlement

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie Sklar

A settlement reached over water contamination claims stemming from Monsanto Company’s use of toxic chemicals known as PCBs will send $550 million to several jurisdictions, including the cities of San Diego and Chula Vista, it was announced Wednesday.

Full Story

California Cities: Monsanto Settlement to Fund Water Cleanup

/in , , /by /AP Newsby John Rogers

Major California cities say they’ll use their share of a $650 million settlement to clean up the now-banned chemical PCB from bays, lakes and other waterways polluted for decades. The giant chemical company Monsanto announced a tentative agreement Wednesday with government entities that had filed suit since 2015 over waterways and estuaries they say were polluted.

Full Story