Latest Polychlorinated biphenyl Stories
By Robbyn Drake Up to a point, the facts of the case are simple: A PCB- contaminated site near Albany requires cleanup. A full assessment of the site was conducted by the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC recommended on-site treatment of the contaminated soil, for which safe and effective technology is available. So how on earth do we end up with a decision to haul 75,000 tons of the most toxic portion of this waste to Niagara County and dump it just a few miles from...
By Matthew TresaugueThe congressional committee responsible for the Environmental Protection Agency is challenging a proposal that would allow the operator of a Port Arthur incinerator to import toxic waste from Mexico for disposal. In a letter to the EPA on Monday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce told the federal agency's chief administrator that the proposed approval of Veolia Environmental Services' petition would "effectively create an open border" for other...
By Becky Kramer, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash. Jul. 21--Armed with a clipboard and "How to Skin a Fish" handouts, Sean Hackett approached a woman and her baby daughter as they played on a sandy beach at Peoples Park. Hackett, an intern for The Lands Council, introduced himself, and started asking questions. How often did the woman come to the Spokane River? Was she familiar with PCBs? Did she ever eat fish from the river? The woman was friendly, but slightly wary of the...
By Ken Byron, The Hartford Courant, Conn. Jul. 18--SOUTHINGTON -- Cleaning up the remnants of contaminated sludge at the town's sewage treatment plant will cost nearly $1 million, in addition to the $14.5 million the town is already spending for an expansion to the plant. That estimate came from town staff, and the process of paying for the cleanup, which has already started, begins next week when the board of finance considers a request of $995,000 for the work. That cost estimate...
Women exposed to high levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls "“ a group of banned environmental pollutants) are less likely to give birth to male children. A study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health found that among women from the San Francisco Bay Area, those exposed to higher levels of PCBs during the 50s and 60s, were significantly more likely to give birth to female children.Similar exposure is thought to have occurred in Wales, after a...
By Megan Nichols, The Anniston Star, Ala. Jul. 13--One facet of Anniston's environmental cleanup should be completed next week, officials said. The Foothills Community Partnership has been working throughout Anniston, Oxford and Hobson City for the past 20 months testing properties for lead pollution and cleaning up contaminated properties. The final property would be cleaned up early next week, weather permitting, said Foothills spokesman Tom Potts. The Foothills Community Partnership...
By Graham Milldrum, The Anniston Star, Ala. Jul. 9--After many decades of pollution and years of clean up, the cleaners are leaving one last memento. Foothills Community Partnership handed over $500,000 to the Calhoun County Community Foundation at a reception Tuesday. The money will be used for grants in three major areas; safety and wellness, environmental and economic benefits and education. Eula Tatman, the grant and programming director for the foundation, said the gift will allow...
By Scott Fallon, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Jun. 27--The number of worms, crustaceans and other small invertebrates in the Hackensack River has increased threefold since the 1980s, indicating that the flowing water is cleaner than it has been in years, scientists said Thursday. The study mirrors one released in 2005 that indicates a sizable rise in the number and diversity of fish in the river over the same 15-year period. "It's progress in the right direction," said Francisco...
People living along France's Rhone River and people who regularly eat fish from the river have tested positive for a toxic chemical, health officials said. Some of those tested had four to five times the so-called safe level of PCB, or polychlorobiphenyl, in their blood, EuroNews.net reported Friday. PCB is known to be toxic, said Pierre Souvet, president of the medical association in Provence, which carried out the tests on 52 Rhone residents. It can cause cancer, neurological problems in...
New research suggests that some of what we now consider to be normal aging in the brain might in fact be the long-term effects of exposure to environmental pollutants, such as lead, many years ago. "We're trying to offer a caution that a portion of what has been called normal aging might in fact be due to ubiquitous environmental exposures like lead," Dr. Brian Schwartz of John Hopkins University told Associated Press."The fact that it's happening with lead is the first proof of principle...
