Cal EPA and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control has hit Chemical Waste Management with yet another fine, this time for $400,000 and an order to purchase $600,000 worth of new equipment to properly test the hazardous substances they’re processing.
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We do not often get good news like this coming from our most vulnerable fence-line communities in the environmental justice movement. This particular development highlights the resilience of the EJ movement. Kettleman City has been at the forefront of EJ struggles since the 1980s. It is remarkable and encouraging that the tenacity of these heroic activists has finally produced an action that could change the politics of risk management in our nation’s solid waste landfills, which are too often the sites for illegal dumping of toxic wastes that should be handled by separate entities and facilities designed to address the attendant higher risks posed by toxic substances.
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Half of US grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables come from California fields, which all depend on the hard work of approximately 700,000 farmworkers. The state’s approach to pesticide use has critical implications for workers and their families, as well as the rest of nation that often relies on the example of policies adopted in California. Unfortunately, many challenges remain in implementation and enforcement decisions that affect the health of farmworkers and surrounding communities. The Golden State’s reputation for leadership in environmental policy and protection of farmworkers has also been severely tarnished by the recent decision to register the soil fumigant methyl iodide.
Chemical Waste Management will pay $400,000 in fines and spend $600,000 on laboratory upgrades needed to properly manage hazardous materials at its facility near Kettleman City, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
Federal officials said Wednesday they have levied about $1 million in penalties on the operator of the largest toxic dump in the West for failing to properly dispose of waste near a community known for a rash of birth defects.
But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said there is no evidence these latest violations pose any health threat to the community or workers at the dump site.
The Central Valley Air Quality Coalition went to Sacramento for a day of action for the eighth consecutive year.
Chemical Waste Management will pay $400,000 in fines and spend $600,000 on laboratory upgrades needed to properly manage hazardous materials at its facility near Kettleman City, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
The California Air Resources Board on Wednesday showed unanimous support for the cap-and-trade program on carbon dioxide emissions that had been challenged in court and at the meeting by environmental activists.
The air board took action Wednesday in the wake of a ruling by a San Francisco judge who decided earlier this year that the board violated California’s environmental regulations by not conducting a thorough vetting of possible alternatives to cap and trade. The board voted 9-0 to approve an updated analysis of alternatives to cap and trade.
It is not clear what impact the action will have on the court proceedings. Judge Ernest Goldsmith had told the state to halt work on the cap and trade, but the air board appealed and another court allowed the work to proceed while the issue is on appeal.
California pesticide regulators discriminated against Latino schoolchildren when they annually approved a powerful pesticide used near their schools, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.
The preliminary finding is part of a settlement stemming from a civil rights complaint filed in 1999.
The complaint alleged that annual approval of methyl bromide use by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation had a disproportionately adverse impact on the health of Latino children because their schools were often close to agricultural fields.
Yesterday, about 100 people from the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ) and Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE) traveled to Sacramento for the annual Clean Air Action Day. They dropped into legislators’ offices and asked for their support on a variety of laws and policies that promote healthier environments.
I followed Teresa De Anda, a champion for pesticide reform from the tiny Tulare County community of Earlimart; Irma Medellín, a community organizer from the Tulare County city of Lindsay, and a few others through the Capitol. The group was scheduled to speak with three legislators, including Assemblyman Luis Alejo and Senator Michael Rubio.
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