A non-profit company in California has halted discharges at two facilities where environmentalists say wastewater contaminated groundwater resources. Valley Water Management Company is a non-profit that disposes of wastewater for dozens of oil operators in California…
News
This page features excerpts from news about environmental justice advocacy in the San Joaquin Valley and links to their original sources. Use the features on the right to sort by topic, news source, date, key word or author. You may also subscribe to receive the news by e-mail or through an rss reader. Please note that links to original sources may expire over time.
From the Office of the Governor:
“We have a big state with diverse water needs. Cities that need clean water to drink, farms that need irrigation to keep feeding the world, fragile ecosystems that must be protected,” said Governor Newsom in his State of the State address…
Felicia Marcus, whose push for larger river flows angered farmers and community leaders in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, won’t continue as chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board.
Gov. Gavin Newsom named Joaquin Esquivel as chairman of the powerful water regulatory board. In his first State of the State Address, Newsom said Tuesday that Esquivel would bring balance to state water policy…
A study published recently in Science, on the mounting evidence in favor of the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health, reveals which counties in the U.S. are projected to incur the most climate-change damage at the end of the century.
The reddened areas in the map below, showing the most damage, are found mostly across the Gulf South, in states where some of the poorest black, Latino, Asian, and Native American communities are located. Many of these places have already sustained huge tolls from climate-related disasters…
Valley Water Management Company, a non-profit company that disposes of wastewater for dozens of oil operators in California, has halted discharges at two facilities where environmentalists say wastewater contaminated groundwater resources.
The closure stems from a lawsuit filed by Clean Water Action, the Center for Environmental Health, and the grassroots group Association of Irritated Residents in 2015, after the regional water board found that discharges at two facilities—Race Track Hill and Fee 34—had elevated levels of oilfield contaminants…
For years, Californians regarded access to safe drinking water as a Third World problem.
No more.
About 1 million Californians can’t safely drink their tap water. Approximately 300 water systems in California currently have contamination issues ranging from arsenic to lead to uranium at levels that create severe health issues.
It’s a disgrace that demands immediate state action.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes taxing water across California to create a dedicated fund to solve the problem. Imposing a new tax would require a two-thirds supermajority of the Legislature to pass…
Grassroots groups such as the Sunrise Movement and 350.org are mobilizing across California and the nation this week and next to promote the “Green New Deal,” a 10-year-plan to fight climate change by weaning the country off of oil and gas.
On Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced twin resolutions in the U.S. House and Senate…
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a coalition of 10 other environmental, environmental justice, and public health organizations filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today as part of their effort to close a damaging new EPA loophole for toxic air pollution.
EDF and its allies filed a lawsuit in March challenging the loophole. Today they filed reply briefs in the case…
A potentially life-threatening fungal illness is rapidly spreading throughout central California, state health officials report.
The number of Valley Fever cases rose eight percent in 2018 from the previous year – up to more than 8,100 from more than 7,500, according to a report released by the California Department of Public Health last week.
The increase from 2016, when cases totaled around 5,700, was even more shocking – an sharp spike of 42 percent…
Californians with unhealthy drinking water pleaded for help from lawmakers this week but opposition quickly developed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to pay for system improvements with a new fee.
“We just upped our water rates, and to turn around and give them a tax on their meter is just not feasible,” said Maxine Israel, director at the Cabazon Water District, which serves about 2,500 customers near Palm Springs…