A day after proposing a tax on drinking water, Gov. Gavin Newsom took a “surprise” road trip to meet with Stanislaus County residents in a community known for having unsafe wells. Newsom and his cabinet made their first stop at the Monterey Park Tract in Ceres, where he held a roundtable discussion with people who for years had to used bottled water for drinking and cooking because their community’s two wells were contaminated with nitrates and arsenic…
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After years of waiting on environmental testing, studies, and decontamination results, Thursday night was the first time the State Department of Toxic Substance Control had a face-to-face meeting with Delano families worried they’re being exposed to toxic chemicals in their neighborhood…
The Association of California Water Agencies’ fall conference in San Diego included a panel titled “A Conversation Concerning Consolidation,” and the experience of the Eastern Municipal Water District and the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District taking over the territory previously served by the County Water Company of Riverside was referenced as a successful consolidation effort…
When it comes to monitoring air quality, we typically turn to air regulators, like the state and the local San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. But a recent state law is taking on a new strategy: Putting air quality in the hands of the community. And one person who’s excited about the opportunity is Southeast Fresno resident Lilia Becerril…
California has generally long been an anti-mass burn state, and its staunch opposers to incineration are not backing down now, as seen by two major events since 2017. The first was the death of AB655, which would have entitled waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators to credits via the renewable portfolio standard. Then, in June 2018, one of three remaining plants shuttered, due to financial pressures…
“As public servants we need to engage and earn the trust of the people we serve and we have to do our work with determination,” said Becerra during his inaugural address on Jan. 7.
Becerra was sworn into office during an inaugural ceremony at the Secretary of State Auditorium.
Becerra said the state is blessed to have leaders of “this caliber” who not only have the interest of the state in mind but also demonstrated that get things done as he spoke about state Senate President Pro-Tempore Toni Atkins…
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation found chlorpyrifos residue on fruits and vegetables being sold in the state, according to The Salinas Californian. The tests also found illegal amounts of other pesticides on produce grown in Monterey County. In all, 149 samples of 3,695 different types of produce had illegal pesticide residue, which was 4% of all the produce tested, the newspaper reported…
In spite of receiving 1,000,000 signed petitions on November 1 and being confronted with 30,000 people marching in a climate protest in San Francisco in September, Governor Jerry Brown did not change any of his positions on fossil fuel extraction, carbon trading, the Delta Tunnels and other questionable environmental policies…
Theresa Landrum still has an emergency kit the Wayne County Department of Homeland Security gave her years ago when she asked the agency to help her community, which is surrounded by heavy industry, create an evacuation plan in the event of a chemical emergency.
“They gave us a little can, the size that tennis balls come in, and we thought it was a joke,” said Landrum at a recent meeting at Detroit’s New Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church. “They gave us a whistle, a bottle of water and a Band-Aid and a tiny, little flashlight.”…
A lawsuit filed recently in Fresno County Superior Court has accused county officials of discriminating against low-income residents of color by failing to execute key updates and programs regarding state housing laws and local land use polices…