Focus
NPR – March 2
NPR – March 2According to a new study, nearly one-third of hazardous chemical facilities in the United States are at risk from climate driven floods, storms and wildfires. AnalyseGovernment Accountability Office. The federal watchdog agency examined more than 10,000 factories, refineries and water treatment plants that make, store or use hazardous chemicals. The report calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require facilities to be prepared for flooding, power outages and other climate-related effects. These requirements are already in regulations for hazardous chemical handling facilities, but the report suggests that EPA could do a better job of enforcing them.
News
Agri-Pulse – March 2
EPA is taking steps intended to “restore public faith” in the agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB), the agency stated in a MemoMonday’s announcement. In a news release, EPA said the new policy would strengthen “the independence of the SAB’s role by scoping and identifying the peer review needed for EPA decisions” and also ensure the agency “considers and develops peer reviewed science early in their rule-making development process.” The new policy replaces the former policy adopted in February 2020 during the Trump administration and takes effect immediately.
The Mercury News – February 25
The Port of Oakland’s board last Thursday approved Eagle Rock Aggregates’ controversial proposal to build an open-air sand and gravel plant on 18 acres of Port property under a 12-year lease. Local unions support the project. They believe the plant will create jobs and apprenticeship opportunities. However, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the state Attorney General’s Office, and local organization West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project have questioned the environmental analysis of the project, citing potentially uncontrolled dust emissions from the sand piles and allegedly excessive nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions from ships docking at the port and trucks transporting gravel to Bay Area concrete plants.
Los Angeles Times – February 28
Two cargo ships, which allegedly damaged an oil pipe with their anchors during a winter storm, should be held responsible for the catastrophic October oil spillage that sent thousands of gallons into the waters off Orange County. This was according to a federal court lawsuit filed Monday. Amplify Energy Corp. is the pipeline owner. It claims that the shipping companies, as well as their subsidiaries, which are based in Switzerland Panama Liberia Liberia and Greece, allowed their cargo vessels to drop anchor near the pipeline, but failed to notify authorities about the damage. Both ships have been identified by the Coast Guard as parties to the federal investigation into the spillage.
Associated Press – February 25
Representatives Katie Porter and Jimmy Panneta of California, who are members of the U.S. House of Representatives delegation, have asked the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for assistance in studying a possible connection between Fort Ord’s toxic and contaminated water and the development of specific cancers. The request comes as a result of an Associated PressLast week’s report focused on hundreds of people who lived or served near the Army base, and who were concerned that their health problems may be related to chemicals found there. In 1990, four years before it began the process of closing as an active military training base, Fort Ord was added to EPA’s list of the most polluted places in the nation, due to cancer-causing chemicals found in the base’s drinking water and soil.
KPIX – February 28
Copart Inc., an international online vehicle auction company based in Dallas, will pay nearly $1 million in penalties as part of a settlement agreement with several California cities and counties over allegations that it improperly disposed of hazardous waste, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors also stated that the agreement includes a permanent injunction prohibiting Copart Inc. from violating hazardous waste laws, and requiring it implement compliance assurance measures.
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