Jun 4
2013
Michael Heimbinder created a system that allows him to measure air quality in neighborhoods. “You’re not going to be able to tell the difference between clean air and moderately unhealthy air,” he said. “You can’t see it.”
May 31
2013
Houston is already in violation of federal ozone standards. Now the city is struggling to meet federal standards for fine dust particles, known as PM 2.5. The highest reading is at a monitor near the Port of Houston, where there’s a lot of truck traffic. A report by Texas Tribune.
May 25
2013
D’Youville Porter School is a few blocks from the Peace Bridge. Some 660 students attend the elementary school. A quarter have asthma. Instruction at the school includes reading, writing and, for some pupils, how to use an inhaler. “It is very difficult for these kids who are having asthma problems,” said Assunta Ventresca, director of health related services for Buffalo schools. Asthma is an epidemic on the Lower West Side. The victims, sometimes wheezing and struggling for breath, are in one in of every three households. Studies found asthma rates are nearly four times the national average in the neighborhoods[...]
May 24
2013
The stinky truth is finally public. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has begun publishing sewer overflow reports from across New York. The reports, which are in Excel format, are posted here. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the “Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law” in August. The law requires public sewage treatment plants and sewer systems to notify the DEC whenever there is a sewer overflow of untreated or partially treated sewage and stormwater into waterways. Combined sewer systems, like the one in Buffalo, take both untreated sewage and stormwater into one pipe before making its way to a treatment plant. But[...]
May 22
2013
An Investigative Post report produced in partnership with WGRZ has found a strong link between Peace Bridge pollution, especially diesel truck fumes, and high asthma rates in the neighborhood adjacent to the bridge. An analysis of scientific studies and other data shows asthma rates on the Lower West Side are about four times the national average and residents with asthma can be found in nearly one in three households in the neighborhood. Seven public schools on the West Side report more than 500 students suffer from asthma, including one-quarter of pupils at the elementary school located just two blocks from the bridge entrance. A federal study has established a link between diesel[...]
May 21
2013
If it weren’t for local residents and “citizen science,” Tonawanda Coke may still be illegally spewing out tons of toxic benzene from a bleeder valve and hiding it from state regulators. The Environmental Protection Agency published a video today that focused on the efforts of local residents who about four years ago collected data with the guidance and help of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York to bring attention to the dangerous pollution in an industrial corridor that has 53 plants in a 2-mile radius. What they found was shocking: the carcinogenic chemical benzene at levels well beyond[...]
May 16
2013
A review of thousands of academic papers found an almost unanimous conclusion: humans are to blame for climate change. A report by The Guardian.
May 16
2013
Whether levels of carbon dioxide did or did not reach the grim milestone of 400 parts per million at a Hawaiian observatory this month doesn’t take away from the fact that we are still very dependent on fossil fuels. Rising above the mark is inevitable. A host of scientific studies show there could be catastrophic results if global temperatures reach what has been called the “danger zone,” a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) increase above pre-industrial global temperatures. Scientists believe the 400 parts per million level is the limit before global temperatures rise above that danger zone. This is important[...]