California's Polanco Act provides a powerful (some would say one sided) tool for Redevelopment Agencies to force the remediation of a site subject to redevelopment, or to cause PRP's to reimburse such agencies for the remedial cost outlays. [As... Read More
EPA has delegated enforcement of drinking water standards to most States. EPA depends on the reported data to monitor the effectiveness of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) program. To assess the accuracy of the data reported, EPA asked GAO to audit... Read More
Prior posts have noted the wide use of nanomaterials in consumer goods, and the threat to human health that particles of such size may pose. An example of the risk posed by nanomaterials is sunscreen. Dermal penetration of some nanomaterials into the... Read More
EPA recently announced they are moving forward, contrary to the policy of the Bush Administration, with setting standards for various toxics in drinking water. Unfortunately, attention is not being given to a serious health threat, amoebas in drinking... Read More
Natural gas in various forms comprised approximately 2/3 of the hydrocarbons emitted from the Deepwater Horizon well blowout. Methane is believed to compose an estimated 87.5% of that natural gas. Sampling in June 2010 found no microbial breakdown of... Read More
It has long been an axiom of environmental science that a diverse ecological community (aka biodiversity) is more resilient and productive because it stabilizes the ecological system as a whole. This should not be confused with a focus on an individual... Read More
In Abraham v. St. Croix Renaissance Group , 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 9899 (3rd Cir. 2013), Defendant sought to remove the case pursuant to Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFE"). Plaintiffs (459 in number) alleged that defendant purchased the site at... Read More
In 1983, the City sought to restore a long closed well for use as a drinking water resource. It received complaints re taste and odor. The State of Nebraska and EPA investigated, and ultimately the site was added to the NPL in 1986. EPA determined that... Read More
Prior posts have noted that California issued Vessel Fuel Rules designed to reduce air pollution created by ships moving along the coast. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Assoc. sued, alleging that it was unconstitutional to apply such rules to shipping... Read More
California submitted a Clean Air Act State Implementation Plan to the EPA for approval. Pursuant to the "conformity rule" under 40 C.F.R. Section 93.118, the EPA conducted a review to determine whether the SIP's motor vehicle emissions budgets... Read More
It is well known that stormwater gathers a variety of pollutants as it flows across the landscape and even through stormwater drainage systems. See, for example, http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=6 and http://www.epa.gov/owow_keep/NPS/index... Read More
Prior posts have noted the unfortunate tendency in much of the world, including the U.S., to over prescribed antibiotics (even for conditions in which antibiotics are of no use whatsoever [e.g., viral infections]), resulting in disease-causing organisms... Read More