Cheers and Jeers (Spills)

PROTECTING ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

Things to applaud...and things to condemn.

EPA Demands Less-Toxic Dispersant

According to the Washington Post, the EPA "informed BP officials...that the company has 24 hours to choose a less-toxic form of chemical dispersants to break up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico...and must apply the new form of dispersants within 72 hours of submitting the list of alternatives." Of course, there's still a lot of information we don't know about these chemicals...

(20 May 2010)

BP Chooses More Toxic Alternative for Dispersing Oil Spill

Despite the availability of better, less toxic alternatives, the NY Times reports that BP is sticking with dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic "dispersants" on the company's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Plus, we still do not know what exactly is in the dispersants.

(14 May 2010)

Dow Chemical Leak Went Undetected 2 Weeks

A leak of more than 3,500 pounds of toxic ammonia gas from the Dow Chemical Co. facility in Institute, WV went undetected for nearly two weeks.

(18 Feb 2010)

One Year Later - Coal Ash Info Still Secret

One year after the enormous disaster at Tennessee's Kingston Power Plant, EPA continues to allow six power companies to hide vital information from the public on the safety of toxic coal ash impoundments. The companies refusing to disclose are Alabama Power Company, Duke Energy Corporation, First Energy Generation Corporation, Georgia Power Company, Gulf Power Company, and Mississippi Power Company.

(23 Dec 2009)

EPA Disloses More Toxic Coal Ash Dump Sites

It took a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get it, but EPA released a more complete list of locations and other data on toxic coal ash dump sites nationwide.

(01 Sep 2009)