"New York State lawmakers have agreed to impose a statewide ban on most types of single-use plastic bags from retail sales, changing a way of life for millions of New Yorkers as legislators seek to curb an unsightly and omnipresent source of litter."
"Flooding in the Midwest temporarily cut off a Superfund site in Nebraska that stores radioactive waste and explosives, inundated another one storing toxic chemical waste in Missouri, and limited access to others, federal regulators said Wednesday. The Environmental Protection Agency reported no releases of hazardous contaminants at any of eight toxic waste sites in flooded parts of Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa."
Where should we look to map the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria? Sewage would be a good place to start, according to a newly published scientific paper.
"Climate disruption is forcing entire communities from their homes across the globe, and perhaps no population is more imperiled than the people of Bangladesh."
"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday directed Michigan’s environmental agency to develop drinking water standards for certain toxic industrial chemicals rather than waiting for updated federal guidelines."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is assessing two Superfund sites located in areas that have seen overwhelming floods in recent weeks."
"More than 1 million private wells that supply drinking water in mostly rural parts of the Midwest could face the risk of contamination from floodwater, posing a health concern that could linger long after the flooding subsides."
"EPA chief Andrew Wheeler has promised not to weigh in on the Pebble mine proposal and toxic waste site cleanups connected to his former lobbying clients after media scrutiny."
The Society of Environmental Journalists is backing right-to-know lawsuits brought by journalism groups, and a collaborative press freedom tracker gets new funding. Meanwhile, at the Interior Department, one watchdog group angles for environmental impact statements on ANWR drilling, while others track possible conflicts of interest by the acting secretary. That and more in the latest WatchDog roundup.
SEJ's own James Bruggers, long-time member, former board member and president of the SEJ board, was the last full-time environmental reporter at a Kentucky newspaper when he left to join the InsideClimate News team. The New Yorker's Charles Bethea interviewed Bruggers and SEJ's E.D. Meaghan Parker for his story on the continued demise of newspapers and staffers reporting on coal country — and the innumerable costs of that lack of coverage.
