EPA Settles With 70 Companies To Clean Up NJ’s Passaic River Pollution Out of Their Own Pockets

Seventy companies – considered potentially responsible for polluting New Jersey’s lower Passaic River with toxic chemicals – have settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the pollution using their own money.

Tony Falcon holding a fish he caught in the lower Passaic River in Paterson. Such fish are often contaminated, according to NorthJersey.com, which also provided the photo.

The companies will be expected to remove about 16,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment from a half-mile long area of the river near the town of Lyndhurst.

The soil has been found to contain high levels of chemicals, including PCBs, mercury, and dioxins, according to the EPA, adding that, “PCBs are likely cancer-causing substances and mercury can cause serious damage to the nervous system. Dioxins can cause cancer and other serious health effects” including hormonal disruptions, early developmental problems, and skin disease.

The agency says that, “The highly contaminated sediment was discovered in Lyndhurst during sampling performed by the EPA and the parties late in 2011. The work is scheduled to begin in spring 2013.”

Specifically, the agreement calls for the companies to  remove the contaminated soil from the mud flat area that’s near the north section of Riverside County Park, and install a protective cap over the excavated five-acre area and further test their “sediment treatment technologies.”

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A Sneak Peek at the Environmental Working Group’s Household Cleaners Hall of Shame

While we know that most household cleaners can be dangerous – which is why we put the safety latches on the cabinets to keep babies out– we may not realize just how dangerous they are even when properly used.

Image courtesy of enviroblog.org.

These days a lot of greenwashing (labeling products as natural) and other safety claims are made in advertisements to sell products by putting consumers’ minds at ease. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a consumer advocacy non-profit group, decided to take a look at these claims and found some frightening results.

Jane Houlihan, EWG senior vice president for research and co-author of the EWG Cleaners Hall of Shame, said that, “Cleaning your home can come at a high price with cancer-causing chemicals in the air; having an asthma attack from fumes; or getting serious skin burns from an accidental spill.”

“Almost any ingredient is legal and almost none of them are labeled, leaving families at risk,” she added.

This Cleaners Hall of Shame is a preview of a more comprehensive EWG Cleaners Database project that is due for release in fall 2012.

Stock photo.

The current report defines greenwashing as cleaners being labeled non-toxic, green, or safe, while containing hazardous ingredients.

Among the worst offenders is Simple Green Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner, which the EWG says is labeled non-toxic and biodegradable, but contains the solvent 2-butoxyethanol that can irritate eyes and if absorbed through the skin, can damage red blood cells.

“Worse, the company website instructs the user to dilute the product significantly for even the heaviest cleaning tasks. Yet it comes in a spray bottle that implies it should be sprayed full-strength. Such use would result in higher exposure (and risk),” said the report.

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Green Festival 2012 Coming to New York City This Weekend

If you’re looking for a good time this weekend, listening to great music, films, eating, going to sustainability lectures, and checking out over 100 businesses showing off their eco-friendly products, then you should definitely stop by the Green Festival 2012 at the Jacob Javits Center this weekend – April 21-22.

Photo courtesy of greenfestivals.org.

Among those bringing music and education to the festival will be Aaron Ableman, whose been on stage with such performers as Somali Canadian rapper K’NAAN, and folk singer Joan Baez.

Ableman is also executive producer of the Clean Energy Tour, which provides a stage to organize and empower young people and diverse communities to “be the change” needed for social, environmental and economic reforms.

The Clean Energy Tour brings the arts, activism, education, and voters together to show them that they have the power to decide the future of their communities. From Haiti to India, Ableman has implemented co-arts programs and also worked with at-risk teens.

Also at the festival will be Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, who is director/producer/writer/editor of the upcoming film Toxic Baby, which focuses on the health effects on children when daily exposed to common chemicals found in the environment, clothing, toys, and the care products.

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United States Trying to Figure Out: Who Suffers When Our Toxic E-Waste Leaves The Country?

Workers in China taking apart e-waste to recover precious metals. Stock photo.

Like most people who don’t think about their trash once it’s out the door, U.S. officials have done the same thing when it comes to being aware of what happens to electronic waste (computers, televisions, cell phones, etc.)  when it leaves the country.

To get a better scope of the problem, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has just awarded a $2.5 million grant to the United Nation’s Institute of Sustainability and Peace to help authorities track electronic waste shipments leaving the country.

Currently, there’s a lack of basic information on shipments of electronics from the U.S. to other countries. It’s hoped that the new funding will help authorities get more information about where the waste is going; who’s getting it; and the quantities that they are getting.

The grant will also give support to nations in both Africa and Asia that are coping with often illegal imports. Tons of electronics are shipped everyday from the U.S. to developing countries that are both incapable of rejecting the imports and can’t properly handle the materials.

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Indoor Radon Gas Exposure Is the Leading Cause of Lung Cancer Second Only to Smoking

Graphic courtesy of the World Health Organization.

Several federal agencies are planning to meet sometime by the end of this month to discuss measures for reducing radon risk in housing and buildings that they either operate or regulate.

Last November, agencies that included the U.S. Environmental Protection (EPA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) met for a Federal Radon Summit to address growing concern over potentially high levels of radon.

Right now, homes and buildings operated and regulated by government agencies are not required to undergo mandatory testing for radon, and HUD doesn’t require radon testing of homes that are being insured under the U.S. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance program.

The concerns come because the EPA now calculates that, “Nearly one out of every 15 homes in the United States is estimated to have elevated radon levels,” in its Citizens Guide to Radon.

Radon is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas. It comes from naturally decaying uranium, which is found in most soil. The way that radon gets into a home or building space is that it travels up through the ground to the air above and enters through cracks or holes in the foundation.

When trapped indoors, radon builds up and the problems begin. The EPA estimates that about 21,000 annual lung cancer deaths are radon related. The agency also found that indoor radon increases the risk of a smoker developing lung cancer.

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