ReportWire

Tag: Water quality

  • Liberia’s largest gold miner repeatedly spilled dangerous chemicals, records show

    JIKANDOR, Liberia — For generations, families in Jikandor village fished and drank from the river that runs through Liberia ’s dense rain forest. Now toxic pollution is making them leave.

    They blame the largest gold miner in Liberia, Bea Mountain Mining Corporation. When dead fish float to the surface, they said, they know to tell authorities. But for years there has been little response.

    “If we don’t move, we will die,” village chief Mustapha Pabai said.

    Over several years, cyanide, arsenic and copper repeatedly leaked from Bea Mountain’s substandard facilities at levels that Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency described as above legal limits. That’s according to EPA reports that were taken down from its site but later retrieved, as well as interviews with government officials, experts and former company employees.

    They provide the most comprehensive accounting yet of the spills. The EPA documents also show that Bea Mountain failed to alert regulators promptly after a spill in 2022 and previously blocked government inspectors as they tried to access the company’s laboratory and view results of testing.

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    This story was reported in collaboration with The Gecko Project, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on environmental issues. The reporting was supported by the Pulitzer Center. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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    The incidents point to failures in corporate responsibility that “can only be described as sustained negligence,” said Mandy Olsgard, a Canadian toxicologist who reviewed the EPA reports obtained in an investigation by The Associated Press and The Gecko Project.

    The reports also expose the Liberian government’s failures to hold the company to account. The government holds a 5% stake in the mining operations. Under Liberian law, the state can suspend or terminate licenses if a miner doesn’t fulfill its obligations. But weak enforcement is common, with the World Bank citing limited government capacity.

    In response to the investigation, the country’s recently dismissed minister of mines, Wilmot Paye, said he was “appalled by the harm being done to our country” and that the government was reviewing all concession agreements. The outspoken minister was dismissed in October.

    The gold that Bea Mountain mines is sold to Swiss refiner MKS PAMP, which is in the supply chains of some of the world’s largest companies including Nvidia and Apple. The investigation could not confirm what companies ultimately used the gold.

    MKS PAMP said it had commissioned an independent assessment of the New Liberty mine, the largest of five mines that Bea Mountain operates in Liberia, in early 2025, and said it found no basis to cut ties but identified areas for improvement related to health and safety. A follow-up visit is planned for 2026.

    MKS PAMP declined to share the assessment’s findings, citing confidentiality. It said it would end the relationship if Bea Mountain doesn’t improve.

    Between July 2021 and December 2022, the most recent period for which figures could be obtained, Bea Mountain exported more than $576 million worth of gold from Liberia. It contributed $37.8 million to government coffers during that time.

    Bea Mountain is controlled by Murathan Günal through Avesoro Resources. Murathan is the son of Turkish billionaire Mehmet Nazif Günal, whose business interests include the Mapa Group. Avesoro Resources and Mapa Group did not respond to requests for comment.

    Extracting gold from ore often involves cyanide, a chemical that at high levels can cause severe neurological damage and can be fatal if ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Cyanide must be treated before it enters and when it leaves a tailings dam, a storage site for mining waste.

    Other toxic substances, including arsenic, often found in gold mining also pose serious health risks if not properly controlled.

    The Günals took over Bea Mountain in 2016, acquiring it from Aureus Mining, a UK-listed gold producer, after years of warnings.

    In 2012, Canadian consultancy Golder Associates found a risk of contamination of local rivers from the New Liberty mine’s tailings dam and warned that seepage would breach Liberia’s drinking water standards. Two years later, the Digby Wells consultancy flagged cyanide and arsenic as key risks and suggested measures to prevent contamination.

    In 2015, a year before production began, a third consultancy, SRK, warned that arsenic could exceed World Health Organization standards for drinking water if not properly managed.

    Before production began, the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, paid $19.2 million for an equity stake in Bea Mountain’s parent company to develop the New Liberty mine. But the U.S. representative on the IFC board abstained, warning in a 2014 letter that the project lacked basic safeguards and raising concerns about the tailings dam and gaps in the environmental assessment.

    It was not clear whether the IFC still holds a stake, and it didn’t respond to questions.

    Bea Mountain had pledged to follow strict water management rules and adopt the Cyanide Management Code, a global standard recommending pollution limits and requiring independent audits.

    The first spill documented by the EPA came in the first month of full production. In March 2016, just before the Günals’ purchase of Bea Mountain, cyanide and arsenic leaked from the New Liberty mine. Dead fish floated downstream. Residents reported skin rashes.

    The company paused operations but publicly downplayed the spill, saying “there has been no adverse impact on any human settlement.”

    It was the first of four EPA-confirmed cases at the mine in which Bea Mountain exceeded government pollution limits.

    In June 2020, EPA inspectors found Bea Mountain operating an unapproved wastewater system, and detected water contaminated with high levels of copper and iron. When inspectors tried to look at the company’s water testing data, Bea Mountain refused.

    “Physical access to the laboratory was also not approved,” the EPA said in one report.

    That month, Bea Mountain withdrew from the Cyanide Management Code without ever undergoing an audit, said Eric Schwamberger, a senior official at the International Cyanide Management Institute that oversees the code. He called such withdrawals uncommon.

    In May 2022, dead fish drifted down Marvoe Creek, which flows past Jikandor village and into the Mafa River that runs to the Atlantic. The EPA reported that a spill from Bea Mountain’s tailings dam had suffocated the fish “due to exposure to higher than permissible limits” of cyanide.

    The company knew about the pollution but failed to notify the community and the EPA “until downstream communities first started observing dead fish species,” the EPA report said. Companies are required to report such spills within 72 hours.

    More than 10 miles (16 kilometers) downstream in Wangekor village, residents said they hauled in dead fish before any warning reached them. They believed the bounty was “a gift from God,” said Philip Zodua, a representative of communities along the river.

    Six residents of villages downstream of the Bea Mountain mine asserted that they and their families fell ill after eating fish from the river in June 2022.

    One villager, Korto Tokpa, said she saw children collecting dead and dying fish. “They all were sick, vomiting, throwing up and going to the toilet the whole night” after consuming them, she said.

    However, no tests were carried out on the villagers. Independent environmental scientists and toxicology experts said there is insufficient evidence to identify pollution as the cause of the reported illnesses.

    “Without proper testing and transparent data, the true risks cannot be understood, and communities are left carrying all the uncertainty,” said Olsgard, the toxicologist. “It is the company’s responsibility to fill these gaps urgently.”

    When EPA inspectors arrived at the mine to test the water days after the spill, they found arsenic and cyanide levels well above legal limits.

    Schwamberger said the cyanide concentrations reported by the EPA, from water flowing out of the tailings dam, were more than 10 times the concentration “that would typically be considered to be lethal to fish.”

    In February 2023, another spill occurred. The EPA documented “a huge quantity of raw copper sulfate” leaking into the environment. Six of nine water samples breached legal limits for cyanide and copper.

    An EPA official involved in the May 2022 investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said the mine’s tailings dam had been originally built too small, a design flaw that later caused it to overflow.

    While EPA inspectors repeatedly recommended fines after the spills, only one penalty was issued by the regulator, a $99,999 fine in 2018 that was later reduced to $25,000. It was not clear why.

    In a written response to questions from the AP and The Gecko Project, the EPA acknowledged three “pollution incidents” between 2016 and 2023 in which laboratory tests found “higher than permissible levels” of cyanide. It also confirmed fish deaths were caused by cyanide, copper sulfate and arsenic leaking from the mine’s tailings dam. It was not clear why the EPA did not acknowledge the fourth spill.

    The EPA said the spills it documented occurred before the agency’s current leadership took office in 2024. It said it had ordered Bea Mountain to hire an EPA-certified consultant and reinforce the tailings dam, and that the measures were implemented. It did not say when that occurred.

    “No entity is above the law,” the agency said.

    Following an EPA recommendation, a legally binding agreement was reached in May 2025 for Bea Mountain to relocate and compensate Jikandor village, the community closest to the mine.

    Bea Mountain is now exploring new gold reserves elsewhere in Liberia.

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    Aviram reported from London.

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  • In a warming world, freshwater production is moving deep beneath the sea

    CARLSBAD, Calif. — Some four miles off the Southern California coast, a company is betting it can solve one of desalination’s biggest problems by moving the technology deep below the ocean’s surface.

    OceanWell’s planned Water Farm 1 would use natural ocean pressure to power reverse osmosis — a process that forces seawater through membranes to filter out salt and impurities — and produce up to 60 million gallons (nearly 225 million liters) of freshwater daily. Desalination is energy intensive, with plants worldwide producing between 500 and 850 million tons of carbon emissions annually — approaching the roughly 880 million tons emitted by the entire global aviation industry.

    OceanWell claims its deep sea approach — 1,300 feet (400 meters) below the water’s surface — would cut energy use by about 40% compared to conventional plants while also tackling the other major environmental problems plaguing traditional desalination: the highly concentrated brine discharged back into the ocean, where it can harm seafloor habitats, including coral reefs, and the intake systems that trap and kill fish larvae, plankton and other organisms at the base of the marine food web.

    “The freshwater future of the world is going to come from the ocean,” said OceanWell CEO Robert Bergstrom. “And we’re not going to ask the ocean to pay for it.”

    It’s an ambitious promise at a time when the world desperately needs alternatives. As climate change intensifies droughts, disrupts rainfall patterns and fuels wildfires, more regions are turning to the sea for drinking water. For many countries, particularly in the arid Middle East, parts of Africa and Pacific island nations, desalination isn’t optional — there simply isn’t enough freshwater to meet demand. More than 20,000 plants now operate worldwide, and the industry has been expanding at about 7% annually since 2010.

    “With aridity and climate change issues increasing, desalination will become more and more prevalent as a key technology globally,” said Peiying Hong, a professor of environmental science and engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.

    But scientists warn that as desalination scales, the cumulative damage to coastal ecosystems — many already under pressure from warming waters and pollution — could intensify.

    Some companies are powering plants with renewable energy, while others are developing more efficient membrane technology to reduce energy consumption. Still others are moving the technology underwater entirely. Norway-based Flocean and Netherlands-based Waterise have tested subsea desalination systems and are working toward commercial deployment. Beyond southern California, OceanWell has signed an agreement to test its system in Nice, France — another region facing intensifying droughts and wildfires — beginning this year.

    For now, its technology remains in development. A single prototype operates in the Las Virgenes Reservoir where the local water district has partnered with the company in hopes of diversifying its water supply. If successful, the reverse osmosis pods would eventually float above the sea floor in the Santa Monica Bay, anchored with minimal concrete footprint, while an underwater pipeline would transport freshwater to shore. The system would use screens designed to keep out even microscopic plankton and would produce less concentrated brine discharge.

    Gregory Pierce, director of UCLA’s Water Resources Group, said deep sea desalination appears promising from an environmental and technical standpoint, but the real test will be cost.

    “It’s almost always much higher than you project” with new technologies, he said. “So that, I think, will be the make or break for the technology.”

    Las Virgenes Reservoir serves about 70,000 residents in western Los Angeles County. Nearly all the water originates in the northern Sierra Nevada and is pumped some 400 miles (640 kilometers) over the Tehachapi Mountains — a journey that requires massive amounts of energy. During years of low rainfall and snowpack in the Sierra, the reservoir and communities it serves suffer.

    About 100 miles (160 kilometers) down the coast, the Carlsbad Desalination Plant has become a focal point in the state’s debate over desalination’s environmental tradeoffs.

    The plant came online in 2015 as the largest seawater desalination facility in North America. Capable of producing up to 54 million gallons (204 million liters) of drinking water daily, it supplies about 10% of San Diego County’s water — enough for roughly 400,000 households.

    In Southern California, intensifying droughts and wildfires have exposed the region’s precarious water supply. Agricultural expansion and population growth have depleted local groundwater reserves, leaving cities dependent on imported water. San Diego imports roughly 90% of its supply from the Colorado River and Northern California — sources that are becoming increasingly strained by climate change. Desalination was pitched as a solution: a local, drought-proof source of drinking water drawn from the Pacific Ocean.

    But environmental groups have argued the plant’s seawater intake and brine discharge pose risks to marine life, while its high energy demands drive up water bills and worsen climate change. Before the plant came online, environmental organizations filed more than a dozen legal challenges and regulatory disputes. Most were dismissed but some resulted in changes to the project’s design and permits.

    “It sucks in a tremendous amount of water, and with that, sea life,” said Patrick McDonough, a senior attorney with San Diego Coastkeeper, which has participated in multiple legal challenges to the project. “We’re not just talking fish, turtles, birds, but larvae and spores — entire ecosystems.”

    A 2009 Regional Water Quality Control Board order estimated the plant would entrap some 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of fish daily and required offsetting those impacts by restoring wetlands elsewhere. Seventeen years later, that restoration remains incomplete. And a 2019 study found the plant’s brine discharge raises offshore salinity above permitted levels, though it detected no significant biological changes — likely because the site had already been heavily altered by decades of industrial activity from a neighboring power plant.

    Those impacts are especially acute in California, where roughly 95% of coastal wetlands have been lost largely to development, leaving the remaining lagoons as vital habitats for fish and migratory birds.

    “When we start messing with these very critical and unfortunately sparse coastal lagoons and wetlands, it can have tremendous impacts in the ocean,” McDonough said.

    Michelle Peters, chief executive officer of Channelside Water Resources, which owns the plant, said the facility uses large organism exclusion devices and one-millimeter screens to minimize marine life uptake, though she acknowledged some smaller species can still pass through.

    The plant dilutes its brine discharge with additional seawater before releasing it back into the ocean, and years of monitoring have shown no measurable impacts to surrounding marine life, she said.

    Peters said the Carlsbad plant has significantly cut its energy consumption through efficiency improvements and operates under a plan aimed at making the facility carbon net-neutral.

    Many experts say water recycling and conservation should come first, noting wastewater purification typically uses far less energy than seawater desalination and can substantially reduce impacts on marine life. Las Virgenes is pursuing a wastewater reuse project alongside its desalination partnership.

    “What we are looking for is a water supply that we can count on when Mother Nature does not deliver,” Las Virgenes’ Pedersen said. “Developing new sources of local water is really a critical measure to be more drought and climate ready.”

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    Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram.

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    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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  • Enjoy water from your tap: Streams show improvement in Chesapeake Bay watershed – WTOP News

    Two-thirds of the watershed’s 145,000 stream miles now rate fair to excellent, helping ensure cleaner drinking water for millions in the D.C. area.

    Over the past six years, the streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed — which covers 64,000 square miles — has become cleaner.

    According to the latest data from the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, there’s been a 1.4% improvement in overall stream health throughout the watershed.

    If you’re wondering why that matters, Renee Bourassa, the director of communications and education with ICPRB, poses this question: “Do you drink water? Everybody drinks water!”

    Area streams feed into rivers, and the Potomac River, for example, is the water source for millions of residents in the D.C, area, from the District of Columbia to Arlington, Fairfax and Loudon counties in Virginia.

    Bourassa explained that the Chesapeake basin-wide index of biotic integrity, or “Chessie BIBI,” is the yardstick used to measure the water quality.

    “It’s a really long way of saying what species (of invertebrate) and how many of them” can be found in the watershed’s streams, she said.

    Because invertebrates are sensitive to changes in water quality, Bourassa said, “If we’re finding them in a stream, that’s a good sign it’s a healthy stream.”

    The organisms that help tell the story of just how healthy streams are include “creek critters” that spend most of their life in the water before they become “the bugs that we know and love, like dragonflies,” Bourassa said.

    “That means the water coming out of your tap might also be a little bit cleaner,” she said.

    According to the report, the latest data shows that an estimated two thirds of the 145,000 stream miles of the Chesapeake Bay watershed can be rated as either fair, good or excellent.

    The next Chessie BIBI report will cover the years from 2024-29.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Kate Ryan

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  • Brown grass cost a famed golf course a big tournament and highlighted Hawaii water problems

    HONOLULU (AP) — High up on the slopes of the west Maui mountains, the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort provides golfers with expansive ocean views. The course is so renowned that The Sentry, a $20 million signature event for the PGA Tour, had been held there nearly every year for more than a quarter-century.

    “You have to see it to believe it,” said Ann Miller, a former longtime Honolulu newspaper golf writer. “You’re looking at other islands, you’re looking at whales. … Every view is beautiful.”

    Its world-class status also depends on keeping the course green.

    But with water woes in west Maui — facing drought and still reeling from a deadly 2023 wildfire that ravaged the historic town of Lahaina — keeping the course green enough for The Sentry became difficult.

    Ultimately, as the Plantation’s fairways and greens grew brown, the PGA Tour canceled the season opener, a blow that cost what officials estimate to be $50 million economic impact on the area.

    A two-month closure and some rain helped get the course in suitable condition to reopen 17 holes earlier this month to everyday golfers who pay upwards of $469 to play a round. The 18th hole is set to reopen Monday, but the debate is far from over about the source of the water used to keep the course green and what its future looks like amid climate change.

    Questions about Hawaii’s golf future

    There’s concern that other high-profile tournaments will also bow out, taking with them economic benefits, such as money for charities, Miller said.

    “It could literally change the face of it,” she said, “and it could change the popularity, obviously, too.”

    The company that owns the courses, along with Kapalua homeowners and Hua Momona Farms, filed a lawsuit in August alleging Maui Land & Pineapple, which operates the century-old system of ditches that provides irrigation water to Kapalua and its residents, has not kept up repairs, affecting the amount of water getting down from the mountain.

    MLP has countersued and the two sides have exchanged accusations since then.

    As the water-delivery dispute plays out in court, Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental legal group, is calling attention to a separate issue involving the use of drinking water for golf course irrigation, particularly irksome to residents contending with water restrictions amid drought, including Native Hawaiians who consider water a sacred resource.

    “Potable ground drinking water needs to be used for potable use,” Lauren Palakiko, a west Maui taro farmer, told the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management at a recent meeting. “I can’t stress enough that it should never be pumped, injuring our aquifer for the sake of golf grass or vacant mansion swimming pools.”

    ‘This is water that we can drink’

    Kapalua’s Plantation and Bay courses, owned by TY Management Corp., have historically been irrigated with surface water delivered under an agreement with Maui Land & Pineapple, but since at least the summer have been using millions of gallons of potable groundwater, according to Earthjustice attorneys who point to correspondence from commission Chairperson Dawn Chang to MLP and Hawaii Water Service they say confirms it.

    Chang said her letter didn’t authorize anything, but merely acknowledged an “oral representation” that using groundwater is an an “existing use” at times when there’s not enough surface water. She is asking for supporting documentation from MLP and Hawaii Water Service to confirm that interpretation.

    In emails to The Associated Press, MLP said it did not believe groundwater could be used for golf course irrigation and Hawaii Water Service said it didn’t communicate to the commission that using groundwater to irrigate the courses was an existing use.

    MLP’s two wells that service the course provide potable water.

    “This is water that we can drink. It’s an even more precious resource within the sacred resource of wai,” Dru Hara, an Earthjustice attorney said, using the Hawaiian word for water.

    Recycled water solutions

    TY, owned by Japanese billionaire and apparel brand Uniqlo’s founder Tadashi Yanai, doesn’t have control over what kind of water is in the reservoir they draw upon for irrigation, TY General Manager Kenji Yui said in a statement. They’re also researching ways to bring recycled water to Kapalua for irrigation.

    Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former commissioner, said he’s troubled by Earthjustice’s allegations that proper procedures weren’t followed.

    The wrangling over water for golf shows that courses in Hawaii need to change their relationship with water, Beamer said: “I think there needs to be a time very soon that all golf courses are utilizing at a minimum recycled water.”

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  • A drying-up Rio Grande basin threatens water security on both sides of the border

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One of North America’s longest rivers, the Rio Grande — or Rio Bravo as it’s called in Mexico — has a history as deep as it is long. Indigenous people have tapped it for countless generations, and it was a key artery for Spanish conquistadors centuries ago.

    Today, the Rio Grande-Bravo water basin is in crisis.

    Research published Thursday says the situation arguably is worse than challenges facing the Colorado River, another vital lifeline for western U.S. states that have yet to chart a course for how best to manage that dwindling resource.

    Without rapid and large-scale action on both sides of the border, the researchers warn that unsustainable use threatens water security for millions of people who rely on the binational basin. They say more prevalent drying along the Rio Grande and persistent shortages could have catastrophic consequences for farmers, cities and ecosystems.

    The study done by World Wildlife Fund, Sustainable Waters and a team of university researchers provides a full accounting of the consumptive uses as well as evaporation and other losses within the Rio Grande-Bravo basin. It helps to paint the most complete — and most alarming — picture yet of why the river system is in trouble.

    The basin provides drinking water to 15 million people in the U.S. and Mexico and irrigates nearly 2 million acres of cropland in the two countries.

    The research shows only 48% of the water consumed directly or indirectly within the basin is replenished naturally. The other 52% is unsustainable, meaning reservoirs, aquifers and the river itself will be overdrawn.

    “That’s a pretty daunting, challenging reality when half of our water isn’t necessarily going to be reliable for the future,” said Brian Richter, president of Sustainable Waters and a senior fellow with the World Wildlife Fund. “So we have to really address that.”

    By breaking down the balance sheet, the researchers are hopeful policymakers and regulators can determine where water use can be reduced and how to balance supply with demand.

    Warnings of what was to come first cropped up in the late 19th century when irrigation in Colorado’s San Luis Valley began to dry the snowmelt-fed river, resulting in diminished flows as far south as El Paso, Texas. Now, some stretches of the river run dry for months at a time. The Big Bend area and even Albuquerque have seen dry cracked mud replace the river more often in recent years.

    Irrigating crops by far is the largest direct use of water in the basin at 87%, according to the study. Meanwhile, losses to evaporation and uptake by vegetation along the river account for more than half of overall consumption in the basin, a factor that can’t be dismissed as reservoir storage shrinks.

    The irrigation season has become shorter, with canals drying up as early as June in some cases, despite a growing season in the U.S. and Mexico that typically lasts through October.

    In central New Mexico, farmers got a boost with summer rains. However, farmers along the Texas portion of the Pecos River and in the Rio Conchos basin of Mexico — both tributaries within the basin — did not receive any surface water supplies.

    “A key part of this is really connecting the urban populations to what’s going on out on these farms. These farmers are really struggling. A lot of them are on the brink of bankruptcy,” Richter said, linking water shortages to shrinking farms, smaller profits and less ability to afford labor and equipment.

    The analysis found that between 2000-2019, water shortages contributed to the loss of 18% of farmland in the headwaters in Colorado, 36% along the Rio Grande in New Mexico and 49% in the Pecos River tributary in New Mexico and Texas.

    With fewer farms, less water went to irrigation in the U.S. However, researchers said irrigation in the Mexican portion of the basin has increased greatly.

    The World Wildlife Fund and Sustainable Waters are working with researchers at the University of New Mexico to survey farmers on solutions to the water crisis.

    Jason Casuga, the chief engineer and CEO of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, said he is not surprised by the findings and was particularly interested in the data on how much water is lost to riparian areas along the river. He talked about his crews clearing thick walls of thirsty invasive salt cedar trees, describing it as an unnatural ecosystem that stemmed from human efforts to manage the river with levees and reservoirs.

    While cities and farmers try to conserve, Casuga said there are few rules placed on consumption by riparian areas.

    “We’re willing to accept hundreds and hundreds of acres of invasive species choking out native species. And I’m hoping a study like this will cause people to think and ask those kinds of questions because I think our bosque is worth fighting for. As a culture in New Mexico, agriculture is worth fighting for,” he said.

    The responses to overuse and depletion are as varied as the jurisdictions through which the river flows, said Enrique Prunes, a co-author of the study and the manager of the World Wildlife Fund’s Rio Grande Program.

    He pointed to Colorado, where water managers have threatened to shut off groundwater wells if the aquifer that supports irrigated farms cannot be stabilized. There, farmers who pump groundwater pay fees that are used to incentivize other farmers to fallow their fields.

    New Mexico’s fallowing program is voluntary, but changes could be in store if the U.S. Supreme Court signs off on proposed settlements stemming from a long-running dispute with Texas and the federal government over management of the Rio Grande and groundwater use. New Mexico has acknowledged it will have to curb groundwater pumping.

    New Mexico is behind in its water deliveries to Texas under an interstate compact, while Mexico owes water to the U.S. under a 1944 binational treaty. Researchers said meeting those obligations won’t get easier.

    Prunes said policymakers must also consider the environment when crafting solutions.

    “Rebalancing the system also means maintaining those basic functions that the river and the aquifers and the groundwater-dependent ecosystems have,” he said. “And that’s the indicator of resilience to a future of less water.”

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  • Potomac River gets a ‘B’ for water quality for 5th year in a row – WTOP News

    It’s not fishable or swimmable yet, but according to the Potomac Conservancy, the Potomac River earned a grade of “B” for the fifth year in a row.

    It’s not fishable or swimmable yet, but according to the Potomac Conservancy, the Potomac River earned a grade of “B” for the fifth year in a row.

    At a news conference overlooking the Potomac River at the Capital Yacht Club, Hedrick Belin, president of the Potomac Conservancy, told reporters Wednesday, “It certainly is a big turnaround from the dismal ‘D’ that it received in 2011, but it also means that progress has stalled.”

    “The Potomac comeback is a great story — but it’s still in progress,” Belin said. “To truly make it an ‘A’ river, we need everyone. Whether you’re cleaning shorelines, signing letters or planting trees, everyone has a role to help protect the lifeblood of our region and our communities.”

    Belin said the organization is hoping to raise $8 million before the end of the year for its Clean Water, Healthy Communities campaign.

    Among the hurdles to getting to that A rating, according to Michael Nardolilli, executive director with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, is development that results in the loss of forest land.

    “That means that there are more impervious surfaces and there’s less opportunity for water, when it rains, to sink into the ground,” Nardolilli said, adding that creates runoff that pollutes the river.

    Part of the solution, he said, would be to intensify efforts to add what environmentalists call “riparian buffers,” or strips of land with vegetation, along rivers and streams.

    “So that there is natural vegetation that can help filter out pollutants before they reach the river,” Nardolilli said.

    U.S. Rowing Olympian Aquil Abdullah, who describes himself as an advocate and steward for the environment, said he’s noticed the improvement along the river.

    “The wildlife, the number of herons that we see now, when I’m out there, is a clear indicator that we’re on the right track,” Abdullah said.

    But he agreed with Belin that there’s more work to be done.

    The report indicates while some native fish species, such as American shad, are recovering, others, such as smallmouth bass, are struggling.

    The report card from the Potomac Conservancy also points to a boost in recreation on and around the Potomac River, surging 10% since 2020.

    Nico Foris, CEO of Guest Services Inc. based in Fairfax, Virginia, which operates boating facilities including Thompson Boat Center near Georgetown and the Columbia Island Marina, said part of the strategy to support interest in the health of the Potomac River can be summed up as getting “butts in boats.” He explained once people get out on the water, “there’s a vested interest” in getting, and keeping, the river healthy.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Kate Ryan

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  • Experts capture rare images of unique amphibian lurking in US stream: ‘Canary in a coal mine’

    According to KFOR, biologists in Kentucky found a giant salamander, the eastern hellbender, living in a stream in the state.

    Given its name, this might not sound like good news. However, the eastern hellbender is very rare, and its presence means that the stream it’s in is healthy. When environmental problems appear, this animal doesn’t survive. This makes it something of a “canary in a coal mine,” according to officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. If it disappears, it can be an early sign that something about the stream’s environment is off.

    According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the health of rivers and streams is key to the health of all of us. However, they’ve been increasingly polluted by both urban and farming areas. This has led to lower water quality not only in the streams, but also for the people and animals that depend on those streams.

    The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center explained that healthy streams are good for all sorts of things, including promoting biodiversity. More aquatic animals, like the eastern hellbender, mean a better life for all of us, since all life is interconnected. It can even mean more food available for everyone on the planet, further down the food chain.

    Monitoring biodiversity is important when it comes to understanding not only how many and what kinds of animals are around, but also the health of the environment they live in. Tools such as trail cameras and projects like the one that found this salamander are key to cluing us all in about the health of an area.

    If you want to help promote biodiversity and the environmental health that it usually signifies, vote for candidates who will pass laws working toward those goals. Learning more and understanding how we are all connected can help you foster biodiversity pockets near you. If we all do this, we will create a world that is safer and healthier for all of us.

    Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

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  • 2 civilians indicted for their role in a Pearl Harbor fuel spill that sickened 6,000 people in 2021

    HONOLULU — A grand jury has indicted two civilian workers on charges they caused the Navy to provide the Hawaii Department of Health with false information about jet fuel that spilled from a Pearl Harbor storage facility before it later seeped into drinking water and sickened 6,000 people over Thanksgiving in 2021.

    The indictments are the first to result from the fuel spill that angered Hawaii residents, lawmakers and military service members and their families. The military decided to close the aging World War II-era fuel tanks after the spill.

    A Navy investigation in 2022 found shoddy management and human error caused the leak at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. The Defense Department’s inspector general last year found Navy officials lacked sufficient understanding of the risks of maintaining massive fuel storage tanks on top of a Pearl Harbor drinking water well. The Navy issued written reprimands to three retired military officers for their roles in the fuel spill.

    The indictment returned Thursday alleges John Floyd and Nelson Wu provided the Navy with inaccurate information about a May 2021 spill that occurred six months before the fuel got in the drinking water. The indictment says they caused the Navy to mislead the Hawaii Department of Health about how much fuel leaked from one of the tanks and reassured officers that their information was accurate.

    This caused the Navy to tell the department in the months after May that 1,618 gallons (6,125 liters) leaked instead of 20,000 gallons (75,700 liters) and failed to report that it was unable to find 18,000 gallons (68,000 liters), prosecutors say. The indictment alleges Floyd and Wu redacted data from records provided. Floyd and Wu were each indicted on one count of conspiracy and one count of making false statements.

    The federal public defender’s office, which is representing Floyd, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Wu’s attorney, Alen Kaneshiro said he didn’t have a comment at this time.

    The Navy’s investigation found fuel gushed from a ruptured pipe on May 6, 2021. Most of it flowed into a fire suppression drain system, where it sat unnoticed for six months until a cart rammed a sagging line holding the liquid and caused fuel to pour out. Crews believed they mopped up most of this fuel but they failed to get it all and some flowed into a drain and drinking water well that supplied water to 90,000 people at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

    Fuel leaks at Red Hill had occurred before, including in 2014, prompting the Sierra Club of Hawaii and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to ask the military to move the tanks to a place where they wouldn’t threaten Oahu’s water. But the Navy refused, saying the island’s water was safe.

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  • College students team up with NASA for innovative water quality research

    College students team up with NASA for innovative water quality research

    NASA is working with students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Meyers, Florida. They are using technology to work with future scientists to analyze water quality.”We are looking for people to make an impact on the whole ecosystem that uses NASA’s earth science information,” NASA DEVELOP program manager Kenton Ross said. Dr. Rachel Rotz, a professor in the FGCU Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, will have the water school host this research team. NASA DEVELOP selected five future scientists to participate. Nathan Hewitt is one of them. He is working on getting his master’s degree right now at FGCU. He heard about this research opportunity and wanted to apply.”My main goal for this was to learn more coding,” Ross said. “So the coding workshops have been fantastic. Even some of the stuff I didn’t really think about the project, but kind of working as a team, but utilizing our strengths and learning about the different kind of personality types and how they best built the team has been really interesting.”Over the next 10 weeks, Hewitt and the four other researchers will spend part of their day at the water school looking under a microscope.”They’re looking into cyanobacteria and understanding how organisms do their thing on a microscopic scale,” Ross said.They are analyzing water quality near Seminole tribes in Southwest Florida.”They’re really testing out if this information from NASA is relevant to the tribe,” Ross said. “So is the tribe is thinking about water quality in the area in their location, in and around them. They’re interested in how nutrients are flowing through those natural systems.”They are looking at different types of algae, seeing where it is located. Then they take a look from a wider scope, up in space!”Our purpose is to help them rise in their career, and that’s going to happen when they are energized about the knowledge they can gain and about the skills they can apply to problems like this,” Ross said.Hewitt said he will take what he has learned from this research program and apply it to his future, maybe even working for NASA one day.To learn more about NASA DEVELOP and how to apply for the next research study, visit this website.

    FORT MYERS, Fla. —

    NASA is working with students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Meyers, Florida. They are using technology to work with future scientists to analyze water quality.

    “We are looking for people to make an impact on the whole ecosystem that uses NASA’s earth science information,” NASA DEVELOP program manager Kenton Ross said.

    Dr. Rachel Rotz, a professor in the FGCU Department of Marine and Earth Sciences, will
    have the water school host this research team. NASA DEVELOP selected five future scientists to participate. Nathan Hewitt is one of them. He is working on getting his master’s degree right now at FGCU. He heard about this research opportunity and wanted to apply.

    “My main goal for this was to learn more coding,” Ross said. “So the coding workshops have been fantastic. Even some of the stuff I didn’t really think about the project, but kind of working as a team, but utilizing our strengths and learning about the different kind of personality types and how they best built the team has been really interesting.”

    Over the next 10 weeks, Hewitt and the four other researchers will spend part of their day at the water school looking under a microscope.

    “They’re looking into cyanobacteria and understanding how organisms do their thing on a microscopic scale,” Ross said.

    They are analyzing water quality near Seminole tribes in Southwest Florida.

    “They’re really testing out if this information from NASA is relevant to the tribe,” Ross said. “So is the tribe is thinking about water quality in the area in their location, in and around them. They’re interested in how nutrients are flowing through those natural systems.”

    They are looking at different types of algae, seeing where it is located. Then they take a look from a wider scope, up in space!

    “Our purpose is to help them rise in their career, and that’s going to happen when they are energized about the knowledge they can gain and about the skills they can apply to problems like this,” Ross said.

    Hewitt said he will take what he has learned from this research program and apply it to his future, maybe even working for NASA one day.

    To learn more about NASA DEVELOP and how to apply for the next research study, visit this website.

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  • Mountain Valley Pipeline gets new permit to build in Appalachian national forest

    Mountain Valley Pipeline gets new permit to build in Appalachian national forest

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A controversial and long-delayed natural gas pipeline got the green light for construction on national forest land in Virginia and West Virginia after the U.S. Forest Service reissued its approval for a permit, despite past federal appeals court rulings determining developers had “inadequately considered” the project’s environmental impact.

    Monday night’s decision will allow the $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline to be built — for now — across a 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) corridor through the Jefferson National Forest.

    The 303-mile pipeline would transport natural gas that is drilled in Ohio and Pennsylvania across rugged slopes in the Appalachian Mountains. Environmental groups say construction has led to violations of regulations meant to control erosion and sedimentation.

    Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the joint venture behind the project, still has other federal permits it will need approved as it works to complete the pipeline by the end of this year.

    Environmental advocates like Wild Virginia Conservation Director David Sligh said Tuesday that the Biden administration is favoring fossil fuels even as it “claims to advance environmental justice.”

    “This is the third time those who should guard our public treasures have failed us,” Sligh said.

    In previous litigation, the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals has twice vacated U.S. Forest Service decisions allowing for the pipeline in the Jefferson National Forest.

    Sligh also said the pipeline “remains far from completion,” saying 88 miles of the proposed route is still incomplete in Virginia.

    That is despite assurances the project is almost finished from developers and pipeline-supporting politicians like U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

    Manchin said Tuesday the natural gas line is “a crucial piece of energy infrastructure” that is good for global supply and American energy security. The fact that the U.S. Forest Service has approved construction three times shows “the review has been exceptionally thorough,” he said in a statement.

    In a separate decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revoked a key water permit last month because it said West Virginia’s environmental protection agency didn’t adequately address the pipeline’s history of water quality violations. It also ruled that the agency used the wrong standards to support the decision that in-stream activities would meet state water quality regulations. The permit is required under the federal Clean Water Act.

    The court noted at least 46 water quality violations and assessed civil penalties totaling roughly $569,000.

    U.S. Forest Service officials said in the agency’s decision Monday that the amended plan will permit the project to move forward while “minimizing environmental impacts to soils, water, scenery and other resources.”

    The plan contains requirements like one that 85% of soils dedicated to growing vegetation be left in place and that revegetation of the area be completed within five years, with the exception of the construction zone and right-of-way.

    Jill Gottesman, a top regional director for The Wilderness Society, said in a statement this week that the decision means groups like hers opposing the project will have “no choice but to take this battle back to court.”

    “The Forest Service has bent to the will of the oil and gas industry, and is placing fossil fuel profits above our environment and public safety,” she said.

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  • Philadelphia officials say drinking water remains safe for now after a chemical spill in the Delaware River | CNN

    Philadelphia officials say drinking water remains safe for now after a chemical spill in the Delaware River | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The City of Philadelphia says it is now confident tap water from the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant will remain safe to drink until at least 11:59 p.m. Monday following a chemical spill in the Delaware River.

    At a news conference late Sunday afternoon, city officials said they had not found any contamination in Philadelphia’s water supply and there would be no disruptions to schools or city services on Monday.

    “There has not been any contamination in the Philadelphia water system,” Mike Carroll, the city’s deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure and sustainability, told reporters.

    “We have enough water to sustain a safe use for drinking, cooking – all purposes – through till at least 11:59 p.m., Monday, March 27,” Carroll said. “The potential for contamination is diminishing over time.”

    The Philadelphia Police Department and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had also conducted a flyover across the Delaware River and saw no visual evidence of contamination plumes, Carroll said.

    “In this case, because we were talking about essentially ingredients that go into latex paint, we would have been able to see a kind of white plume under the river surface,” he said.

    The city earlier sent out mobile phone push alerts recommending area residents use of bottled water from 2 p.m.

    “Contaminants have not been found in the system at this time but this is out of caution due to a spill in the Delaware River,” the alerts shared with CNN said.

    The alert also provided a link to a community website for updates.

    But an updated statement Sunday afternoon the city said new hydraulic modeling and sampling results showed “there is no need to buy water at this time.”

    “This updated time is based on the time it will take river water that entered the Baxter intakes early Sunday morning to move through treatment and water mains before reaching customers,” the statement reads. “The water that is currently available to customers was treated before the spill reached Philadelphia and remains safe to drink and use for bathing, cooking and washing.”

    A ShopRite store in South Philadelphia said it was selling out of bottled water before 2 p.m. Sunday after the alerts were sent out.

    When the store is able to restock shelves, it plans to limit cases of bottled water to three per customer, a store worker told CNN.

    Carroll said in a statement issued earlier on Sunday that the contamination occurred Friday and involved a latex product that spilled along a Delaware River tributary in Bristol Township, Bucks County.

    “As has been reported, on Friday night a chemical spill occurred in Bristol Township, Bucks County which released contaminants into the Delaware River,” Carroll said. “The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) became aware of this through the Delaware Valley Early Warning System (EWS) and has been evaluating the situation since that time to understand potential impacts to the public. Although early indications have not revealed contamination, we are still monitoring the situation and conducting testing.”

    Trinseo PLC, which owns the facility where the spill occurred, said in a statement on its website Sunday it “appears to be the result of equipment failure.”

    The latex product chemical spill happened on Friday evening at a facility in Bristol, Pennsylvania, which manufactures acrylic resins, according to the statement.

    The company estimated 8,100 gallons of solution – which is half water and half latex polymer – was spilled.

    “The latex emulsion is a white liquid that is used in various consumer goods. Its pigmentation makes the water-soluble material visible in surface water,” the statement reads.

    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said an “unknown amount” of the spilled product had entered the Delaware River. Water sampling is ongoing and contaminants have not been detected at drinking water intakes, the department said in a Sunday statement.

    Fish and wildlife are said to have not been affected, according to the statement.

    “Since the first hours after the incident, the Department of Environmental Protection has been at the facility where the spill originated and will be staying until there is no longer a threat to those impacted in Bucks and Philadelphia counties,” the department’s acting secretary Rich Negrin said in the statement. “We are working closely with our partners to monitor the spread of the contaminants and we will hold the responsible party accountable.”

    On its website, the Philadelphia Water Department said it provides water to more than “2 million people in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks counties.”

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  • Ohio governor drinks the tap water as the EPA demands Norfolk Southern manage all cleanup of a toxic train wreck — or face consequences | CNN

    Ohio governor drinks the tap water as the EPA demands Norfolk Southern manage all cleanup of a toxic train wreck — or face consequences | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The US Environmental Protection Agency is ordering Norfolk Southern to handle and pay for all necessary cleanup after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

    The EPA announced its legally binding order Tuesday, 18 days after the freight train derailed. The disaster ignited a dayslong inferno, shot plumes of black smoke into the air and led to the intentional release of vinyl chloride to help avert a more catastrophic blast.

    Some residents have reported health problems, and about 3,500 fish have died in Ohio waterways since the wreck.

    “Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Tuesday.

    As part of the EPA’s legally binding order, Norfolk Southern will be required to:

    • Identify and clean up any contaminated soil and water resources,

    • Reimburse the EPA for cleaning services to be offered to residents and businesses to provide an additional layer of reassurance, which will be conducted by EPA staff and contractors,

    • Attend and participate in public meetings at the EPA’s request and post information online, and

    • Pay for the EPA’s costs for work performed under the order.

    The order will take effect Thursday. The EPA said it will exercise its strongest authority against the train’s operator under CERCLA – the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

    “In no way, shape or form will Norfolk Southern get off the hook for the mess that they created,” Regan said.

    If the rail company fails to meet the demands, the EPA said it will immediately step in, conduct the necessary work and then seek to compel Norfolk Southern to pay triple the cost.

    In response to the EPA’s announcement, Norfolk Southern said it has been working to clean up the site and will continue helping residents.

    “We recognize that we have a responsibility, and we have committed to doing what’s right for the residents of East Palestine,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement to CNN.

    “We have been paying for the clean-up activities to date and will continue to do so. We are committed to thoroughly and safely cleaning the site, and we are reimbursing residents for the disruption this has caused in their lives. We are investing in helping East Palestine thrive for the long-term, and we will continue to be in the community for as long as it takes. We are going to learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.”

    Hours before the EPA’s announcement, Regan and Gov. Mike DeWine visited an East Palestine home and tried to reassure residents that the municipal water supply is safe.

    They raised two glasses filled with water straight from the tap and toasted before drinking.

    The municipal water supply comes from five wells deep underground that are encased in steel, state officials have said. But residents with private well water should get that water tested before using it, since that water may be sourced closer to the ground’s surface.

    “State and local authorities will continue the water sampling efforts, and EPA will continue indoor air screenings to residents within the evacuation zone,” Regan said Tuesday.

    But “I recognize that no matter how much data we collect or provide, it will not be enough to completely reassure everybody,” the EPA chief said.

    “It may not be enough to restore the sense of safety and security that this community once had. But we’re going to work together, day by day, for as long as it takes to make sure that this community feels at home once again.”

    The soil under the railroad track at the site of the wreck is still contaminated, and the tracks need to be lifted to remove that soil, the director of Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

    The governor acknowledged residents’ concerns about the contaminated soil and said 4,588 cubic yards of soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been removed from East Palestine.

    “The railroad got the tracks back on and started running and the soil under the tracks had not been dealt with,” DeWine said. “The tracks will have to be taken up, and that soil will have to be removed.”

    To address the growing reports of rashes, headaches, nausea and other symptoms in East Palestine, the state opened a new health clinic for residents.

    The health clinic will have registered nurses, mental health specialists and – at times – a toxicologist, the Ohio Department of Health said.

    Medical teams from the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health are expected to arrive in the community as early as this week to help assess what dangers might remain.

    Authorities have repeatedly assured residents that the air and municipal water supply in the town are safe. Crews have checked hundreds of homes and have not detected any dangerous levels of contaminants, the EPA said.

    Still, life in East Palestine has been uprooted as residents question the findings and wonder whether it’s really safe to drink the water or breathe the air.

    “It will be important to monitor people’s health and the environment around the train derailment for some time to come since health impacts may not emerge until later,” said Dr. Erin Haynes, an environmental health scientist at the University of Kentucky.

    “We should never say we’re done looking at this community for potential exposures and health impacts.”

    Petroleum based chemicals float on the top of the water in Leslie Run creek after being agitated from the sediment on Monday in East Palestine.

    Some waterways were contaminated after the crash, killing an estimated 3,500 fish. But officials have said they believe those contaminants have been contained.

    Norfolk Southern installed booms and dams to restrict the flow of contaminated water from Sulphur Run and Leslie Run – two streams where fish were found dead, the EPA said.

    “The spill did flow to the Ohio River during that initial slug, but the Ohio River is very large, and it’s a water body that’s able to dilute the pollutants pretty quickly,” Ohio Environmental Protection Agency official Tiffani Kavalec said last week.

    Kavalec said the agency is pretty confident that the “low levels” of contaminants that remain are not getting passed on to water customers.

    A series of pumps have been placed upstream to reroute Sulphur Run around the derailment site, Norfolk Southern said Monday.

    “Environmental teams are treating the impacted portions of Sulphur Run with booms, aeration, and carbon filtration units,” Norfolk Southern added. “Those teams are also working with stream experts to collect soil and groundwater samples to develop a comprehensive plan to address any contamination that remains in the stream banks and sediment.”

    Water intakes from the Ohio River that were shut off Sunday “as a precautionary measure” were reopened after sampling found “no detections of the specific chemicals from the train derailment,” the Greater Cincinnati Water Works and Northern Kentucky Water District said Monday.

    A third utility provider – Maysville utility in Kentucky – announced that it temporarily shut off water intakes from the Ohio River on Saturday, when the toxic chemicals released into the river from the derailment were expected to arrive at the water treatment intake in Kentucky, utility general manager Mark Julian said.

    Water measurements have been below the level of concern, Julian said, and Maysville took precautionary measures in temporarily shutting down their Ohio River intake valve due to the public concern.

    “The takeaway is that anyone along the Ohio River where the contaminants made their way can breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.

    A member of Ohio EPA Emergency Response looks for fish at Leslie Run creek and checks for chemicals in East Palestine on Monday.

    Meanwhile, the majority of the hazardous rail cars remain at the crash site as investigators continue to probe the wreck. But about 15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been removed from the scene, Norfolk Southern announced Monday.

    The contaminated soil became a point of contention last week after a public document sent to the EPA on February 10 did not list soil removal among completed cleanup activities. It is not yet known what significance or impact the soil that was not removed before the railroad reopened on February 8 will have had on the surrounding areas.

    As skepticism spreads about the safety of the air and water, some local businesses say they’ve seen fewer customers.

    “Everybody’s afraid … They don’t want to come in and drink the water,” Teresa Sprowls, a restaurant owner in East Palestine, told CNN affiliate WOIO.

    A stylist at a hair salon told WOIO there’s no doubt the salon lost business and that customers may be worried about what may be in the water washing their hair.

    “I know a lot of our businesses are already suffering greatly because people don’t want to come here,” local greenhouse owner Dianna Elzer told CNN affiliate WPXI.

    Her husband, Donald Elzer, echoed her concerns, saying, “It’s devastating. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets.”

    Dianna Elzer also worried about longer-term economic impacts to the community.

    “Our property values – who is going to want to buy a house here now?” she told WPXI. “It’s going to be a long struggle to get back to where we were.”

    As residents call for accountability from both Norfolk Southern and government officials, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he plans to visit East Palestine “when the time is right” – but did not announce a date.

    He did announce Monday new efforts by the Department of Transportation to improve rail safety.

    “We are accelerating and augmenting our ongoing lines of effort on rail regulation and inspection here at the US DOT, including further regulation on high hazard flammable trains and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes – rules that were clawed back under the previous administration – to the full extent of that we are allowed to under current law, and we will continue using resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund projects that improve rail safety,” Buttigieg said.

    A DOT news release said the agency will continue to press for the “Train Crew Staffing Rule,” which would require a minimum of two crew members during most railroad operations. Norfolk Southern has opposed the proposed rule.

    Norfolk Southern has committed millions of dollars’ worth of financial assistance to East Palestine, including $3.4 million in direct financial assistance to families and a $1 million community assistance fund, among other aid, the company said.

    Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw posted an open letter telling East Palestine residents, “I hear you” and “we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”

    “Together with local health officials,” Shaw said, “we have implemented a comprehensive testing program to ensure the safety of East Palestine’s water, air, and soil.”

    Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the first name of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency official Tiffani Kavalec.

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  • Residents not yet allowed to return to homes near site of fiery train derailment in Ohio | CNN

    Residents not yet allowed to return to homes near site of fiery train derailment in Ohio | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Residents of the Ohio village of East Palestine remain unable to return home after a controlled release Monday of a toxic chemical from cars that were part of a train derailment three days ago, Mayor Trent Conaway said during an evening news conference.

    An operation to drain vinyl chloride – a chemical that officials said was unstable and could explode – from five Norfolk Southern rail cars began just after 4:30 p.m. ET.

    Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern had earlier said small, shaped charges would be used to blow a small hole in each rail car. The vinyl chloride would then spill into a trench where flares would ignite and burn it away.

    As of 7 p.m., the flames were reduced and a small fire continues in the pit, Deutsch said at the news conference.

    It is “still an ongoing event so we just ask everybody to stay out,” the mayor said. “We have to wait to the fires die down.”

    An evacuation zone of 1 mile around the train’s crash site remains in place, Conaway said. Authorities will reassess the zone Tuesday morning, he added. “We really don’t have a time frame right now” for the return of residents, he said.

    A team from the Environmental Protection Agency will monitor the air and water quality in the area, officials said.

    The remaining fires will go out on their own and won’t be extinguished by crews, Deutsch said.

    The five cars from the train, which derailed in a fiery accident Friday, were hurling toxic fumes into the air and shooting deadly shrapnel as far as a mile away, officials said earlier.

    One rail car in particular had been a focus of concern because its malfunctioning safety valves had prevented the car from releasing the vinyl chloride inside, a Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency official and a Norfolk Southern spokesperson told CNN earlier Monday.

    Ahead of the controlled release, the evacuation zone surrounding the fiery derailment site expanded to two states, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

    DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had ordered evacuations for a 1-mile-by-2-mile area surrounding East Palestine, a village of about 5,000 people near the Pennsylvania border, DeWine said.

    This followed evacuations that took place just after the massive inferno began Friday night.

    According to East Palestine resident Eric Whiting, police knocked on his door about an hour after the derailment and asked the family to evacuate.

    “They told me they didn’t know anything yet, but they just needed us to evacuate,” Whiting told CNN.

    Officials begged residents for several days to leave the area as fears about air and water quality have mounted.

    Mayor Conaway said Monday he was “proud of the citizens” as everyone cleared out when officials went door-to-door and there were no arrests.

    Here’s the latest on the ground:

    • Police shift communications hub: The scene was so dangerous by Monday morning that the East Palestine Police Department had evacuated a communications center for safety reasons, a spokesperson told CNN by phone Monday. “911 service will not be affected,” the department posted online.

    • Schools are closed: The East Palestine City School District will be closed for the rest of the week, citing a local state of emergency.

    • A mechanical issue was detected: The crew was alerted by an alarm shortly before the derailment “indicating a mechanical issue,” a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member said. An emergency brake was applied, but about 10 cars carrying hazardous materials derailed.

    Whiting, the East Palestine resident, said he, his wife and three children took nothing with them when they evacuated Friday.

    “We live right by the railroad, so we heard the train come to an abrupt stop. But by the time I got dressed to check out what was happening, I heard emergency vehicles rushing towards us,” Whiting told CNN on Monday.

    The family returned home Saturday and stayed overnight. But law enforcement officers knocked on the door Sunday morning telling them to leave due to the potential for an explosion.

    So, they packed up clothes for a few nights and, along with their dog, headed to a hotel 20 minutes away.

    An Ohio state trooper tells residents to evacuate Sunday in East Palestine, Ohio.

    “It’s difficult. I’m in a cheap motel because I’m afraid of how much they’ll be willing to reimburse me for. It’s hard to take my laptop out (to work) and focus when I’m worried about getting food for the family throughout the day,” Whiting said.

    He’s also worried what the environmental impact on East Palestine will be, he said.

    A “drastic change” was detected Sunday related to the vinyl chloride, Fire Chief Keith Drabick said.

    Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride can make someone pass out or die if they don’t get fresh air, the Ohio Department of Health said.

    The man-made chemical used to make PVC burns easily at room temperature; can cause dizziness, sleepiness and headaches; and has been linked to an increased risk of cancer in the liver, brain, lungs and blood.

    “If a water supply is contaminated, vinyl chloride can enter household air when the water is used for showering, cooking, or laundry,” the National Cancer Institute says.

    While air and water quality remained stable Sunday, “things can change at any moment,” James Justice of the EPA’s Emergency Response warned.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Vinyl chloride in water or soil evaporates rapidly if it is near the surface. Vinyl chloride in the air breaks down in a few days, resulting in the formation of several other chemicals including hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde, and carbon dioxide.”

    The agency also warns that liquid vinyl chloride that touches skin will numb it and produce redness and blisters.

    There was a mechanical failure warning before the crash, NTSB Member Michael Graham said Sunday. About 10 of 20 cars carrying hazardous materials – among more than 100 cars in all – derailed, the agency said.

    “The crew did receive an alarm from a wayside defect detector shortly before the derailment, indicating a mechanical issue,” Graham said. “Then an emergency brake application initiated.”

    Investigators also identified the point of derailment and found video showing “preliminary indications of mechanical issues” on one of the railcar axles, Graham said.

    NTSB is still investigating when the potential defect happened and the response from the crew, which included an engineer, conductor and conductor trainee, Graham added.

    Investigators have also requested records from Norfolk Southern, including track inspection records, locomotive and railcar inspections and maintenance records, train crew records and qualifications, Graham said.

    Rail travel is recognized as the safest method of transporting hazardous materials in the US, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration.

    “The vast majority of hazardous materials shipped by rail tank car every year arrive safely and without incident, and railroads generally have an outstanding record in moving shipments of hazardous materials safely,” the administration said.

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  • Ohio train continues burning days after derailment as officials say air, water quality remain safe for now | CNN

    Ohio train continues burning days after derailment as officials say air, water quality remain safe for now | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Officials continued on Sunday to monitor the environmental impact caused by a derailed train carrying hazardous materials late Friday in East Palestine, Ohio, a crash that led to a large inferno that continues to burn, evacuations, a shelter-in-place order and concerns about air quality.

    Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine, assured residents the air and drinking water remain safe after the Norfolk Southern train crash. He said classes at East Palestine schools would be canceled Monday, as would city meetings.

    The train derailed in East Palestine, about 15 miles south of Youngstown, Friday evening, according to earlier comments by officials. Of the more than 100 cars, about 20 were carrying hazardous materials, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.

    Ten of those cars derailed, including five that were carrying vinyl chloride, the NTSB said in a statement Saturday. The agency said so far it had “not confirmed vinyl chloride has been released other than from the pressure release devices.”

    While air and water quality remained stable Sunday, and officials have yet to see abnormal levels in screenings, “things can change at any moment,” said James Justice, an on-scene coordinator with the EPA’s Emergency Response.

    Authorities continue to monitor for a “long list” of chemicals, he said – not only those provided to authorities in a list from Norfolk Southern, but also those that can result from combustion.

    Officials issued a shelter-in-place order for the entire town of roughly 5,000 people, and an evacuation order was issued for the area within a mile radius of the train crash near James Street.

    Both restrictions remained in place Sunday, Conaway said at a news conference. Fire Chief Keith Drabkick told reporters at the news conference the scene remained volatile, preventing authorities from conducting on-scene operations. Crews will not be able to determine the full list of chemicals involved until the fires stops burning, Drabkick said.

    Officials urged residents to follow the shelter-in-place orders. On Saturday evening, one person was arrested for misconduct after approaching the scene and getting too close to the train, the mayor said.

    “Please stay home. I can’t reiterate it enough,” Conaway said. “Do not come to our town.”

    The Ohio EPA is monitoring water quality in local streams, which eventually feed into the Ohio River, a spokesperson said, but the agency does not anticipate contamination to East Palestine’s public water system, which draws from other sources.

    The agency installed containment dams in area streams and set up three aeration locations using high volume pumps to treat water and remove dissolved contaminants.

    In an email to CNN Sunday morning, a spokesperson for Norfolk Southern deferred all questions to the NTSB.

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  • Extinctions, shrinking habitat spur ‘rewilding’ in cities

    Extinctions, shrinking habitat spur ‘rewilding’ in cities

    DETROIT — In a bustling metro area of 4.3 million people, Yale University wildlife biologist Nyeema Harris ventures into isolated thickets to study Detroit’s most elusive residents — coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks among them.

    Harris and colleagues have placed trail cameras in woodsy sections of 25 city parks for the past five years. They’ve recorded thousands of images of animals that emerge mostly at night to roam and forage, revealing a wild side many locals might not know exists.

    “We’re getting more and more exposure to wildlife in urban environments,” Harris said recently while checking several of the devices fastened to trees with steel cables near the ground. “As we’re changing their habitats, as we’re expanding the footprint of urbanization, … we’ll increasingly come in contact with them.”

    Animal and plant species are dying off at an alarming rate, with up to 1 million threatened with extinction, according to a 2019 United Nations report. Their plight is stirring calls for “rewilding” places where they thrived until driven out by development, pollution and climate change.

    Rewilding generally means reviving natural systems in degraded locations — sometimes with a helping hand. That might mean removing dams, building tunnels to reconnect migration pathways severed by roads, or reintroducing predators such as wolves to help balance ecosystems. But after initial assists, there’s little human involvement.

    The idea might seem best suited to remote areas where nature is freer to heal without interference. But rewilding also happens in some of the world’s biggest urban centers, as people find mutually beneficial ways to coexist with nature.

    The U.S. Forest Service estimates 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares) of open space are lost daily as cities and suburbs expand. More than two-thirds of the global population will live in urban areas by 2050, the U.N. says.

    “Climate change is coming, and we are facing an equally important biodiversity crisis,” said Nathalie Pettorelli, senior scientist with the Zoological Society of London. “There’s no better place to engage people on these matters than in cities.”

    In a September report, the society noted rewilding in metropolises such as Singapore, where a 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) stretch of the Kallang River has been converted from a concrete-lined channel into a twisting waterway lined with plants, rocks and other natural materials and flanked by green parkland.

    Treating urban rivers like natural waters instead of drainage ditches can boost fish passage and let adjacent lands absorb floodwaters as global warming brings more extreme weather, the report says.

    The German cities of Hannover, Frankfurt and Dessau-Rosslau designated vacant lots, parks, lawns and urban waterways where nature could take its course. As native wildflowers have sprung up, they’ve attracted birds, butterflies, bees, even hedgehogs.

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan, describing the United Kingdom as “one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world,” announced a plan last year to fund 45 urban rewilding projects to improve habitat for stag beetles, water voles and birds such as swifts and sparrows.

    In the north London borough of Enfield, two beavers were released in March — 400 years after the species was hunted to extinction in Great Britain — in the hope their dams would prevent flash flooding. One died but was to be replaced.

    Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the nonprofit Urban Rivers are installing “floating wetlands” on part of the Chicago River to provide fish breeding areas, bird and pollinator habitat and root systems that cleanse polluted water.

    Urban rewilding can’t return landscapes to pre-settlement times and doesn’t try, said Marie Law Adams, a Northeastern University associate professor of architecture.

    Instead, the aim is to encourage natural processes that serve people and wildlife by increasing tree cover to ease summer heat, storing carbon and hosting more animals. Or installing surface channels called bio-swales that filter rainwater runoff from parking lots instead of letting it contaminate creeks.

    “We need to learn from the mistakes of the mid-20th century — paving over everything, engineering everything with gray infrastructure” such as dams and pipes, Adams said.

    Detroit’s sprawling metro area illustrates how human actions can boost rewilding, intentionally or not.

    Hundreds of thousands of houses and other structures were abandoned as the struggling city’s population fell more than 60% since peaking at 1.8 million in the 1950s. Many were razed, leaving vacant tracts that plants and animals have occupied. Nonprofit groups have planted trees, community gardens and pollinator-friendly shrubs.

    Conservation projects reintroduced ospreys and peregrine falcons. Bald eagles found their way back as bans on DDT and other pesticides helped expand their range nationwide. Anti-pollution laws and government-funded cleanups made nearby rivers more hospitable to sturgeon, whitefish, beavers and native plants, such as wild celery.

    “Detroit is a stellar example of urban rewilding, ” said John Hartig, a lake scientist at the nearby University of Windsor and former head of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. “It’s been more organic than strategic. We created the conditions, things got better environmentally, and the native species came back.”

    The refuge, a half-hour’s drive from downtown, consists of 30 parcels totaling 6,200 acres (2,509 hectares), including islands, wetlands and former industrial sites. It’s home to 300 bird species and a busy stopover for ducks, raptors and others during migration, said Manager Dan Kennedy.

    To Harris, the Yale biologist formerly with the University of Michigan, Detroit offers a unique backdrop for studying wildlife in urban settings.

    Unlike most big cities, its human population is declining, even as its streets, buildings and other infrastructure remain largely intact. And there’s diverse habitat. It ranges from large lakes and rivers to neighborhoods — some occupied, others largely deserted — and parklands so quiet “you don’t even know you’re in the city,” Harris said while changing camera batteries and jotting notes in a woodsy section of O’Hair Park.

    Her team’s photographic observations have yielded published studies on how mammals react to each other, and to people, in urban landscapes.

    The project connects them with local residents, some intrigued by coyotes and raccoons in the neighborhood, others fearful of diseases or harm to pets.

    It’s an educational opportunity, Harris said — about proper trash disposal, resisting the temptation to feed wild animals and the value of healthy, diverse ecosystems.

    “It used to be that you had to go to some remote location to get exposure to nature,” said Harris, a Philadelphia native who was excited as a child to glimpse an occasional squirrel or deer. “Now that’s not the case. Like it or not, rewilding will occur. The question is, how can we prepare communities and environments and societies to anticipate the presence of more and more wildlife?”

    Rewilding can be a tough sell for urbanites who prefer well-manicured lawns and think ecologically rich systems look weedy and unkempt or should be used for housing.

    But advocates say it isn’t just about animals and plants. Studies show time in natural spaces improves people’s physical and mental health.

    “A lot of city people have lost their tolerance to live with wildlife,” said Pettorelli of Zoological Society of London. “There’s a lot of reteaching ourselves to be done. To really make a difference in tackling the biodiversity crisis, you’re going to have to have people on board.”

    ——————

    Follow John Flesher on Twitter: @JohnFlesher

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    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Los Angeles City Council votes to ban oil and gas drilling

    Los Angeles City Council votes to ban oil and gas drilling

    The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Friday to ban drilling of new oil and gas wells and phase out existing ones over the next 20 years.

    The vote comes after more than a decade of complaints from city residents that pollution drifting from wells was affecting their health. Los Angeles was once a booming oil town, but many of its oilfields are now played out.

    “Hundreds of thousands of Angelenos have had to raise their kids, go to work, prepare their meals (and) go to neighborhood parks in the shadows of oil and gas production,” said Los Angeles City Council president Paul Krekorian, one of the councilmembers who introduced this measure. “The time has come …. when we end oil and gas production in the city of Los Angeles.”

    Two engineers with Yorke Engineering, a California-based company that does air quality and environmental compliance review, spoke in opposition to the ordinance. They said a ban and phase out will have a negative effect because oil and gas operators will abandon wells. They said this is being underestimated by the city. If they walk away, that will mean increased air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, they said.

    But Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said these claims are “not credible,” citing a review by Impact Sciences, another California-based firm that performed an environmental analysis of the ordinance for the city.

    A document prepared by the Los Angeles city controller’s office in 2018 said there were 780 active and 287 idle wells within city boundaries. An idle well is one that is not operating, but neither has it been permanently sealed, so it could be brought back into production.

    Many more well lie just outside the city limits, in Carson, Inglewood and Long Beach. Long Beach is the home of a good part of the extremely prolific Wilmington oil field, which yielded more than 10 million barrels of crude oil in 2019, according to state records.

    There is research on the possible effect of pollution emanating from some of the city’s existing oil and gas wells.

    Researchers from the University of Southern California found in a study in 2021 that people living near wells in two Los Angeles neighborhoods — University Park and Jefferson Park — reported significantly higher rates of wheezing, eye and nose irritation, sore throat and dizziness than neighbors living farther away. Both of those communities are predominantly non-white with large Black and Latino communities, according to the U.S. Census.

    The push to ban drilling in the City of Los Angeles is part of a region-wide effort to shut down oil and gas extraction through the County of Los Angeles, with similar measures covering Culver City and unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County passed in 2021.

    “In Los Angeles, we sit on the largest urban oil deposit in the world,” said councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson ahead of the vote. “So if Los Angeles can do it, cities around the world can do it.”

    ———

    Follow Drew Costley on Twitter: @drewcostley.

    ———

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Justin Bieber launches clean water company Generosity at Qatar’s World Cup | CNN

    Justin Bieber launches clean water company Generosity at Qatar’s World Cup | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Justin Bieber is on a mission to make the world’s drinking water more sustainable.

    Bieber and Micah Cravalho have evolved bottled water brand Generosity into a water technology company that is providing premium alkaline water in refillable fountains across the globe. They showcased 150 water fountains this month at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Bieber spoke about the brand’s social impact initiative in a statement to CNN.

    “I want the world to have access to the best water. I also want countries to know how to best protect their people. The overuse of plastic is hurting us, we need to be more sustainable,” Bieber said.

    Generosity is aimed at not just providing premium water but reducing the usage of single-serve plastic.

    “We aspire to be the global leader in water technology, empowering consumers with refillable products as an alternative to single-use packaging,” said co-founder Cravalho.

    Bieber and Cravalho recently visited Qatar and met with Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the sister of country’s emir.

    Having participated in beach clean-up efforts in Qatar for many years, I have witnessed first-hand the effect of pollution on our natural environment. Through initiatives such as those undertaken by Generosity and the Supreme Committee, and projects such as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Art water bottles, which bring together the global artistic community to advocate for a more sustainable future, we are all encouraged to play our part during the World Cup and beyond,” Al Mayassa said in a press release.

    Generosity connects to any water source and is able to create premium refillable alkaline water dispensed through their sustainable fountains which the company says will be found commercially at major venues, festivals and in homes in 2023.

    The Grammy Award winner has been at the forefront of social impact initiatives in Hollywood with his involvement in organizations like Pencils of Promise, which builds schools in third world countries. He also raised over $3 million dollars for the First Responders Children’s Foundation with Ariana Grande in 2020 with their “Stuck with U” collaboration.

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  • Official: Toxic fire suppressant spill in Hawaii ‘egregious’

    Official: Toxic fire suppressant spill in Hawaii ‘egregious’

    A cleanup is underway after about 1,100 gallons of toxic fire suppressant was spilled at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility Tuesday, according to Hawaii Department of Health officials

    HONOLULU — A clean up is underway after about 1,100 gallons of toxic fire suppressant was spilled at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility Tuesday, according to Hawaii Department of Health officials.

    The Honolulu-Star Advertiser reported that the Aqueous Film Forming Foam is used to suppress fires caused by flammable liquids such as fuel and contain PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” that are slow to degrade when released into the environment. Health investigators said excavators are currently digging up contaminated soil. No surface water was contaminated.

    According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS may lead to a higher risk of kidney and testicular cancer, increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women, among other health problems.

    “This is egregious,” Kathleen Ho, DOH’s deputy director of environmental health said in a news release. “AFFF contains PFAS forever chemicals — groundwater contamination could be devastating to our aquifer. While details are limited at this time, the Joint Task Force and Navy need to be transparent about how this happened.”

    Ho said that regulators “will hold the Department of Defense accountable and will press the operator to take any and all appropriate corrective action throughout the defueling and decommissioning process.”

    The release occurred above Adit 6, a passageway at the mauka end of the Red Hill facility, according to DOH, which said it was notified of the leak at about 3 p.m.

    “A DOH on-scene coordinator responded and preliminarily reported that the spill was not contained and AFFF has spilled into soil outside of the Red Hill facility and into the facility near Adit 6,” DOH said in a news release.

    No details were provided about the cause of the release, health officials said.

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  • Gas driller pleads no contest to polluting town’s water

    Gas driller pleads no contest to polluting town’s water

    MONTROSE, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s most active gas driller pleaded no contest Tuesday to criminal charges, capping a landmark environmental case against a company that prosecutors say polluted a rural community’s drinking water 14 years ago and then tried to evade responsibility.

    Residents of the tiny crossroads of Dimock in northeastern Pennsylvania say they have gone more than a decade without a clean, reliable source of drinking water after their aquifer was ruined by Houston-based Coterra Energy Inc.

    Under a plea deal entered in Susquehanna County Court, Coterra agreed to pay $16.29 million to fund construction of a new public water system and pay the impacted residents’ water bills for the next 75 years.

    “After more than decade of denials, of shirking responsibility and accountability, Coterra pleaded to their crime, and the people of Dimock finally had their day in court,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the state’s incoming governor, said outside the courtroom. “Today is further proof that you don’t get to just walk away from the harm you do here in Pennsylvania.”

    The plea — the result of years of negotiations between Coterra and the attorney general’s office — represents a milestone in one of the most prominent pollution cases ever to emerge from the U.S. drilling and fracking boom. Dimock drew national notoriety after residents were filmed lighting their tap water on fire in the Emmy Award-winning 2010 documentary “Gasland.”

    Coterra’s corporate predecessor, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., was charged in June 2020 with 15 criminal counts, most of them felonies, after a grand jury investigation found the company drilled faulty gas wells that leaked flammable methane into residential water supplies in Dimock and surrounding communities.

    The grand jury blasted what it called Cabot’s “long-term indifference to the damage it caused to the environment and citizens of Susquehanna County.”

    Cabot, which merged with Denver-based Cimarex Energy Co. to form Coterra, has long maintained the gas in residents’ water was naturally occurring.

    Coterra pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of prohibition against discharge of industrial wastes under the state’s Clean Streams Law. The plea means Coterra does not admit guilt but agreed to accept criminal responsibility.

    “Coterra has worked closely with the Office of Attorney General to resolve historical matters and create a path forward for all parties,” company spokesperson George Stark said via email. He said Coterra ”strives to follow best practices, exceed industry standards, and to continue to be a valuable community partner.”

    Many residents have avoided using their well water since the aquifer was contaminated with methane and heavy metals, using bottled water, bulk water purchased commercially, and even water drawn from creeks and artesian wells instead.

    “These people had to find very creative ways to get water for their homes, water for their families, their kids, their critters, and it was not pretty,” Dimock resident Victoria Switzer said Tuesday. “It was just crazy, people trying to find water.”

    Switzer, whose house will be connected to the new water line, called it “wonderful news” — and a long time coming.

    Another resident, Scott Ely, said some of his neighbors had moved away or developed health problems as a result of Coterra’s practices, while his own children, now in college, had grown up “without a safe water source.”

    “There’s so much heartache,” he said.

    Residents were informed of the plea deal last week. A public utility, Pennsylvania American Water, plans to drill two wells — what it calls a “public groundwater system” — and build a treatment plant that will remove any contaminants from the water before piping it to about 20 homes in Dimock. The utility estimates that construction will take about three years, during which Coterra will be required to provide individual treatment systems and bottled water to impacted residents.

    The settlement comes near the end of Shapiro’s tenure as attorney general.

    On Tuesday, Shapiro, a Democrat who will be sworn in as governor in January, pledged more aggressive regulatory oversight of the industry.

    “We have to change our regulatory structure here in the commonwealth,” Shapiro said. “We have to make sure we are setting clear rules of the road and holding industry accountable. If the regulators fail to do that, then industry is not going to be constrained and they’re going to go ahead and put profits before people. And that’s where the danger comes in.”

    Shapiro demurred on the question of whether Coterra would be permitted to resume drilling in a 9-square-mile (23-square-kilometer) area of Dimock where it has long been banned. Shpairo said he would review the matter with his new environmental secretary after taking office as governor.

    The criminal case has not slowed Coterra’s business. It is the leading shale gas driller in the nation’s No. 2 natural gas-producing state.

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  • Justice Department intervenes for struggling water system

    Justice Department intervenes for struggling water system

    JACKSON, Miss. — The Justice Department made a rare intervention Tuesday to try to bring improvements in the beleaguered water system in Mississippi’s capital city, which nearly collapsed in late summer and continues to struggle.

    The department filed a proposal to appoint a third-party manager for the Jackson water system. That is meant to be an interim step while the federal government, the city of Jackson and the Mississippi State Department of Health try to negotiate a court-enforced consent decree, the department said in a news release. The goal is to achieve long-term sustainability of the system and the city’s compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and other laws.

    The city and the state health department have signed the proposal, which needs approval of a federal judge.

    The Justice Department on Tuesday also filed a complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against Jackson, alleging that the city has failed to provide drinking water that is reliably compliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act. According to the agreement, that litigation will be put on hold six months while all parties try to improve the water system.

    Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the news release that the Justice Department is “taking action in federal court to address long-standing failures in the city of Jackson’s public drinking water system.”

    “The Department of Justice takes seriously its responsibility to keep the American people safe and to protect their civil rights,” Garland said. “Together with our partners at EPA, we will continue to seek justice for the residents of Jackson, Mississippi. And we will continue to prioritize cases in the communities most burdened by environmental harm.”

    In a federal complaint Sept. 27, the NAACP said Mississippi officials “all but assured” a drinking water calamity by depriving Jackson of badly needed funds to upgrade its infrastructure.

    The EPA announced in late October that it was investigating whether Mississippi state agencies have discriminated against Jackson by refusing to fund water system improvements in the city of 150,000, where more than 80% of residents are Black and about a quarter of the population lives in poverty.

    Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, said Tuesday that the Jackson water problems were caused by a “crisis of incompetence” in the Democratic-led city.

    “It is excellent news for anyone who cares about the people of Jackson that the mayor will no longer be overseeing the city’s water system,” Reeves said.

    Like many American cities, Jackson struggles with aging infrastructure with water lines that crack or collapse. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat in the Republican-led state, said the city’s water problems come from decades of deferred maintenance.

    Jackson frequently has boil-water notices because of loss of pressure or other problems that can contaminate the water. Some of the mandates are in place for only a few days, while others last weeks. Some only affect specific neighborhoods, usually because of broken pipes in the area. Others affect all customers on the water system.

    Edward “Ted” Henifin was appointed Tuesday as interim third-party manager of the Jackson water system and Water Sewer Business Administration, the city’s water billing department. An online profile of Henifin says he is a registered professional engineer who served 15 years as general manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia. Before that, he served as director of public works for the city of Hampton, Virginia.

    The proposal lists 13 projects that Henifin will in charge of implementing. The projects are meant to improve the water system’s near-term stability, according to a news release. Among the most pressing priorities is a winterization project to make the system less vulnerable. A cold snap in 2021 left tens of thousands of people in Jackson without running water after pipes froze.

    EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who has been to Jackson four times in the past year, said the Justice Department’s action “marks a critical moment on the path to securing clean, safe water for Jackson residents,″ adding that he is grateful to Garland for acting quickly on the city’s water crisis.

    In May, the Justice Department created an environmental justice division, following up on President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to elevate environmental justice issues in an all-of-government approach. The Justice Department said in July that it was investigating illegal dumping in Black and Latino neighborhoods in Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city.

    Jackson has had water problems for decades. Most of the city lost running water for several days after heavy rainfall exacerbated problems at the city’s main water treatment plant in late August. When that happened, Jackson had already been under a boil-water advisory for a month because health inspectors had found cloudy water that could make people ill.

    The boil-water advisory was lifted in mid-September, but many people remain skeptical about water quality.

    Vangela M. Wade, president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the Justice Department announcement Tuesday is “an important and necessary move to ensure that residents of Jackson and surrounding communities have access to safe drinking water — a vital necessity for all communities to thrive.”

    “Unfortunately,” Wade said, “the deplorable and unsafe condition of Jackson’s water system didn’t happen overnight but stems from decades of neglect and the intentional disinvestment of resources for the majority-Black municipality.”

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    Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.

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