environmental health
April 20, 2016 -
A look at what we've learned about the long-term health effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the sixth anniversary of the disaster.
April 15, 2016 -
As pressure grows on power companies to move toxic coal ash out of leaky, wet impoundments and into dry, lined landfills, the experience of an African-American community near one such landfill in rural Alabama highlights the potential problems with that approach.
April 8, 2016 -
The U.S. announced a deal last week to move weapons-grade plutonium from Japan and ship it to the Savannah River Site on the South Carolina-Georgia border, where there are longstanding concerns about the environmental health risks that low-income and African-American communities disproportionately bear.
April 1, 2016 -
North Carolina's carcinogen-contaminated drinking water near Duke Energy's coal ash dumps — and the political fight over what to do about it — should serve as a warning for problems to come in other historically coal-dependent states due to a lack of federal oversight for drinking water and coal ash disposal.
January 8, 2016 -
People living near the utility's leaking coal ash ponds say they're appalled by the decision by North Carolina's environmental agency to downgrade risk ratings determined by staff — an action that underscores concerns about the close relationship between the company and the McCrory administration.
November 13, 2015 -
President Obama rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline last week, citing climate concerns. But Canadian tar sands oil is already flowing to refineries in the South, putting vulnerable communities at even greater risk for pollution-related health problems.
October 20, 2015 -
Dubbed the "Polluter Protection Act," the controversial legislation that passed the General Assembly with minimal public input offers immunity to companies that self-report pollution while weakening rules designed to protect air and water quality. Environmentalists say it may be the most anti-environmental bill of Gov. Pat McCrory's tenure.
