I was recently interviewed by John Kiriakou on his show The #Whistleblowers about my experience discovering #toxicwaste public safety issues at #Apple , blowing the whistle, and swiftly meeting the wrath of one of the most powerful corporations in history.
@arstechnica Good enough to let #Intel return to remorseless price gouging like in their good old heyday? Every little CPU tweak absolutely requires a new mainboard 'generation'?
Plant-based material can remediate #PFAS, new research suggests
Combining plants and fungi, an NIEHS-funded technology presents an environmentally friendly approach to clean up the 'forever chemicals.'
By Megan Boland, September 2022
"The new approach uses a plant-based material that adsorbs PFAS, and microbial fungi that literally eat up the so-called 'forever chemicals.' The findings, which were published July 28 in Nature Communications, could provide a powerful solution for finally getting rid of these contaminants.
"A certain kind of fungus known as 'white rot' has shown promise to degrade PFAS, but sustaining its growth and promoting PFAS breakdown has been challenging.
"To address these shortcomings, the researchers used an abundant and renewable component of dry plant matter called lignocellulose — to create a porous framework as a low-cost, efficient, and sustainable alternative for PFAS remediation. The framework, named Renewable Artificial Plant for In-Situ Microbial Environmental Remediation (RAPIMER), is made from the leaves, stalks, and cobs of corn plants left in the field after harvest.
"'The plant’s cell wall-based material serves as a framework to adsorb the PFAS,' said Dai. 'Then this material and the adsorbed chemical serve as food for a microbial fungus. The fungus eats them at the same time to eliminate the disposal problem. Basically, the fungus is doing the detoxification process.'
"In the new study, the researchers found that their platform successfully bound PFAS at higher concentrations than other currently available sorbents. After two weeks, more than 98% and 99% of #PFOA and #PFOS, respectively, were removed. According to the team, the findings suggest that the PFAS were being degraded biologically into less toxic products."
"I learned during J’s two years with leukemia that medicine is inconclusive. That science is inconclusive. That faith is inconclusive. That clarity is inconclusive. I tried to capture clarity by learning what was happening in J’s body, but the learning led to more questions. All that was conclusive was the unknowing." Rachel Greenley for Orion Magazine
"PFAS in Food Packaging
The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) invites stakeholder comment on the attached department rule concept draft language which would prohibit manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors from offering for sale or for promotional purposes in Maine certain types of food packaging to which per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been intentionally introduced, as authorized by Maine Revised Statutes, Title 32, Section 1733(3-B).
Maine law authorizes the Department to prohibit the sale of a food package to which PFAS have been intentionally introduced in any amount greater than an incidental presence if the Department determines that a safer alternative to the use of PFAS in a specific application to a food package is readily available in sufficient quantity and at a comparable cost, and that the safer alternative performs as well or better than PFAS in the specific application of PFAS to a food package.
In February 2021, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Washington DOE) published the Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances in Food Packaging Alternatives Assessment, identifying 4 types of food packaging that meet Washington’s statutory criteria for a prohibition:
Food Packaging Type and Alternative Identified as Safer
Wraps and liners - Wax-coated alternatives
Plates - Clay-coated and reusable alternatives
Food boats - Clay-coated and reusable alternatives
Pizza boxes - Uncoated alternatives
In May 2022, Washington DOE published a second alternatives assessment report, Safer Alternatives to PFAS in Food Packaging, which modified their process in two ways: first, by adjusting the concept of food packaging application to be more focused on its function rather than the package’s name; second, by relying on marketability to demonstrate cost and availability rather than direct price comparison of final products. This report identified safer alternatives for all five of the food packaging applications reviewed:
Food Packaging Type and Alternative
Bags and sleeves - Densified paper and wax-coated options
Because language in Washington’s related law mirrors criteria for determination in Maine law, the Department proposes to rely on the conclusions in these reports that the safer alternatives identified perform as well as, or better, than PFAS in the specific applications of PFAS to the food package.
The Department requests written comment on this section of the Rule Chapter 80 Concept Draft by August 21, 2023.
The Department intends to initiate formal rulemaking with the Board of Environmental Protection this fall to amend the existing Chapter 80 to incorporate these prohibitions. This will be a major substantive rulemaking subject to review by the legislature before final adoption.
Please email Kerri.Malinowski@maine.gov with your name, affiliation, contact information, and comment in response to this request for stakeholder engagement."
"Maine last month became the first state to ban the practice of spreading PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer.
"But it’s largely on its own in the US, despite a recent report estimating about 20m acres of cropland across the country may be contaminated.
"Most states are only beginning to look at the problem and some are increasing the amount of sludge they spread on farm fields despite the substance being universally contaminated with PFAS and destroying livelihoods in Maine.
"'Maine is at the forefront of this because we’ve seen first-hand the damage that sludge causes to farms,' said Patrick MacRoy, deputy director of the non-profit Defend Our Health Maine. The new law also prohibits sludge from being composted with other organic material.
"PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals used across dozens of industries to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. Though the compounds are highly effective, they are also linked to #cancer, #KidneyDisease, #BirthDefects, decreased #immunity, #liver problems and a range of other serious diseases.
"Sewage sludge is a semi-solid mix of human excrement and industrial #waste that water treatment plants pull from the nation’s sewer system. It’s expensive to dispose of, and about 60% of it is now lightly treated and sold or given away as 'biosolid' fertilizer because it is high in plant nutrients.
"Maine and #Michigan are the only two states that are routinely checking sludge and farms for PFAS, and both are finding contamination on farms to be widespread.
"Maine’s legislature banned the practice of spreading sludge as fertilizer in April [2022] after environmental officials discovered astronomical levels of PFAS in water, crops, cattle and soil on farms where sludge had been spread, and high PFAS levels have been detected in farmers’ blood.
"#Contamination from PFAS-tainted sludge has already poisoned well water on around a dozen farms, and has forced several Maine farms to shutter. The state is investigating about 700 more fields where PFAS-contaminated sludge was spread in recent years. Farmers have told the Guardian that many of their peers with contaminated land won’t alert the state because they fear financial ruin.
"Maine also approved the creation of a $60m fund that will be used to help farmers cover medical monitoring, for buyouts and for other forms of financial assistance.
"'Folks have been left out to dry without any real help so we’re grateful to see that,' MacRoy said. The sludge legislation comes after Maine last year enacted the nation’s first ban on non-essential uses of PFAS in products. It goes into effect in 2030.
"In Michigan, environmental officials have downplayed the detection of PFAS in sludge and on farms, and although the state prohibits highly contaminated sludge from being spread, it allows higher levels of the chemicals in sludge than Maine. State regulators have also identified PFAS polluters and required them to stop discharging the chemicals into the sewers.
"Questions remain about whether that’s enough to keep PFAS out of Michigan’s food supply. Instead of implementing a wide-scale program to test livestock, crops and dairy, the state identified 13 farms it considered most at risk and has claimed contamination on other farms isn’t a risk.
"Michigan is ahead of most other states. In #Virginia, environmental regulators are considering permitting an additional 6,000 acres worth of sludge to be spread and have so far resisted public health advocates’ calls to test for PFAS and reject new sludge permits.
"In #Alabama, the state’s department of environmental management said in 2019 that 'the best use of biosolids is as a [fertilizer].'
"Even as the crisis unfolds in Maine, officials in Alabama are increasing the amount of out-of-state sludge that’s imported and spread on fields or landfilled, and the state in 2020 updated its biosolids rule to 'encourage' the use of #biosolids as fertilizer. Alabama does not test sludge for PFAS."
"On March 27th [2010] Citizens for Sludge-Free Land sent a letter to the #Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and US #EPA Region 3 that information provided to Virginia landowners about using sewage sludges as #fertilizer is deceptive. Land application permits are being granted in several Virginia counties without informing farmers of the serious risks associated with this practice. The VA code specifies, that to be valid, these permits can only be granted with the #InformedConsent of the landowner.
"The Federal #CleanWater Act defines sewage sludge as a #pollutant. Most of the pollutants that sewage treatment plants remove from wastewater concentrate in the resulting sludge. Exempt from #hazardous and solid waste laws, sludge is being spread on #agricultural land, despite mounting scientific evidence and field reports that using this contaminated waste as a cheap fertilizer is neither safe, beneficial, nor sustainable.
"The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service as well as Nutri-Blend Inc., the company that needs permits to spread sludge, are failing to provide landowners with the necessary facts, so they can make an informed decision whether or not to treat their land with sludge. The widely distributed Extension Service biosolids fact sheets-- although deceptively dated May 9, 2009-- provide out-dated, inaccurate, incomplete, and in some cases, misleading information. They overstate the alleged benefits and totally ignore the known risks and recent documented evidence of adverse health and #environmental impacts linked to sludge use. The fact sheets and brochures give the illusion that land applying sewage sludge, a complex and variable mixture of #HumanWaste and thousands of industrial #chemicals, many of which are #toxic and persistent, is a safe and normal agricultural practice.
"The information provided to landowners deceptively downplays the health risks of exposure to odors, odorant compounds, endotoxins, bacteria-laden dusts, and toxic gases at land application sites that can cause severe and permanent #lung damage. Nor are farmers told that typical sludges generated in industrialized urban areas contain not only pathogens, but also #PCBs, #dioxins, #carcinogens, #pharmaceuticals, flame retardants [#PFAS], and hormone disrupting chemicals that can damage developing organisms in parts per trillion. Many of these pollutants do not break down once they are applied to land. Worse, partial breakdown products are often more toxic than the parent material. Yet federal regulations require testing and standards for only nine toxic metals. Perhaps most important, the information provided to farmers fails to disclose that the National Academies of Science has indicated that while there are serious health concerns associated with many of the constituents of sewage sludge, there is too much uncertainty to scientifically predict the true health and environmental risks, when this complex waste mixture is applied to land.
"Finally, farmers are not told that sludge-exposure has been linked to illnesses, human deaths, livestock mortalities, groundwater pollution, and permanently degraded land. Unless there is a true and accurate disclosure of all the risks associated with this practice, there can be no true consent.
"Without informed consent, the state should not be issuing permits."
This is some seriously underrated tea on #Chevron, the oil company acting like Regina George (actually though).
By Eamon Levesque | Jul 31, 2023
From the article:
#Donziger ’s three-decade legal battle with #Chevron is a pain to summarize. Key to understand is that he represented 30,000 #Ecuadorian#indigenous residents of the #Amazon in a lawsuit against oil giant Chevron.
Per coverage at the time, #Donziger and his team argued that a company #Chevron purchased dumped “18 billion gallons of #ToxicWaste … leading to 1,000-plus #deaths from #cancer and to #EcologicalDamage beyond repair.” In a landmark 2013 victory, courts in #Ecuador ordered Chevron pay $9.5 billion in damages.
Disposable e-vapes (Wegwerf-e-zigaretten) - they are all made of plastic, contain toxic batteries and often are being littered into nature.
After a night of party the whole sidewalk at the late-night shop next to my house here in Nijmegen, NL, is covered of disposable vape packaging. I assume the vapes also end up somewhere on the ground, leaking their toxic chemicals into the ground over time.
When will this shit finally be prohibited? https://www.skevape.com/ #esmoke#littering#vaping#waste#consumerism#plastic#toxicwaste
What good is a national monument if we allow toxic #mining to spoil it?
That's what we want to know, as federal officials decide whether to allow new #drilling and ultimately #mining for #uranium on the edge of #BearsEars National Monument in #Utah.
The #WhiteMesa uranium mill, located just a mile outside of #BearsEars, has 700 million pounds of #ToxicWaste stored in ponds on-site -- an ecological sword of Damocles that's already hanging over the monument.
"Duck Valley Paiute-Shoshone Council Member Addie Parker appealed to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, describing the disastrous lithium mining and hydrocarbon plume her people suffer from in northern #Nevada. Parker said there has been extensive #mining here for over 150 years.
"The "new green gold rush" for lithium batteries has brought devastating lithium mining and 'green colonialism.' Currently, there are 70 lithium mining applications in Nevada alone. The so-called 'green' solution actually creates an #environmental nightmare, including the disposal of #batteries.
Parker said there must be a rights-based approach and pointed out that Nevada mining laws are archaic. Paiute Shoshone of #DuckValleyNation opposes more mining and Nevada's new law for increased revenues from mining.
"Since the signing of the Treaty of Ruby Valley in 1863, there has been no mechanism for tribes to share in the benefits of mining. The mining companies are multi-national #corporations and most are from #Canada. They are not required to compensate the people.
"'It violates our Indigenous rights,' Parker said, listing international law violations, including the fre prior, and informed consent as mandated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of #IndigenousPeoples.
President #Biden's order to consult with #tribes is also being violated.
"Describing the illegal exploration of their resources, she said Paiute-Shoshone children are suffering because of it. 'We can't even get money to build a new school,' Parker said, describing how children are forced to attend school on a #toxic site.
"More than 100 members of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Nation, on the Nevada #Idaho border, have died over the years due to #cancer. It is a large number for a tribe of about 3,00 people, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. There was one thing they had in common: they all attended the same school on the reservation.
"The 70-year-old Owyhee Combined School, where tribal members have been educated for generations, sits adjacent to hydrocarbon plumes that lie underneath the town, Chairman Brian Mason said. He thinks the school, where drinking water was once #contaminated by the plumes, is the root of the problem.'"
In the protracted fight for accountability in #Ecuador’s Amazon, #StevenDonziger is a victim of #corporate retaliation, supporters say.
by Gabriela Barzallo, August 31, 2021
#Environmental lawyer Steven Donziger spent 25 years helping fight a million-dollar legal battle in the Ecuadorian Amazon against oil giant Chevron. But on July 26, a U.S. federal judge found him guilty of six counts of criminal contempt of court for withholding evidence in a long, complex legal fight.
"Having already served more than 700 days of house arrest, Donziger now awaits sentencing. He faces six months in jail as the culmination of a process he and his lawyers have called 'a charade.' Donziger was a fundamental part of the team of lawyers that sued Chevron in the early 1990s for toxic dumping in the Ecuadorian Amazon. After the case concluded in the affected communities’ favor in 2011, Chevron #countersued Donziger in the United States for alleged fraud in the Ecuadorian courts.
"'This is an outrageous decision,' Donziger said of his conviction. 'I see it as an attack on #HumanRights lawyering by the fossil fuel industry. It’s a violation for the rule of law and for our democracy."