News Releases

Congress Fails To Address PFAS Contamination in Nation’s Tap Water or Clean Up Legacy PFAS Pollution

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The defense spending bill passed by the Senate today excludes key provisions designed to reduce ongoing releases of the toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS, remove PFAS from tap water and clean up legacy PFAS contamination.

Key Issues:

DuPont Made Billions Polluting Tap Water With PFAS; Will Now Make More Cleaning It Up

Thursday, December 12, 2019

DuPont, whose toxic fluorinated chemicals have contaminated communities nationwide, is buying a company that specializes in removing those same chemicals from tap water.

Key Issues:

New York Becomes Third State To Ban Brain-Damaging Pesticide

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Beginning next year, a neurotoxic pesticide that at low doses can trigger brain and behavioral damage in children will be banned from use by agricultural operations in New York State

Key Issues:

Report: Trump Considering Former Chemical Industry Shill To Lead Nation’s Consumer Watchdog Agency

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

President Trump is considering nominating a former top chemical industry executive, who at the Environmental Protection Agency has led the rollback of important chemical safety regulations, to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Key Issues:

New EWG Map: 305 Military Sites That Used PFAS-based Firefighting Foam

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Environmental Working Group today published a map of 305 military installations that used the firefighting foams made with the toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS, which have likely contaminated drinking water or ground water on or around the bases

Key Issues:

Congress Fails to Protect Americans From PFAS Pollution

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The defense bill finalized by Congress last night excludes key provisions designed to reduce ongoing releases of the toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS, remove PFAS from tap water and clean up legacy PFAS contamination.

Key Issues:

As U.S. Ignores Risks to Kids, E.U. Bans Brain-Damaging Pesticide

Friday, December 6, 2019

The European Union today confirmed it will ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on food crops early next year, citing the risk of brain damage to children – evidence the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ignored in scuttling a proposed ban on the chemical.

Key Issues:

Key PFAS Reform Provisions in Jeopardy

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Manufacturers of the highly toxic fluorinated chemicals called PFAS may have scored a big win if key provisions to reduce releases and clean up these contaminants from drinking water sources were scrapped from a final defense spending bill before Congress.

Key Issues:

Report: EPA Broke Law by Ignoring Kids’ Health To Roll Back Rules on Dirty Engines in Big Trucks

Thursday, December 5, 2019

The Trump Environmental Protection Agency violated federal regulations in order to speed up repeal of pollution rules for old, dirty diesel engines in new freight trucks, instructing agency officials to ignore the impacts on children’s health.

Key Issues:

Children's Health

Toxics

EPA Chief Promises Year of ‘Progress’ To Mark Agency’s 50th Anniversary

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

To mark the Environmental Protection Agency’s 50th anniversary, agency chief Andrew Wheeler has announced plans for a year-long celebration, promising “to build on our progress for future generations” – a boast that invites skepticism, given the Trump administration’s continued rollback of environmental protections.

Key Issues:

Energy

Renewable Energy

Coal, Natural Gas and Nuclear

Water

EWG Hires Jamie Konopacky, Environmental Attorney, as New Midwest Office Director

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The Environmental Working Group has hired environmental attorney Jamie Konopacky as EWG’s Midwest director, based in Minneapolis, to strengthen and expand EWG’s work at the state and local level in the region.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Last week, the Navy asked a federal court to delay a lawsuit seeking to require the military to pay for medical monitoring of people who live near naval installations to determine whether they have developed health problems from exposure to fluorinated chemicals, commonly called PFAS.

Key Issues:

Toxics

PFAS Chemicals

Water

Trump EPA Ignores Worker Safety in Decision on Paint-Stripper Chemical

Friday, November 22, 2019

The EPA announced today it will allow methylene chloride, a dangerous chemical that can kill a person on contact, to remain an ingredient in paint-stripper products for commercial use while banning those products for sale to consumers.

Key Issues:

Toxics

Consumer Products

Pentagon Admits it Undercounted Military Bases Contaminated with ‘Forever Chemicals’

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The number of military installations and adjacent communities likely contaminated with toxic fluorinated chemicals, or PFAS, is higher than previously disclosed, a top Defense Department official admitted – but the Pentagon can’t say how badly it undercounted contaminated sites.

Key Issues:

Toxics

PFAS Chemicals

Water

Trump EPA Quashes Chemical Safety Rule to Ease ‘Burden’ on Industry

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Environmental Protection Agency today repealed major safety requirements for chemical, agro-chemical and petroleum plants, which President Obama’s administration put in place to protect workers and people who live near more than 12,000 such facilities across the nation.

Key Issues:

Toxics

‘Forever Chemicals' Found in Half of Drinking Water Systems Tested in Kentucky

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Half of the tap water supplies tested by Kentucky environmental officials were contaminated with the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS, the state announced this week.

Key Issues:

Toxics

PFAS Chemicals

Water

House Democrats Push To Expand, Extend Renewable Energy Tax Credits

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday released details of a legislative proposal to extend and expand federal tax incentives designed to combat climate change by further boosting investments in renewable energy.

Key Issues:

Energy

Renewable Energy

Clean Energy and You

Federal and State Policy

House Energy & Commerce Panel Considers Sweeping PFAS Package

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will consider a package of bills today addressing risks from the highly toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS.

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Dark Waters: Mark Ruffalo Urges Congress To Clean Up ‘Forever Chemicals’

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-dupont... , producer and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo joined Environmental Working Group, other public interest groups and advocates on Capitol Hill today in calling on Congress to protect Americans from toxic "forever chemicals" that contaminate drinking water, food, personal care products and more than 1,000 communities nationwide.

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Trump EPA to Weaken Safeguards of Pesticide Linked to Birth Defects, Cancer

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Trump administration announced in a document posted Thursday that it plans to weaken environmental safeguards for atrazine, a weedkilling pesticide linked to birth defects and cancer in humans.

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