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Tainted Sludge, Whoa-oh

When the cows at Boyceland Dairy outside Augusta, Ga., began dying by the hundreds, the Boyce family thought they knew what was to blame: the fertilizer used on the farm’s hayfields. That fertilizer was made from reclaimed sewage sludge; the Boyce family sued the city, claiming the sludge was tainted by industrial waste from Augusta […]

Channeling Evil

A controversial plan to deepen the main channel of the Columbia River by dredging has gotten the green light from key agencies in Oregon and Washington, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $134 million project would deepen from 40 to 43 feet more than 100 miles of the Columbia, from Vancouver, Wash., […]

Under the Wire

Electromagnetic fields from home wiring, appliances, and power lines do not appear to cause breast cancer, according to a $2.5 million study of more than 1,100 women living in Long Island, N.Y. The study, published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology, was part of the much larger Long Island Breast […]

Classrooms Dismissed

Some California classrooms may be contaminated, and not with the cooties. According to a new state study, portable classrooms are more likely than their conventional counterparts to contain dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. Half of the portable classrooms studied exceeded air-quality guidelines for eight-hour indoor exposure to formaldehyde, and one-hour exposure levels were 10 times […]

Illegal gold mining in Ghana shafts locals’ health and the environment

At I Trust My Legs, an illegal mining camp along a gray stream in the West African nation of Ghana, trespassers have bored vertical shafts deep into the ground. On a recent morning, Maxwell Adzoka strapped a lamp to his head, pressed his bare back and shoeless feet against the slick clay walls of one […]

More Than a Year of Living Dangerously

Indonesian citizens, particularly children, are suffering from a rise in industrial pollution that has accompanied the nation’s rapid economic growth, according to a World Bank report released today. More than 6 million vehicles were added to Indonesia’s streets between 1995 and 2000, and many of them use leaded gasoline. Lead in the environment puts an […]

Soll Sussman, Texas Sustainable Energy Network

Soll Sussman works in the energy division of the Texas General Land Office, where he helped organize the Texas Sustainable Energy Network. Also a writer, he formerly worked for the Associated Press as bureau chief in Canada and correspondent in Washington, Mexico City, and Central America. Monday, 23 Jun 2003 AUSTIN, Texas This should be […]

Mikey Doesn’t Like It

Michael Meacher, who earlier this month was pushed out of his job as Britain’s environment minister, this weekend accused Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration of systematically disregarding evidence that genetically modified (GM) foods could pose threats to human health or the environment. Meacher’s charge comes as the British government is preparing to release two reports […]

Beauty and the Beasts

India’s tigers may be threatened by, of all things, rising demand for cosmetics. The growing market for talcum powder — widely used in lipsticks, eye shadows, deodorants, and other such products — is leading to the destruction of tiger habitat by illegal mining operations that sell talc to international cosmetics companies, including Revlon, Johnson & […]

Air Heads

California’s San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board unanimously approved a plan yesterday intended to improve some of the worst air quality in the nation — but critics say the plan makes too many concessions to industry to be effective. Enviros, doctors, and residents who have suffered from respiratory ailments allege that efforts to reduce […]