The US Supreme Court declined to review a California Supreme Court decision holding multiple lead paint manufacturers responsible for cleanup costs amounting to over $400 million. The longstanding litigation was brought under the theory that lead paint contamination was a public nuisance. Lead paint has been known for decades as toxic.
Showing posts with label Toxic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toxic. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Is Big Sugar the Next Liability Target?
By Vik Khanna
Growing paranoia is the hallmark of the aging process for me. Although I am a generally affable sort (I know, it doesn’t always seem that way from my writing), I am also a fairly suspicious person. I am starting to think that all the food industry’s sweet talk about the innocence of sugar is really just icing on a toxic cake and that we’ve all been sold a bill of goods. In particular, I wonder — and part of me hopes — that Big Sugar might soon replace Big Tobacco as the favorite target of our most underappreciated and misunderstood national resource…the plaintiff’s bar. There is no question we eat way too much sugar and that the increase in consumption has coincided nicely with both our rise in obesity and decline in health status even though we are living longer. Not that I think the Tobacco Settlement (TS) was great social policy. You can read my full view here; but, to summarize, as an immigrant and a person of color, a part of me resents the TS because all it did is push the burden of fulfillment of the financial terms into the hearts and lungs of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The smug satisfaction of tobacco opponents in the US and their glib dismissal of the impact on predominantly poor people of color around the world is first order racism. Any analogous move against Big Sugar (BS) could be quite interesting. There is, of course, the delectable duality of... |
Related articles
- Why Is Obama Caving on Tobacco? (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- How the Paint Industry Escapes Responsibility for Lead Poisoning (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Coal Industry: The Next Target for a Major Lawsuit (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Garlock testimony switches to financial liability (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Corporate Liability: Halliburton Pleads to Destroying Evidence in Gulf Pil Spill 2010 (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- An "F" for Quality (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
- Liability Claim Collateral SOurce Payments Subject to MSP (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Highly hazardous pesticides should be phased out in developing countries
Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.fao.org
The tragic incident in Bihar, India, where 23 school children died after eating a school meal contaminated with monocrotophos, is an important reminder to speed up the withdrawal of highly hazardous pesticides from markets in developing countries, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.
Monocrotophos is an organophosphorus pesticide that is considered highly hazardous by FAO and the World Health Organization. Experience in many developing countries shows that the distribution and use of such highly toxic products very often poses a serious risk to human health and the environment.
The incident in Bihar underscores that secure storage of pesticide products and safe disposal of empty pesticide containers are risk reduction measures which are just as crucial as more prominent field-oriented steps like wearing proper protective masks and clothing.
The entire distribution and disposal cycle for highly hazardous pesticides carries significant risks. Safeguards are difficult to ensure in many countries.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
EPA Acts To Lower Toxic Old Diesel Engines in NY & NJ
Diesel engines are durable and often remain in use a long time. Older diesels that predate current and stricter air pollution standards emit large amounts of air pollutants. EPA grants such as those announced today are helping to reduce air pollution from some of the more than 11 million older diesel engines that continue to emit higher levels of pollution.
“EPA grants to replace dirty diesel engines with cleaner models protect people’s health, create jobs and cut fuel costs,” said EPA Regional Administrator, Judith A. Enck. “Older diesel engines generate significant amounts of air pollution that can make people sick. Replacing old polluting diesel engines reduces asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, lost work days and many other health impacts every year.”
Conservation Law Foundation Ventures, a not-for-profit organization, will use a $1.3 million EPA grant to replace an old engine on the Coral Coast, a 120-foot marine tug boat that operates out of New York harbor, with a new and cleaner EPA-certified engine. The new engine is estimated to emit 70% less nitrogen oxides and 83% less particulate matter than the current engine. The project is expected to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by 57.7 tons per year and particulate matter by 2.7 tons per year in addition to conserving 42,558 gallons of fuel annually.
The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management will use a $1.4 million EPA grant to replace two old engines on locomotives operating in northern New Jersey with new and cleaner engines. The trains will also be equipped with either an automatic engine stop/start system or an auxiliary power unit, which will reduce idling. The new engines are estimated to reduce nitrogen oxides by as much as 12.8 tons per year and particulate matter by as much as 0.3 tons in addition to conserving 14,000 gallons of fuel per year.
The EPA grants to groups in New York and New Jersey announced today are part of nearly $30 million in grant funds awarded by the agency nationwide in 2012 for clean diesel projects.
For information about EPA’s clean diesel initiatives, visit: http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel and the Northeast Diesel Collaborative http://www.northeastdiesel.org.
Read more about "diesel" and workers' compensation
Workers' Compensation: Diesel Exhaust Linked to Cancer
Jun 13, 2012
After a week-long meeting of international experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), today classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to ...http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Jun 13, 2012
After a week-long meeting of international experts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), today classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to ...http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Apr 30, 2009
Diesel exhaust continues to be a major health hazard for certain workers. The American Lung Association has reported that, "Truck drivers, dockworkers and railroad workers may face higher risk of death from lung cancer and ...
Mar 14, 2012
Metro-North also must post an OSHA notice for employees in the Harmon Diesel Shop and on its internal website, and provide all diesel shop employees with information on employee protections for reporting work-related ...http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Mercury to be Removed by US EPA From Pompton River in NJ
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced its plan to remove mercury contamination from the sediment of the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey to levels that meet stringent standards to protect people’s health and the environment. The plan will go into effect as a modification of a permit, which legally requires the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. to fund and perform the work. Under the permit modification, the EPA will require DuPont to dredge at least 100,000 cubic yards of mercury contaminated sediment from the bottom of a 40-acre area of Pompton Lake and remove at least 7,800 cubic yards of contaminated soil from a shoreline area of the lake affected by DuPont’s past discharges. All of the sediment and soil will be sent to a licensed disposal facility.
Mercury in the sediment and soil can build up in the tissue of fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them. Exposure to mercury can damage people’s nervous systems and harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune systems.
“The removal of mercury-contaminated sediment from Pompton Lake is a major step toward the recovery of the lake and the protection of people’s health,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “The expanded dredging and other revisions in the final cleanup plan reflect the EPA’s commitment to protecting public health and improving environmental quality in Pompton Lakes.”
In November 2011, the EPA proposed a preliminary permit modification to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of Pompton Lake and encouraged the public to comment on it. A public hearing on the proposed permit modification was held in January 2012. The final permit modification announced today incorporates changes that were made in response to comments from the public and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and additional technical information received from DuPont after the proposed permit modification was issued. A public meeting to discuss the permit modification for the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lakes will be held on January 15, 2013.
Under the final permit modification, the area of sediment that will be removed has been expanded by approximately 35% and sediment sampling is required to identify additional areas of the lake that may require the removal of mercury-contaminated sediment. In addition, DuPont is required to implement long-term monitoring of the effectiveness of the dredging, restore the soil between Lakeside Avenue and the edge of the lake, and perform an ecological risk assessment to determine whether additional action may be needed in the future. DuPont will be required to develop work plans for these requirements, which must be submitted to the EPA for approval. The cleanup will be financed and conducted by DuPont with EPA oversight.
The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. operated the Pompton Lakes Works facility, located at 2000 Cannonball Road, from 1902 to April 1994. Products manufactured at the facility included explosive powder containing mercury and lead, detonating fuses, electric blasting caps, metal wires and aluminum and copper shells. The manufacturing operations and waste management practices contaminated soil, sediment and ground water both on and off-site. Lead and mercury from its operations were released into Acid Brook, which flows through the eastern part of the facility and discharges into the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lake. DuPont’s operations also contaminated the ground water with chlorinated volatile organic compounds, such as tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, cis 1,2-dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride.
The cleanup of the Acid Brook Delta requires a modification of the permit under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The final permit modification will become effective on February 4, 2013 pending any requests for appeal submitted prior to that date.
Plans to clean up the remaining areas of contamination will be proposed through future permit modifications after ongoing investigations by DuPont have been completed and reviewed by the EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Opportunities for public participation will continue to be provided through regular updates, public notices and public meetings.
The permit modification and relevant documents are available at the EPA’s project website at:http://www.epa.gov/region02/waste/dupont_pompton/index.html.
The public also can review documents related to the permit modification and cleanup at:
Pompton Lakes Public Library
333 Wanaque Avenue, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey
(973) 835-0482
http://www.pomptonlakeslibrary.org/index.htm
....
Jon L.Gelman of Wayne NJ, helping injured workers and their families for over 4 decades, is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson).
Read more about "Mercury" and workers' compensation
Nov 26, 2012
Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has released a guide to treatment for elemental mercury ((the pure form of the metal, when it is not combined with other ...
Mar 05, 2010
For example, nearly 70 years ago, on December 1, 1941, the U.S. Public Health Service ended mercury's use by hat manufacturers in 26 states through mutual agreements. The kinds of conditions that put hat-makers and ...
May 09, 2012
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will discuss plans to address high levels of contaminants, including PCBs, mercury and dioxin, which are present in Passaic River mud adjacent to Riverside Park in Lyndhurst, New ...
Aug 09, 2012
They concluded that there was enough evidence of a link to classify it as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” placing it in the same category as lead and mercury. The long-awaited Interphone study, a major inquiry into the ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)