EPA

EPA ALLOCATES HALF MILLION DOLLARS FOR CLEANUP OF POLLUTED SITES IN EL CAJON

East County News Service

May 27, 2023 (El Cajon) – The Biden-Harris administration has announced over $4.8 million in grants to Southern California to cleanup polluted brown field sites and provide technical assistance. That includes a $500,000 grant to the East County Economic Development Council Foundation to address contamination cleanup in the city of El Cajon.

According to the EPA site, the target area for this grant is the 1.4-square-mile El Cajon Opportunity Zone Corridor. Priority sites include a 1.1-acre former commercial and lumber operation; a 3.06-acre former ice house, lumber operation, and garage; and several sites formerly used for auto repair centers, a dry cleaner, a gas station, and a current restaurant and motel.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) says, “Safely cleaning up and reinvesting in properties with potentially hazardous materials strengthens our local tax base, promotes job growth, and protects public health and the environment. That’s why I’m so glad East County Economic Development Council Foundation will receive a much-needed $500,000 from the EPA to invest in properties and frontline communities that have been ignored and neglected for far too long.”


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CALIFORNIA SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT CLEAN AIR AND AUTO EMISSION STANDARDS

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 2, 2018 (Sacramento) – California announced Tuesday that it will join 16 other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Scott Pruitt from reversing fuel efficiency standards to protect clean air and reduce greenhouse gasses fueling climate change. 


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EPA SUED FOR REMOVING SCIENTISTS

 

By Andrea Sears, Public News Service

Photo:  The new chair of the EPA Science Advisory Board denies the scientific evidence that smog causes asthma. (12019/Pixabay)

December 22, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) - Doctors, scientists and professional organizations are suing EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for replacing publicly-funded scientists with others who advocate for polluting industries.


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GOLD MINE SPILLS TOXINS, THREATENING WATERWAYS ACROSS SOUTHWEST

By Miriam Raftery

Updated August 11, 2015 with a statement from the Metropolitan Water Authority.

August 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – More than 3 million gallons of toxic waters contaminated with heavy metals from the King Gold Mine in Colorado were accidentally released by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees working at the site.   The spill has turned clean waterways in three slates a sickly mustard color from a flow moving at four to five miles per hour.

The toxic plume has flowed into major rivers in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico and is expected to soon reach Arizona, where it could potentially taint Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the United States and a major source of drinking water for San Diego, California as well as Las Vegas, Nevada. However the Metropolitan Water District has issued a statement indicating it does not anticipate an impact on local districts' water supplies in our region.


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ENVIRONMENTALISTS SUE EPA TO PROTECT MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claiming the federal agency ignored dangers to Monarch Butterflies posed by glyphosate used in Monsanto’s Roundup and other herbicides.


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HIGH COURT TO WEIGH GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 24, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case that could determine whether or not the Environmental Protection Agency has the right to regulate greenhouse gas pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and chemical facilities.


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EARTHTALK®: ALLERGIES AND UNHEALTHY INDOOR AIR

January 31, 2013 (San Diego) -- Dear EarthTalk: My family has bad allergies and I’d like to improve our indoor air quality. What are some steps I should take?

-- Marcia Lane, Scranton, PA

Even for those of us without allergies, poor indoor air quality is an often overlooked health issue. Recent research has shown that the air inside some buildings can be more polluted than the outdoor air in the most industrialized of cities. And since many of us spend some 90 percent of our time indoors, cleaning the air where we live and work might be one of the most important things we can do for our health.


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EPA MAPS THOUSANDS OF SITES IN CALIFORNIA FOR "REPOWERING" AMERICA

September 21, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)—The goal of renewable energy is positive. But putting industrial-scale wind and massive solar projects on protected public lands has attracted opposition from environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts.  Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mapped out 11,000 sites where renewable energy projects could be located on California land that is already impaired, such as sites formerly contaminated with toxins.  This includes 75 high-priority California sites—43 targeted for utility-scale PV solar, 21 for geothermal, and 1 wind site.


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EARTHTALK® E - THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE

 
Written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

Dear EarthTalk: Who are the “Clean Air Ambassadors” and what are they trying to accomplish?
                                                                                          -- Brenda Coughlin, Pittsburgh, PA

June 29, 2012  -- Clean Air Ambassadors are everyday folks from across the U.S. who have committed to speaking up for everyone’s right to breathe clean, healthy air. The effort is part of the “50 States United for Healthy Air” campaign, a joint endeavor of Earthjustice, the American Nurses Association, the Hip Hop Caucus, the National Council of Churches and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In the spring of 2011 these Ambassadors—people from all 50 states and every walk of life—convened in Washington, D.C. to ask members of Congress, leaders at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and high-ranking officials in the Obama administration for stronger protections against air pollution.

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EARTHTALK® E - THE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE

 
Written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

June 11, 2012 (
 Norwalk, CT) --  Dear EarthTalk: I own a small business and would like to do what I can to minimize its impact on the environment. Can you help me? -- Jacob Levinson, New York, NY
 
There are many ways to green up any business, large or small—and an added benefit might just be saving money. Just like individuals, businesses can measure their carbon footprints to get a sense of where they are starting from and to get some initial ideas of areas to focus on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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EPA GRANTS EXEMPTION REQUESTED BY COUNCILMEMBER EMERALD

 
May 29, 2012 (San Diego) -- Recent Federal Environmental Protection Agency rules to reduce diesel emissions were forcing our fire engines off the road, putting the public at risk. Fire apparatus in San Diego and across the nation were breaking down because of the new diesel engine requirements. In the interest of public safety, City Councilmember Marti Emerald called on the federal government to exempt public safety vehicles.

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON EARTH DAY 2012: APRIL 22

April 21, 2012 (San Diego) -- To help celebrate Earth Day 2012 the Environmental Protection Agency has a number of activities that anyone can take part in.  Ideas include a photo project and an essay contest among others.


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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BUTTERFLY DENIED ENDANDGERED SPECIES PROTECTION

Obama administration withholds protection after declaring more help is needed

April 13, 2011 (San Diego).— Responding to a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity,(CBD) the Obama administration today denied Endangered Species Act protection to one of Southern California’s rarest butterflies, the Hermes copper butterfly. The butterfly was instead placed on the growing list of “candidate” species -- even though the CBD warns that the yellow-orange, spotted butterfly is threatened with extinction extinction.


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EDITORIAL: THE WIND INDUSTRY AND THE INCIDENTAL TAKE PERMIT

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service should investigate bird deaths at wind farms

 

By Jim Wiegand, Wildlife Biologist

 

February 12, 2010 (San Diego)--Every day at wind farms across America threatened or endangered species are killed from collisions with blades of the prop wind turbine. This is considered legal because the offending wind farms either hold the "incidental take permit" or were not required to have one because they did not fully disclose environmental impacts of their activities. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services requires the procurement of an incidental take permit for any individual or private industry if threatened and endangered species will be killed in a project. This killing is referred to as "take" -- and the perrmit holder has immunity from prosecution.


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