Expected Shortfalls For Black Lung Fund Will Be Covered By Taxpayers Instead Of Coal Companies
In January, the tax rate coal companies pay to support the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund was cut in half, leaving sick miners and their advocates fearing future benefit cuts from a fund that is already about some $4 billion in debt. The Department of Labor said in a statement Wednesday that it is obligated to continue paying benefits to sick miners, so a shortfall would be covered by borrowing from taxpayers. In other environmental health news: unsafe drinking water, manufacturing industry's lingering effects on health, coal ash and more.
The Associated Press:
With Black Lung Fund In Jeopardy, Taxpayers Could Foot Bill
The Trump administration and coal industry allies are insisting that a federal black lung trust fund will continue to pay benefits to sick miners despite a drastic cut in funding. But the expected shortfalls will be covered by taxpayers instead of coal companies, adding more debt to the already struggling fund. And at least one Republican congressman from the coalfields has added his voice to the chorus of miners and advocates worried that the fund's promise to sick workers and their families ultimately might not be kept. (3/20)
The Associated Press:
EPA Argues For Shifting Focus From Climate Change To Water
Unsafe drinking water, not climate change, is the world's most immediate public health issue, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler contended Wednesday. Environmental groups responded by saying the Trump administration was neglecting — or worsening — both health threats. Wheeler made his case for a shift in public focus in a CBS News interview that aired Wednesday, and in a speech later in the day in Washington on global water issues. (3/20)
The Associated Press:
Army Bill For Public Records On Contaminant: About $300,000
The U.S. Army has put a price tag on releasing the results of water tests for a dangerous contaminant at military installations: nearly $300,000. In a March 12 letter, the Army told the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group, that the military would charge the group $290,400 to provide records of water tests at 154 installations for a family of compounds known as PFAS, which federal authorities say appear linked to certain cancers and other health and developmental problems. (3/20)
Detroit Free Press:
Study: Michigan's Manufacturing Legacy May Affect Health, Environment
It’s still not known which combination of factors — something in a person’s genes, environmental exposure to toxins and perhaps other things like previous military service or being an athlete — determine whether a person will develop ALS, [Dr. Stephen] Goutman said. But in studying blood samples of patients with ALS for a decade, he, Feldman and researchers at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health discovered that exposure to now-banned organochloride pesticides like DDT and manufacturing chemicals like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) do play a role not only in the development of ALS, but also in how quickly the disease takes its deadly course. (Shamus, 3/20)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Northam Signs Legislation To Excavate And Clean Up Coal Ash
Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday signed into law legislation to require the excavation of the state’s legacy coal ash now stored in Dominion Energy ponds across the state. The governor’s signature marks the end of a yearslong legislative fight over how to close the ash ponds; the legislation is the most significant piece of environmental legislation to move through the General Assembly this year. (Leonor, 3/20)
KQED:
Farmers Are Supposed To Consider Safer Alternatives To Toxic Pesticides. UCLA Report Says That’s Not Working Out Well
When it comes to using them safely, 56 county agricultural officers are local communities final line of defense. But a new report produced at UCLA suggests that a lack of guidance for county agricultural offices in considering alternatives or cumulative impacts for toxic exposures, may be putting people at risk. (Peterson, 3/20)
