water
‘Forever Chemicals’ Are More Ubiquitous Than Thought, Study Says
Collaborating with an environmental watchdog group, actor and activist Mark Ruffalo announced Wednesday that private testing has found significant levels of controversial PFAS chemicals in the drinking water of dozens of U.S. cities.
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Newsom Wades Into Decades-Long Bid to Wring More Water for California
Gavin Newsom is attaching his legacy to a decades-old water project that previous California governors couldn’t complete, leaving environmentalists to wonder whether the state’s blueprint for climate change is legitimate.
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No Supreme Court Detour of Flint Water Lawsuit
Municipal officials facing civil liability for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, failed Tuesday to get the case against them detoured to the Supreme Court.
Read moreEndangered Species
The Army Corps of Engineers was not authorized to allocate additional water to the needs of two endangered species along the Rio Grande, the Tenth Circuit ruled, tossing an environmental group’s suit seeking protections for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow.
Read moreNot Hazardous Substances
A federal court in Pennsylvania dismissed two families’ case against the Navy brought after they discovered the Navy’s facilities had contaminated their private wells with chemicals. The substances, perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid, are not considered “hazardous substances,” under the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act.
Read moreFight City Hall
San Diego sued San Diego Gas & Electric Co. for $35.7 million, claiming the utility owes it the money the city provided it long ago, and that SDG&E is refusing to relocate its facilities that are interfering with the city’s pure water program, in superior court.
Read moreClean Water
California River Watch sued the City of Mount Shasta in federal court, claiming its inadequate sewer system overflows during wet weather and dumps raw sewage into gutters, canals and storm drains connected to the Sacramento River and Lake Siskiyou.
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House Passes PFAS Chemicals Bill to Push Water Standards
House lawmakers passed a bill Friday for U.S. regulators to designate chemicals found in cooking spray, cosmetics and other grease-resistant products as health hazards.
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NASA Planet Hunter Finds Earth-Sized World in ‘Goldilocks Zone’
NASA said Monday that its planet hunter satellite TESS had discovered an Earth-sized world within the habitable range of its star, which could allow the presence of liquid water.
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First Sierra Snowpack Survey a Positive for Thirsty California
The men in blue winter jackets and black snow pants trudged deliberately to the microphone to deliver the good news – the Sierra Nevada snowpack is in good shape as the calendar flips to 2020, which bodes well for California.
Read moreCalifornia Water Wars
The City of Marina and its Groundwater Sustainability Agency sued the California Department of Water Resources, Monterey County, et al., in Monterey County Court, claiming they are making a hostile takeover of the city’s groundwater management jurisdiction that will exclude the city’s participation.
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Japan Could Release Fukushima Radioactive Water Into Environment
A Japanese government agency has proposed releasing radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the environment, as storage space runs out.
Read moreWhole Foods
A federal class action claims that Whole Foods’ house brand of bottled water, “Starkey Water,” contains “the highest arsenic levels” on the U.S. market, with “levels of arsenic that approach or exceed the legal federal limit.”
Read moreCalifornia Water
A superior court class action claims that Riverside, California (pop. 320,000) and its governmental entities overcharged its water customers and transferred 11.5% of the revenue to the city’s general fund to be used for government services.
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NYC, DC & 15 States Contest Rollback of Water Pollution Rule
A coalition of state prosecutors filed suit Friday against the Trump administration, saying regulators ignored the science in rolling back protections for many U.S. waterways.
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Acidified Oceans Found to Corrode Scales of South African Sharks
Extended exposure to ocean water that has become too acidic as a result of global carbon dioxide emissions corrodes the scales of certain sharks, according to a new study published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
Read moreEnvironment
New Jersey sued The Sherwin-Williams Co. in Camden County Court, claiming it dumped lead and arsenic into waterways and soil.
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Canadian Court Hears Challenge to Trans Mountain Pipeline
Indigenous groups told judges in Canada that the government had not adequately consulted them about a proposed oil pipeline that they say could threaten their drinking water and harm endangered Southern Resident killer whales, which the groups hold sacred.
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