water pollution

Traditional fishing boats rot in stagnant pools of water beside the Ravi River bank in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Is a 1960 treaty between Pakistan and India killing the mighty Ravi River?

2:51pm April 27, 2023

A water treaty has survived three wars between India and Pakistan. Now the agreement is in trouble, but some say a new is treaty needed for both political and environmental reasons.

Tower Bridge over The River Thames and, in the distance, the secondary central business district of Canary Wharf are pictured as the sun sets in London.

Zombie river? London's Thames, once biologically dead, has been coming back to life

12:16pm November 11, 2021

by Scott Neuman

Oxygen levels, necessary for fish, are up and dangerous phosphorus levels are down in the historically polluted waterway. But a new report points to climate change as a possible wildcard.

A new EPA rule will make it more difficult for the regulators to use some scientific studies about the connection between pollution and health.

Science

Trump EPA Erects New Barriers To Crucial Science

5:21pm January 05, 2021

by Rebecca Hersher

Studies based on private health data are crucial to understanding dangers posed by pollution. A new rule makes it harder for the EPA to consider many studies when setting safeguards.

Companies across the country say the pandemic is interfering with their ability to comply with laws that protect the public from pollution. The federal government is not keeping track of requests for regulatory leniency during the pandemic.

As EPA Steps Back, States Face Wave Of Requests For Environmental Leniency

6:34pm June 09, 2020

by Rebecca Hersher

The EPA does not require companies to notify federal regulators if the pandemic interferes with pollution monitoring or reporting. That leaves states alone on the front lines of pollution control.

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A stretch of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, La., that is crowded with chemical plants has been called "Cancer Alley" because of the health problems there.

A Call For More Research On Cancer's Environmental Triggers

9:15am July 12, 2019

by Elaine Schattner

Scientists are making progress in identifying environmental hazards that contribute to cancer. Researchers say many cases could be avoided if the work is accelerated.

(From bottom to top) Chemist Michael Gonsior, from the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science, works with researcher Melinda Forsyth and graduate student Katie Martin to gather and check water samples near the Chesapeake Bay, on Cocktow

Trump's Budget Would Eliminate A Key Funder Of Research On Coastal Pollution

5:34pm May 08, 2017

by Christopher Joyce

The Sea Grant program, which funds research on coastal environments, is slated by White House for elimination in 2018. If it goes, a project that finds leaking septic tanks goes down the drain, too.

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Martin County relies on a water treatment plant that was built in 1968.

Kentucky Community Hopes Trump Infrastructure Plan Will Fix Water System

8:49am March 13, 2017

by Benny Becker

In Martin County, the drinking water comes from a river contaminated by sewage and years of coal and gas extraction. Residents hope a new federal focus on infrastructure will help them fix the system.

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More Than A Year After Spill, Colorado's Gold King Mine Named Superfund Site

9:31am September 08, 2016

by Christopher Dean Hopkins

Thirteen months after an Environmental Protection Agency mistake sent millions of gallons of bright orange wastewater into a Colorado river, the agency has announced a cleanup for the Gold King Mine.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health advise against eating any fish from the Lower Passaic because it may be contaminated with toxic chemicals. But Owaldo Avad says he's been catching and consuming fish like these

New Jersey River Polluters Fund Toxic Fish Swap — But There's A Snag

7:10pm January 26, 2016

by Sarah Gonzalez

Passaic River polluters are telling local fishermen to trade contaminated catch for healthy tilapia. But there's no disposal plan for the toxic fish, and residents don't want them to be incinerated.

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Removing micropollutants from wastewater isn't cheap or easy.

Hunting Ways To Keep Synthetic Estrogens Out Of Rivers And Seas

1:26pm June 19, 2015

by Jessie Rack

Hormones from medical treatments wind up in wastewater, and that can be a problem. Some scientists think a version of a household chemical, hydrogen peroxide, could be part of the solution.