Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

East Palestine Toxic Train Crash Shows Plastics Industry Toll on Planet. Will U.S. Ban Vinyl Chloride?

Five weeks after the Norfolk Southern toxic train derailment and so-called controlled burn that blanketed the town with a toxic brew of at least six hazardous chemicals and gases, senators grilled the CEO of Norfolk Southern over the company’s toxic train derailment. The company has evaded calls to cover healthcare costs as residents continue to report headaches, coughing, fatigue, irritation and burning of the skin.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

3M, Green Groups Push Back on Hochul’s NY Waste Reduction Bill

New York business groups and environmental advocates are pushing back on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to require businesses like Amazon.com Inc., 3M Co., and Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. to reduce and pay for the disposal of paper and packaging products. Environmentalists say the plan doesn’t go far enough, and the complex issue should be handled outside of the state budget process.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Here’s How Many Times You Need to Reuse Your Reusable Grocery Bags

Many of us are drowning in reusable bags — cloth totes or thicker, more durable plastic bags — that retailers sell cheaply or give away to customers as an ostensibly greener alternative to single-use plastic. Campaigners say these bag hoards are creating fresh environmental problems, with reusable bags having a much higher carbon footprint than thin plastic bags.

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Former EPA Regional Administrator Critical of Response to East Palestine Toxic Train Derailment
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Former EPA Regional Administrator Critical of Response to East Palestine Toxic Train Derailment

Allegations of missteps and mistakes in the federal EPA’s response to the East Palestine toxic train derailment are coming from someone who’s been in the agency’s top ranks. The criticism comes as mistrust and anger linger in and around the village. More than a month after a dark chemical plume billowed over East Palestine, there are signs of resilience. But there are also high demands for baseline medical tests and water many people want to trust to drink.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Why Is the E.P.A. So Timid in the East Palestine Train Disaster?

When a Norfolk Southern train carrying nearly 116,000 gallons of vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last month, local officials made a pivotal decision: to drain the highly toxic chemical into a ditch and set it on fire in a “controlled burn” to avoid a catastrophic explosion. Officials didn’t mention that the plume could rain dioxins and other enduring poisons down on the community and others downwind. And two days after the burn, residents in the one-by-two-mile evacuation zone were allowed back into their homes — before any testing for dioxins and other contaminants on the surfaces inside had been done.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Former EPA Official Breaks Down Ohio Train Derailment

Judith Enck, a former regional administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration, joined Errol Louis on "Inside City Hall" Thursday to discuss how she thinks officials should respond to the situation in East Palestine, Ohio, where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed earlier this month, threatening the safety of residents.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

One Planet: The Norfolk Southern Ohio Train Derailment Reveals the Dangers of Plastic Production

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we discuss the environmental and health impacts of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio and our growing reliance on plastics. Derailed train cars were carrying several petrochemicals, including vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. Vinyl chloride exposure is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer, primary liver cancer, brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia, according to the National Cancer Institute.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Opinion: This Deadly Chemical Should Be Banned

Like a scene out of some postapocalyptic movie, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio convened a news conference on Feb. 5 to deliver a stark warning. “We are ordering them to leave,” he said of residents of the small rural community of East Palestine, Ohio, and a neighboring part of Pennsylvania. “This is a matter of life and death.” To emphasize the point, he added: “Those in the red area are facing grave danger of death if they are still in that area.”

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

The Ohio Derailment Lays Bare the Hellish Plastic Crisis

The plastic crisis looks like a sperm whale filling up its stomach with bags. It looks like cucumbers and bananas—which have perfectly good skins of their own—wrapped in single-use plastic. But before all that, it looks like a burning train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Advocates Call for a 50% Reduction in Excess Packaging

Advocates for plastic waste reduction and an expanded bottle bill rallied at the Capitol Wednesday for the state to reduce excess packaging on retail items by 50% by 2033. They say a plan by Governor Kathy Hochul to reduce packaging falls short.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

“Skip the Stuff” Laws Aim to Get Rid of Takeout Trash

Every order of takeout comes with a side of single-use plastics and each plastic fork, knife, spoon, straw and condiment packet — whether or not you wanted it or used it — ends up in the trash. New research found that 139 million metric tons of single-use plastic waste was generated in 2021— six million metric tons more single-use plastics compared to 2019. A hunger for takeout meals that skyrocketed during the pandemic contributed to the surge.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

IC Says Thanks, Others No Thanks for New Turf Field

Ever since Ithaca College’s football field was first installed in 1958, it has been home to many games full of excited football fans. After being named the Jim Butterfield Stadium in 1992, the field has since undergone many renovations and changes over the years. The most recent decision to replace the field’s natural grass with artificial turf has led to many environmental concerns from local activist groups.

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