The impacts of climate change will significantly affect the lives of Latinos and all Americans — including drowning their cities. By 2100, 35 towns and cities in the U.S. could experience such extreme flooding that those places could become inhabitable, according to an in-depth news report published in USA Today from 24/7 Wallstreet. Latinos, who make up between 23% to 67.7% of the population in 10 of these areas, face substantial risks if climate-change trends continue. “The steady rise in global surface temperatures is largely attributed to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions,” writes report authors Michael B. Sauter and Thomas C. Frohlich. “With rising temperatures, the world’s ice has been melting and sea levels have been rising. As a result, barring major ...
Crystal Jankowski ran the faucet in her hospital room for 12 hours straight the day she gave birth — all in hopes that the tap water would come out clean for Amelia, her newborn girl. Just days before her delivery in August 2014, the city of Toledo, Ohio (8.3% Latino) told residents not to drink the municipal water. High levels of health-threatening toxins contaminated the public water supply sourced from Lake Erie. Jankowski, a Toledo-native, wanted to do something for her two children and all kids. So, she became an organizer for Toledoans for Safe Water (TSW), a group with an idea for a controversial Lake Erie Bill of Rights to enable residents to sue lake polluters. “When you fight for clean water you are fighting for people of the reservations, you’re fighting for ...
Researchers now estimate that 19 million Americans face dangerous chemical exposure from the water coming from their sinks and faucets. Over 600 public water systems, military bases, airports, industrial plants, and other sites contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Worse, this is a wide-spread problem affecting people in 43 states, according to new research from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). “The Environmental Protection Agency has utterly failed to address PFAS with the seriousness this crisis demands, leaving local communities and states to grapple with a complex problem rooted in the failure of the federal chemical regulatory system,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.
Findings of EWG’s Report
The study’s ...
Did you know millions of Americans struggle to access clean water every day? Pollution and chemical contamination has impacted the drinking water of U.S. soldiers, public school students, and families who can lack the ability to purchase and use water filtration tools. Moreover, currently proposed pieces of legislation could make that problem much worse. The EPA hopes to roll back clean water protections, and by doing so, giving companies loopholes to dump hazardous material into our sources of water. This kind of pollution harm our country’s rivers, lakes, and groundwater supplies. Let’s use #SaludTues on Twitter on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, to tweet relevant information about current issues in clean water access and what is being done to solve the problem: ...
In another move to reduce clean water protections, the EPA plans to enact another ruling that will make it easier for companies to remove hazardous waste through dumping. This proposed directive would limit the protections of our rivers and lakes by allowing a loophole with greater flexibility for corporations to eliminate toxic waste by polluting the groundwater, according to Clean Water Action. This plan follows in the footsteps of the agency’s recently proposed “Dirty Water Rule,” and is part of a seemingly wide-reaching effort to reduce environmental protection efforts. The EPA wants your opinion on this proposed rule by June 7, 2019!
Email a Comment Now for Clean Water!
Dear EPA Office of Wastewater Management, Access to clean water should be a foremost ...
Kentucky (3% Latino) has become the first state to require water bottle filling stations for all newly constructed schools and school remodel projects, according to a Voices for Healthy Kids report. The new rule, signed into law by the governor on April 9, 2019, requires at least two water bottle filling stations per new school. It also requires one water bottle filling station or drinking water fountain for every 75 students projected to attend the new school, as well as regular maintenance of both stations and fountains. "More than 650,000 Kentucky public school students will have better access to hydration," according to Voices for Healthy Kids.
Kentucky Water Quality
Water bottle filling stations increase the amount of water students are drinking, providing equitable access ...
Over the past two months, Latinos and all Americans have spoken out against the EPA’s proposal to reduce the waters that are protected by the agency. Of the 577,212 public comments submitted, 2,367 members of the Salud America! network sent EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler an email. These messages urged Wheeler’s organization to not follow through with their plan to revise the definitions of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS), or more commonly the “dirty water rule.” The EPA is reviewing the messages, but thousands of miles of rivers, lakes, and wetlands could be put in danger of pollution if the EPA enacts this rule. Risks Involved The landmark Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 as part of an effort to reduce widespread pollution. Greater requirements were added to ...
Five companies now must shell out millions of dollars to clean up hazardous chemical contamination in water and other sources throughout New Jersey (20.4% Latino). The directive comes straight from the state Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and impacts five major corporations: Solvay, DuPont, Dow DuPont, Chemours, and 3M. The companies’ money will go toward the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a manufactured, dangerous substance. “Citing near daily findings of dangerous chemicals in New Jersey’s air, land, and water, the Department of Environmental Protection is identifying five companies it says are responsible for the extensive contamination and directing them to fund millions of dollars in assessment and cleanup efforts,” NJDEP ...
Children across the U.S. acquire and education through public school — they also receive lead exposure, according to new research. At least 22 states failed to protect students from water contamination, according to a study conducted by the Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund. Worse, only two of the 32 tested states received a B rating. Not one state made an A. Schools in states with large Latino populations also fared poorly. “It's concerning,” Julie Ma, a mother in Boston (19.4% Latino) who prepares water bottles for her kids every day, told CBS. “I really would like to get the lead out of the water supply as fast as possible for the students ... Many schools don't even know if they have it and haven't been able to make those ...
