washington — environmental experts recommended, in an announcement on nov. 16, that the environmental protection agency allocate more resources on studying the health and environmental impacts of pfas chemicals and prioritize getting information from affected communities in its research on the substances.

in october 2021, the epa released a plan to address pfas contamination, which includes steps to fund research on the chemicals, restrict their presence in the environment and accelerate clean-up efforts. the agency’s office of research and development is developing research strategies to detect and measure pfas in the environment, according to the epa’s plan, but members of the board of scientific counselors federal advisory committee said tuesday it needs to expand its studies.

these “forever chemicals” do not break down in the environment and have been used in many products since the 1940s, including nonstick pans, water resistant coats, food packaging and firefighting foam. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, the chemicals have found their way into the bloodstream of 97% of americans due to their widespread use and durability.

human exposure to the chemicals has been linked to cancer, increased cholesterol levels and other adverse health effects. despite this, they are not considered hazardous substances by the federal government and continue to be used in consumer and industrial products.

there is no federal standard for pfas toxicity levels in the air and water because of lack of research on the chemicals, according to the epa.

radhika fox, assistant administrator of the epa’s office of water, said at a house committee hearing last month that the agency intends to propose a national water drinking standard by next fall and designate certain pfas as hazardous substances by summer 2023.

james stevens, member of the board of scientific counselors executive committee, said at a bosc committee meeting tuesday that the agency needs to ensure its approach prioritizes how exposure to the chemicals impacts the everyday lives of people across the country. stevens said looking at “real-world” exposure data can inform the agency on what compounds are most affecting people, especially residents of communities that have been disproportionately hurt by pfas chemicals and other environmental harms.

human impact data will help states, tribes and local communities to create regulatory policies on the chemicals and methods to protect public health, stevens said.

collecting that data comes in part from talking to the communities exposed to pfas, said monica schoch-spana, member of the bosc homeland security subcommittee. she said the agency needs to do a better job of supporting its scientists and regional offices in their community engagement efforts and create a framework in which communities can share their experiences and findings.

“the importance of both gaining from the benefits of local knowledge and also gaining benefits of having community trust and faith in the research that is transpiring was a critically important thing for the pfas research enterprise,” schoch-spana said.

the committee came to a consensus that the epa also needs to put more focus in its research on the environmental impacts of pfas, which have contaminated water sources, soil and air across the country.

there were few mentions of ecotoxicology, which is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on the environment, in the documents the epa presented to the committee, according to lucinda johnson, vice chair of the board of scientific counselors executive committee. the research has failed to focus on ecosystem-level impacts, johnson said.

the committee will present its recommendations to the epa next month.

finding ways to regulate the sources of pfas can be difficult because of pushback from the industries that use the chemicals, said michael kleinman, member of the bosc air climate and energy subcommittee. banning the use of the chemicals altogether may not be helpful, he said.

“while these chemicals are extremely useful, there should be a set of best practices to mitigate any contamination after use,” kleinman said. “so not saying you have to not use them, but have practices in place to prevent environmental contamination after use.”

this podcast expresses the binding relationship between wildfires and their effect on the community such as their drinking water. steve is a community member in colorado and shared his firsthand experience about what happened back in 2018. these concerns tie closely with people’s civil right and should not be taken lightly because the serious issues that interconnect the community members and natural habitat in which we live in.

the wildfires in colorado create barriers to overcome, and journeys that withstand unfathomable measures. the emergency personnel along with family and friends who work together to create a fluid transition toward safer grounds shows the strength that is awarded with overcoming obstacles.

steve has lived through a traumatic experience where he guides the audience through the events he went through, the panic he endured, the plan he had to make, and the circumstances as well as solutions to these problems. the wildfires created an environment that not only caused many to relocate, but to become uprooted onto unfamiliar grounds in which they had to forcibly adapt.

the worst part about his experience was the uncertainty of the future and what it holds. families, the economy, and the environment were put against a fight that they could not win without losing some, if not a large portion of the most precious things in life. how to educate and inform his family, as well as himself was of importance to figure out how to continue onwards to safety.

economically, there were hotel vouchers and food tickets that were given to victims. that resonates with the audience. the people play a victim role but should also understand who truly helped to progress the issue toward such combative stages. for example, a simple natural part of the earth, water, was adversely affected by the occurrences of the wildfires. the direct impact during the wildfires could not be changed at that point in time, so proper safety concerns were addressed by steve during the interview. he mentioned to understand the relationship between communicating about current events and how it affects anybody, especially if they live in fire-prone areas. he admits that this should be considered when looking toward progressive steps of making sure future endeavors do not take up space that make cause harm. in a way, it is pre-conceived knowledge that members of society should consider when building the new infrastructure; the true foundation that people base their livelihoods on.

these foundations should expand in an environmentally friendly direction and provide and educate people as to what they should consider when they occupy parts of the world. the carbon footprint that they leave not only affects everybody within these areas of devastation, but for the neighbors who have to accept the newcomers having to migrate into their space; bringing along various traditions that now mix together for a cocktail of culture. this unification of people is good to help force proper communicative techniques to take place and quite literally show that it can directly and indirectly affect you and your loved ones; even strangers!

what there is to take away from this is, that you cannot predict the future fully, but you can help contain and protect the valuable resources that we were given at the start of life on earth and help to maintain and sustain it for future people. the best way to do this is through sharing information of how truly devastating these natural disasters can be, especially for a person like steve. there is a lesson to be learned; not everybody can see that they are affected by earth, but they can affect earth. to show them this is to show them how their everyday choices can alter backyards near and far, and for generations to come.  

“we don’t feel safe anymore,” said maritza lopez, an east chicago, indiana, resident of 54 years. “our home is no longer a safe haven.”

to demand compensation for their losses and health risks, 38 east chicago households filed a lawsuit against atlantic richfield co., tesoro corp., e.i. dupont de nemours and co., the chemours co., and u.s. smelter and lead refinery on oct. 31.

this lawsuit alleges heightened health risks due to lead and arsenic for those in the city’s calumet sections. the residents also cited declining property values, emotional distress, and difficulty in selling their homes to leave the toxic neighborhood as reasons for taking legal action. the lawsuit, filed in u.s. district court, alleges that these corporations acted in “willful and wanton manner and in reckless indifference” while operating in the east chicago area. atlantic richfield co., and e.i. dupont de nemours and co., did not respond to phone calls when asked to comment.

this lawsuit is one of the latest episodes in a decadeslong environmental saga in east chicago where high lead and arsenic contamination have plagued residential areas since at least the 1980s. the area is a superfund site, the u.s. environmental protection agency’s term for sites contaminated with hazardous wastes. the uss lead superfund site – listed on the national priorities list of the worst contaminated sites in the country – covers the former shuttered uss lead facility along with 322 acres of residential land in east chicago.

on nov. 30, the epa announced a $22.6 million lead and arsenic cleanup at a former dupont facility adjacent to the uss lead superfund site. dupont is one of the responsible parties at the uss lead site because its hazardous wastes contaminated the adjacent land. 

‘my health issues were coming from this’

maritza lopez moved to east chicago when she was only six months old. she has personally experienced years of health problems, which she has begun to investigate in terms of the contaminants in her environment. when her neurologist ordered a heavy metals test and found high levels of lead, arsenic, and cadmium in her urine, lopez said she “just knew – you know how they say you have a sixth sense? – i knew that my health issues were coming from this, that there’s something in me.”

lopez lost her two brothers, sister, and father to various health issues, and her mother battled cancer twice. this is a major reason why she is so vocal in trying to uncover the possible health dangers that result from high levels of toxins, and in speaking out to warn others.

“i will not allow myself to be just as culpable as those companies or agencies. from federal down to city they have known about this and they have not stepped up to protect us,” she said.

currently, lopez is advocating for the u.s. epa to carry out widespread medical testing for people who both live in the community currently or used to reside in the area. she thinks that this may allow individuals to catch potentially life-threatening physical, neurological, and behavioral disorders and illnesses, such as kidney damage and reduced brain development, as early as possible. she emphasizes this as particularly important, considering that many east chicago residents and their families have lived in the contaminated area for their entire lives and are now worried about how this will impact their long-term health.

housing complex built at site of former lead plant

“in 2006, i had to have a complete hysterectomy at 29,” said akeeshea daniels, an east chicago resident of 41 years and co-chair of the east chicago community advisory group. “after having the hysterectomy, i began to lose bone mass and no one knew what was going on with me. that’s when my son started pre-k and i started noticing different things were wrong with him. he wasn’t retaining information. he didn’t know basic sight words. they did some form of testing and found out that he had adhd.”

residents in the west calumet neighborhood of east chicago have felt a multitude of negative effects from the contamination. the west calumet housing complex, built in 1972, housed more than 1,000 residents but is now empty and awaiting demolition. the housing complex was built on ground formerly occupied by a lead refinery and adjacent to a secondary lead smelter that operated until 1985. federal and state agencies began testing the housing complex site for contamination about two years later. they found high levels of lead and arsenic. yet, to the dismay of many residents, the epa did not formulate cleanup efforts for the site until it, as well as the surrounding east chicago area, was declared a superfund site in 2009.

“[the government has] known about this for 30-some odd years,” said jared jones, a northwestern university law student currently researching the superfund site. “it’s only been in the last, like, 15 months they’ve really been making a concerted effort to get it cleaned up.”

demolition, residential yard cleanup

in july 2016, mayor anthony copeland announced that residents needed to move out of the complex based on the epa’s reports of contamination, leaving thousands struggling to find new homes. on sept. 21, 2017, the u.s. department of housing and urban development said that it had approved the demolition of the lead- and arsenic-contaminated housing complex. while it may seem like a solution for other residents to leave homes in the contaminated area, this is not a feasible move for many east chicago residents.

“this is something that is so stressful,” lopez said. “we can’t pack up and move, we can’t afford that.”

the epa, with funding from atlantic richfield and dupont, expects to clean approximately 723 residential yards with lead levels of at least 400 parts per million of lead and 26 ppm of arsenic. as part of the cleanup, workers will remove two feet of contaminated soil and replace it with clean soil, including six inches of topsoil. workers will then put grass seed or lay sod on the topsoil and transport the contaminated soil to a licensed landfill for proper disposal.

residents, however, are concerned about the epa’s division of the yards to be cleaned.

“they’ll subdivide people’s lots into 4 parts and it may be that one quarter of your property needs to be cleaned up, but the part directly next to that doesn’t and the difference could be as little as 2 ppm and [that will] still keep it from being cleaned up,” jones said.

according to denise abdul-rahman, the environmental and climate justice chair for the indiana naacp, another concern that residents have expressed is about their treatment by officials when they come to test a family’s soil and water.

“they’re not given any type of respect,” abdul-rahman said. “that process is broken and culturally incompetent. no respect for the people that have been victimized or terrorized by environmental injustice. i think it’s the epitome of environmental racism,” abdul-rahman said.

a northwest indiana times article reported that an estimated 9,000 of 11,000 water service lines in east chicago contain lead, according to a service line inventory on file with the indiana department of environmental management.

in september, the city began replacing 400 lines at properties in the uss lead superfund site with lower levels of contaminated soil. until their services lines are replaced, residents of the superfund site have been given water filters. however, according to daniels, many of the residents have been using bottled water.

“we shower and we wash clothes. that’s it, we don’t do anything else with the water,” said daniels, who has been using bottled water since 2008.

residents are hoping to become more involved with the epa, the primary decision maker regarding the cleanup of the superfund site going forward. many residents currently don’t feel like they have any input into what’s happening at the site.

“we were told by the community [residents] that they felt they didn’t have access to city officials,” abdul-rahman said. “they still really don’t, except the city has a contracted attorney that does communication at the epa sessions that they have periodically for the community [meetings]. so they still feel, and it is reflected in those meetings, they don’t feel like they have access to the actual city decision-makers with the exception of the attorney.”

with the goal of becoming more involved in decision-making last year, a group of residents and advocacy organizations filed a motion to intervene in the case between the epa, as represented by the department of justice, and the companies responsible for the contamination at the calumet neighborhood. the court will hold a 2-hour oral argument on the motion on jan. 16.

catherine garypie, the associate region counsel for epa region 5 told the northwest indiana times in late october that the epa’s main concern with the motion is timing.

“our concern was that it was late” in the remediation process, garypie said. “that was our big issue.”

to continue voicing their concerns and hopes for the neighborhood in an organized manner, east chicago residents have formed an east chicago calumet coalition community advisory group. this cag group is represented by lawyers at northwestern university’s environmental advocacy center.

“the eac helps the cag by explaining the superfund process to residents, listening to resident concerns, and then working alongside community members to raise up their voices in interactions with government officials,” said debbie chizewer, the montgomery foundation environmental law fellow at the center.

in their saturday meetings, group members discuss community preferences for the site cleanup and remediation. along with the cag group, residents and the naacp have also created multiple events for lead health and healing to help residents who are having a difficult time with the superfund site cleanup.  

“we still have a lot of people who are recouping from things they lost. i didn’t realize all we left behind until it was time to move into our new places,” said daniels, who lived at the housing complex for over 13 years. “some of the things like dishes, forks. you didn’t realize that you left everything behind, so just maybe find a family and donate water or just a simple thing like a bath or face towel. these are things we had to leave behind because we were so scared to take anything with us.”

about two years ago, michigan decided to switch flint’s water supply from lake huron to the flint river, which, according to cnn, is a river that is notoriously known to locals for its filth. it has led to serious problems regarding lead contamination and public health risks.

fivethirtyeight reporter anna maria barry-jester explained the background of the crisis in her recent article, “what went wrong in flint.” for nearly 50 years, flint bought its water from detroit, which pumped it out of lake huron, barry-jester said. but in 2013, “the city voted to join a new pipeline being built to the lake, prompting detroit to cancel its agreement.” instead of agreeing to an updated, short-term contract with detroit, flint decided to use flint river as a water source, as an effort to save money, even though “flint’s water system hadn’t been a drain on the budget.”

this crisis has inspired college students across the nation to unite to send safe water to flint. some of the participating universities include university of michigan, university of missouri and ball state university. many have created donation drives, such as ball state university’s #freshwaterwednesday drive, to collect an abundance of bottled water to send to flint.

students of the george washington university also are fundraising for flint, though in a less traditional way — by preventing economic waste.

recently, the first-year students at gw were informed that their dining plan was changing: the freshman dining hall is no longer being offered to students beginning in the fall. thus, gw dining told current first-year students that they need to spend all of their “dining dollars,” money that only can be used at on-campus dining locations, by the end of the spring semester. in the past, excess dining dollars that were unused during the student’s first year at gw carried over into their second year, and could be used until the first semester of their third year. thus, the decision means current first-year students have only five months to spend between $700 and $1,400, depending on how much they spent this fall.

students quickly recognized this would be a challenge, considering first-year students also had $1,510 in “colonial cash,” money that can be used at off-campus restaurants. so, to avoid forfeiting their remaining dining dollars to the university at the end of the semester, students decided to purchase water bottles from their dining hall to send to flint, and put their money to good use.

gw students took their negative circumstance and made sure it had a positive outcome. have your university’s students done something similar or are they helping flint in some way? share it in the comments.

(photo by u.s. army corps of engineers)

according to the microbead-free waters act, a “plastic microbead” is defined as “any solid plastic particle that is less than five millimeters in size and is intended to be used to exfoliate or cleanse the human body or any part thereof.” microbeads often are found in products such as toothpaste, face wash, shampoo or body scrub.

though microbeads are small, they cause extreme contamination. according to a study performed by environmental science and technology, 8 trillion microbeads per day are emitted into aquatic habitats in the united states. if you line those microbeads up side-by-side, there are enough to cover 300 tennis courts daily.

                                                                                                                          (illustration by anders larsson)

microbeads are designed to be discarded down the drain. due to their small size, they easily trickle into wastewater plants, which are not equipped to filter such small particles, and eventually emit the microbeads into the oceans. because of this, microbeads have largely contributed to the microplastic debris littering our oceans and lakes.

in addition to microbeads’ contribution to pollution as they enter oceans and lakes, they also threaten the aquatic food chain. as described by the natural resources defense council, when microbeads enter the water, they attract toxic substances, such as pesticides, motor oil and other industrial chemicals. then, due to their small size, fish mistake the microbeads as food, causing the toxins to sink into their tissues. this can also cause additional side effects, such as internal abrasions and stunted growth.

                                                                                                                                                      (illustration by sam bradway)

so, what can be done to prevent microbeads from leaking into our oceans, lakes and rivers?

the best thing you can do is read the labels on face wash, body scrubs and toothpastes before you purchase them. the food and drug administration (fda) requires products containing microbeads to make note of them in their ingredient list, but you might not recognize them because of potentially unfamiliar, scientific terms. look for these words to see if a product contains microbeads: polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polymethyl methacrylate.

if you don’t want to memorize or keep those words saved in your phone, there are (several) apps for that. one example: beat the microbead, created by the north sea foundation, an organization that strives for a complete approach to the problems concerning the north sea, and the plastic soup foundation, an organization that promotes and supports measures that prevent the breakdown and proliferation of plastic waste at sea. this app allows you to easily check if a product contains microbeads by scanning its barcode with your smartphone camera. the app is constantly updated with products containing microbeads and has localized product listings. 

while the microbead-free waters act is heading in the right direction to put an end to plastic pollution, its beneficial enactments do not officially begin until 2017. until then, it’s up to you to be a conscious consumer and do your part to prevent microbeads from entering our waterways.

(photo at top by thegreenj)

it looked like a scene out of the musical “oklahoma.” tom linthicum, owner of seneca ayr farms, drove us up the gravel road to his farmhouse in maryland. the bright november day made the recently harvested soybean fields glow and sway, his green-roofed farmhouse perched above with a dog asleep on the porch. i kept expecting farmhands to burst into song.

“looks old, doesn’t it?” he grinned at us. “it’s a trick. i built our house as an exact replica of the one i grew up in, back at the old farmhouse.” 

tradition runs deep in this family: in architecture, profession and values. tom is the seventh generation of his family to farm here, and continues to practice their most valuable lesson:

“if you take care of your land, the land will take care of you.” 

but not even two weeks later, the american farm bureau federation and the fertilizer institute were garnering support from 21 other states to oppose the new plan, saying it was an overstep of the epa’s power and a misrepresentation of the improvement and data around the issue. in fact, the two organizations have led several initiatives against the epa with accusations like this. if the epa sets limits that are higher than needed, farms could spend a lot of money trying to reduce runoff, and fertilizer sales would plummet as they tried to comply to the new rules.

the pennsylvania courts dismissed it, since the states the laws applied to had agreed to them. but the fertilizer institute is still fighting it today.

now, here’s the thing: these 21 states that oppose the bill are not the seven that these laws apply to. so to me, it doesn’t make sense that they’re the ones who could get these new laws overturned. if they succeed, it will be a huge step back for the people of this watershed who rely on the deteriorating bay for their water and commerce.

standing on tom’s porch, i watched the expanse of soybeans sway around us in the chilly breeze. this feels like such a simple, peaceful life. maybe that’s what makes the bitter fight raging over its practices so jarring. but no one seems to know that the fate of the bay rests on a few debated laws and the good intentions of farmers. at any point, those laws may go away.

tom is doing his part to clean up the bay. but who’s to say that every other farmer would follow his lead without incentive? i’m afraid of the answer and what it will mean for this region.