Workplace
Impact: OSHA Announces Enforcement Initiative After Public Health Watch Reveals Silicosis Cluster in California
At least 77 fabricators of engineered-stone countertops in the state have been diagnosed with an accelerated form of the fatal lung disease since January 2016
Environment
New Tool Says Dallas-Fort Worth Ranks Third in the World for Transportation-Related Greenhouse-Gas Emissions
Dallas-Fort Worth’s obsession with highways has made it the world’s third biggest source of greenhouse gases from transportation, according to a model called ClimateTrace.
WOMEN
After a Decade of State-Led Attacks, Texas Seeks to Bankrupt Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood, which provides essential health-care services to low-income women, has weathered relentless attacks by conservative politicians in Texas and could go bankrupt if the state prevails in a lawsuit.
Environment
In a Small French Town Where Houston-Based LyondellBasell Is a Fixture, Residents Complain of Unending Pollution
Houston-based LyondellBasell, one of the world’s biggest chemical manufacturers, has had several major chemical releases in Harris County, Texas, in the past few years. Its environmental record in the industrial enclave of Berre-l’Étang, France, isn’t so great, either.
Workplace
Federal Fix for Silica Dust Understates What We Found: Thousands of Coal Miners Still Sick and Dying
Coal miners have been exposed to toxic amounts of silica dust for decades. Now, federal mine safety regulators are proposing tough new rules to protect them. But the proposal fails to mention the biggest cost so far, perhaps undercutting the case for urgent action now: more than 4,000 miners sick and dying since 2010.
‘This stuff is killing me’: After decades of delay, new black lung protections come too late for some West Virginia coal miners
For decades, coal operators, federal regulators and politicians have come up short in preventing miners from getting the disease. For miners with black lung, the inaction has been deadly.
Black Lung Disease Is Affecting More Coal Miners in West Virginia. Here’s What to Know
Miners, regulators and advocates have known about the threat of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis for decades. How does silica dust cause black lung disease, what are regulators finally doing about it — and will it change anything?
Your Weekly Roundup of Public Health News
The Watch: September 28, 2023
High suicide rates for health-care workers, EPA crackdown urged for port pollution and more.
Read MoreThe Watch: September 21, 2023
Coasts will see annual 100-year floods; health care for immigrants isn’t overly costly, and more.
Read MoreMental Health
Network connects pediatricians with mental health professionals to treat growing number of children
Texas children have a hard time accessing mental health care, but a state program is helping pediatricians and primary care doctors fill the gap.
environment
Black Water: How Industry Fights Controls of Little-Known Drinking Water Contaminant
High levels of manganese in drinking water could harm infants and children, research shows. But industries that use or produce the metal are downplaying the risks in a fight against tighter controls by the EPA, including hiring consulting firms whose studies conflict with independent research.
Manganese in Public Water Systems
This interactive map reveals the EPA’s most recent measures of manganese levels in thousands of public water systems across the U.S.
Environment
Welcome to Total’s ‘Petro City’: Arlington, Texas
In this heavily drilled North Texas city, a UK-based investigative reporter finds echoes of TotalEnergie’s oil exploitation of Nigeria, Iraq, and Kurdistan.
Aging
Poverty Puts Older Texans at Risk
About 12% of older Texans live in poverty, and the numbers are even higher for Hispanic and Black populations.
COmmentary
‘Moral Distress’ Is Taking a Heavy Toll on America’s Physicians
More doctors are retiring early, changing careers or cutting back hours due to feelings of guilt that occur when they know what their patients need but can’t provide it.
Workplace
Silicosis Cases Are Mounting Among Countertop Fabricators in California. An Emergency Standard Is Coming.
The deadly lung disease is caused by the inhalation of silica dust, released by the cutting or grinding of artificial-stone countertop slabs. A new study offers details on its victims.
Mental Health
Mental Health Crisis Line 988 Fields Significantly More Calls, 12 Times as Many Texts in First Year
Last July, the cumbersome 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline became 988. At the one-year mark, there’s some success to report: Texts to the lifeline increased dramatically and average wait times across the line plummeted from 2 minutes 39 seconds to 41 seconds.
ENVIRONMENT
Deer Park Chemical Fire in 2019 Could Have Been Prevented, Federal Investigation Finds
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found that the ITC tank farm lacked crucial equipment to warn workers about the failure that led to the three-day fire.
Support Public Health Watch
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas
After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked to shed light on who was responsible and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.
Commentary
Teenage Girls Are Struggling
Teenage girls in America are under extraordinary stress, for a variety of reasons. Our columnist, Lisa Doggett, and her 15-year-old daughter, Clara Williams, offer insight.
Environment
Texas Lawmakers Raised Pollution Fines for the First Time in More Than a Decade. But Regulatory Concerns Remain
The Texas Legislature raised the maximum daily fine for polluters from $25,000 to $40,000. But it also gave environmental regulators more latitude to avoid investigating citizen complaints.
Mental Health
Texas Legislators Boosted Alzheimer’s Program Funding. It’s Not Enough.
Texas lawmakers set aside $14.2 million for the 2024-2025 biennium to help victims of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a $4.2 million increase over the current two-year budget. Advocates for the state’s 400,000 dementia patients say it’s not enough.
commentary
Misplaced Priorities in Texas
The Texas Legislature is wrapping up another session without addressing the state’s high rate of residents without health insurance. For a physician, meeting these patients’ needs can be impossible.
environment
Latest Chemical Plant Fire Unnerves, Infuriates Houston-Area Residents
A recent investigation by Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune revealed government negligence before and during a devastating 2019 fire at a tank farm in the Houston suburb of Deer Park. Earlier this month, a public hearing was held for that facility. The next day, another big fire broke out at a plant down the road.
Toxic texas air: Part 1 of 2
For Years, the EPA and Texas Ignored Warning Signs at a Chemical Storage Site. Then an Inferno Erupted.
Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm before a disastrous fire struck in March 2019. The fire released toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.
Toxic texas air: part 2 of 2
California Regulators Drafting Emergency Rule to Combat Deadly Lung Disease
Cases of silicosis are mounting among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops in the state. Two agencies are working to address the epidemic.
medicaid expansion project: ‘the holdouts’
What is ‘Medicaid Unwinding’? Unclear Messaging Could Leave Thousands Without Coverage
Thousands in Georgia — one of 10 states without Medicaid expansion — are at risk of losing coverage during the unwinding, and advocates say some outreach efforts aren’t reaching vulnerable communities.
Packed East Texas Safety-Net Clinic Finally Gets Federal Lifeline
Thousands of uninsured and underinsured residents of Henderson County depend on the clinic for care.
In Two-State Texarkana, a Widening Divide in Health Care Access
Texarkana is split into twin cities — one in Arkansas with Medicaid expansion, one in Texas without it. More than a decade after the Affordable Care Act was signed, differences have emerged.
Environment
As Wildfire Smoke Worsens Public Health, Government Watchdog Calls EPA Response ‘Ad Hoc’
Auditors say the EPA’s response to wildfire smoke is “poorly resourced and muddled by a lack of coordination with other agencies.”
mental health
Rio Grande Valley Is at Epicenter of Alzheimer’s Spike Among Latinos
A stretch of South Texas is struggling with a crisis many parts of the nation could someday face: the increase in cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The state’s response has been uneven at best.
Mental Health
El Valle del Río Grande se encuentra en el epicentro del aumento del alzhéimer entre los latinos
Texas, con un superávit presupuestario de 33,000 millones de dólares, gasta mucho menos en esta devastadora forma de demencia que otros grandes estados.
LNG Export Terminals Pose a Growing and Invisible Threat: Air Pollution
Residents around existing LNG facilities in Louisiana already notice the smell and irritants from nearby terminals. With more under construction, air quality is poised to worsen.
What Would Life Be Like With MS and No Insurance or Help?
After she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Lisa Doggett received first-rate care because she had health insurance and a good job. But what if she hadn’t?
Two-Part Series: Firefighters and cancer
State Laws Favor Workers’ Comp Benefits for Firefighters With Cancer. Cities and Counties Keep Denying Them.
The denials are happening even though all 50 states have laws or programs that presume at least some cancers in firefighters are work-related, in theory making it easier for them to qualify for benefits.
Toxic Firefighting Foam Persists in U.S. Despite Calls for a Ban
The evidence continues to mount that a widely used firefighting foam may be linked to high rates of cancer among U.S. firefighters. Why is the foam still in firehouses?
Infrastructure Law Raises Hopes of Alaskan Tribal Villages Without Running Water. But Will the Effort Fall Short?
The federal Infrastructure Law set aside funds to improve clean-water delivery systems for Alaska’s rural tribal communities. But barriers loom, from construction challenges to lack of funding for operations.
To Protect Her Twin Baby, Texas Woman Was Forced to Seek Abortion Care Out of State
The story of Ashley Brandt underscores the impact state abortion bans can have on patients confronted with severe fetal abnormalities.
Toxic Texas Air
Houston Lawmaker Moves to Hold Polluters Accountable
A similar effort by another Texas legislator failed two years ago, but state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw says she’s obligated to try to protect polluted communities.
commentary
For Children’s Hospitals, a ‘COVID in March 2020’ Moment
An inside look at how pediatric hospitals are being overwhelmed with victims of respiratory illness.
Workers Keep Dying in Trenches. It’s a Symptom of America’s Tepid Commitment to Worker Safety.
OSHA said 22 workers had died in trench cave-ins during the first six months of this year, compared to 15 in all of 2021.
Stealth Impact of Climate Change: Deteriorating Mental Health
Climate change has caused more intense wildfires, floods, hurricanes and inflicted other forms of tangible harm. But an oft-overlooked consequence is worsening mental health.
toxic texas air
Why Do So Many Chemical Releases in Texas Go Unpunished?
In some cases, these “emissions events” aren’t illegal. In others, state regulators give polluters the benefit of the doubt.
As Alarm Over Plastic Grows, Saudis Ramp Up Production in the US
President Biden is in the kingdom this week to strengthen ties, consistent with ‘American values.’ Meanwhile, a US-Saudi joint venture on the Texas coast is pumping out toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases.
A Texas County Wants to Punish Polluters. The State Won’t Let It.
Residents of eastern Harris County have grown tired of almost-daily chemical leaks and the occasional catastrophe. A new generation of county officials is trying to help them, even as state leaders undercut their authority and restrict voting access.
featured stories
The Titans of Plastic
Pennsylvania becomes the newest sacrifice zone for America’s plastic addiction.
Lots of Things Drive Violence in Prison. Add Heat to the List.
To keep our cool in this record hot summer, most of us are probably choosing to spend more time in air-conditioned spaces. For many people in Georgia prisons, that simply is not an option.
Protect Water or Advance Green Energy
The green economy creates a tug-of-war in Northeast Minnesota, where companies seeking mining rights for critical minerals challenge those trying to protect pristine waterways.
Texas Abortion Providers Feel ‘Ignored’ by the Biden Administration
After the state’s strictest-in-the-nation abortion ban went into effect last year, the president promised a ‘whole-of-government’ response that experts say has not materialized.
environment
Small Plant, Big Polluter
Thanks to a loophole in the Clean Air Act, William Koch’s Oxbow plant in Port Arthur, Texas, puts out 10 times as much lung-damaging sulfur dioxide as its industrial neighbors. People who live nearby have asked the state for help, to no avail.
Koch-Owned Plant Finds Legal Ways to Pollute
A clean energy company that once operated at William Koch’s Oxbow plant in Port Arthur, Texas, claimed in a lawsuit that Oxbow manipulated sulfur dioxide emissions to avoid spending millions on pollution controls. Oxbow said it complies with the law.
While ExxonMobil Touts Net-Zero Promise, Its Huge Plastics Complex in Texas Goes Online
The same day ExxonMobil announced its ambition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, word spread that its mammoth plastics manufacturing complex in Texas had begun production. The plant could pump more than 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air every year.
Flaring at Gulf Coast Plastics Plant Alarms Neighbors, Signals Growth in Polluting Projects
Environmental advocates fear that Gulf Coast residents are poised to suffer from new energy projects expected to add 50 million tons of greenhouse-gas pollution in coming years.
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other stories
Young and Dying: Veterans Are Getting Brain Cancer and Struggling to Get Benefits
A joint investigation by Military.com and Public Health Watch found that glioblastoma, while rare, has struck hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Many must fight for health care and compensation.
Cancer Cases in Kids Are Rising. Some Experts Blame Toxic Chemicals.
While death rates for childhood cancer victims are going down, incidence rates are going up. Are environmental exposures at fault?
Iowa’s Toxic Brew
Iowa copes with the climate-chemical reaction that can play havoc with drinking water.
