By Julie Cart (LA Times) BP officials knew about a problem on a crucial well safety device at least three months before the catastrophic April 20 explosion in the Gulf of Mexico but failed to repair it, according to testimony Tuesday from the company’s well manager. Ronald Sepulvado testified that he was aware of a...
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Environment
BP well manager: officials knew of key safety problem on rig months before explosion
Childhood pesticide exposure linked to ADHD
By Carla K. Johnson (Huffington Post/AP) A new analysis of U.S. health data links children’s attention-deficit disorder with exposure to common pesticides used on fruits and vegetables. While the study couldn’t prove that pesticides used in agriculture contribute to childhood learning problems, experts said the research is persuasive. Read the rest: ADHD In Children:...
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BP uses buddy’s chemicals on spill instead of less toxic ones
By Paul Quinlan (NY Times) BP PLC continues to stockpile and deploy oil-dispersing chemicals manufactured by a company with which it shares close ties, even though other U.S. EPA-approved alternatives have been shown to be far less toxic and, in some cases, nearly twice as effective. So far, BP has told federal agencies that...
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Oil spill: BP had wrong diagram to close blowout preventer
By Maria Recio, Dave Montgomery and Mark Washburn (McClatchy Newspapers) WASHINGTON — In the days after an oil well spun out of control in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers tried to activate a huge piece of underwater safety equipment but failed because the device had been so altered that diagrams BP got from...
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28% of Republicans say oil spill made them more likely to support drilling
28% of Republicans said the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico made them more likely to support drilling off the coast to an equal 28% who said it made them less likely to be supportive. 44% said it made no difference. Read the rest: Public Policy Polling: The Politics of Oil Spills.
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Castro: Spill proves governments can’t control big corporations
(AP) Fidel Castro says the spreading oil slick fouling the Gulf of Mexico is proof that the world’s most powerful governments cannot control large corporations that now dictate the public’s destiny. It still is unclear whether some of the 3 million gallons of spilled crude could eventually reach Cuba’s shores — though government scientists...
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Federal off-shore drilling agency had wild drug, sex scandals
The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, the federal agency responsible for regulating off-shore drilling, had a series of big scandals tied to rampant drug use, orgies, lax or non-existent auditing and oversight during the Bush administration. Read the rest Oil Rigs, Orgies and Stoners | Talking Points Memo.
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U.S. panel: chemicals in air, food and water cause cancer
By Lyndsey Layton (Washington Post) An expert panel that advises the president on cancer said Thursday that Americans are facing “grievous harm” from chemicals in the air, food and water that have largely gone unregulated and ignored. The President’s Cancer Panel called for a new national strategy that focuses on such threats in the...
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Toxic beef rejected by Mexico re-sold in USA
By Peter Eisler (USA TODAY) Beef containing harmful pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and heavy metals is being sold to the public because federal agencies have failed to set limits for the contaminants or adequately test for them, a federal audit finds Even when the inspection service does identify a lot of beef with high levels of...
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Why heavy snowstorms confirm global climate change hypothesis
By Brad Johnson (ThinkProgress.org) Catastrophic “snowpocalypse” and “snowmageddon” events are exactly what scientists have been warning would hit Virginians because of global warming, in part because warmer air can hold more water. As National Wildlife Federation climate scientist Amanda Staudt notes, winter storms are getting fiercer even as the season gets warmer: Wintertime temperatures...
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