Fighting pollution and apathy on the Lower Ohio

It's not easy being a Southern Indiana Waterkeeper

NEW ALBANY, Ind. — When Jason Flickner was a kid, he built a dam on the creek behind his grandparents' house causing it to flood a neighbor's basement.

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Illustration of the R.E. Burger power plant by David Wilson/Belt Magazine.

Originals

What the petrochemical buildout along the Ohio River means for regional communities and beyond

The R.E. Burger coal-fired power plant's final day ended, appropriately enough, in a cloud of black smoke and dust.

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A barge ships coal up the Ohio River near Cincinnati. (Photo by Lucia Walinchus/Eye on Ohio, the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism)

Originals

The water is cleaner but the politics are messier: A look back at the Clean Water Act movement after 50 years

In June 1969, a Time Magazine article garnered national attention when it brought to light the water quality conditions in Ohio: a river had literally caught fire.

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Originals

Paddling 300 miles to protect the waters of Ohi:yo', the 'good river'

For degawëno:da's, paddling the length of the Allegheny River over the course of four months this year was to be a "witness to the raw element of the natural world."

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BarbiAnn Maynard drives 45 minutes from her home in Martin County, Kentucky, to a spring at the Mingo-Logan county line in West Virginia to fill containers with fresh water. (Credit: Curren Sheldon/100 Days in Appalachia)

Originals

'That's vinegar:' The Ohio River's history of contamination and progress made

In 1958, researchers from the University of Louisville and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission gathered at a lock on the Monongahela River for routine collecting, counting and comparing of fish species.

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www.nextpittsburgh.com

Toxics

On media: These journalists speak for the river

Several media outlets, including Environmental Health News, are collaborating to give voice to the Ohio River and its watershed.

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www.nextpittsburgh.com

Children

Pennsylvania is discharging radioactive fracking waste into rivers as landfill leachate

A Public Herald investigation has uncovered that DEP is allowing 14 Sewage Waste Treatment Plants to discharge radioactive fracking waste as landfill leachate into 13 Pennsylvania Waterways.

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publicherald.org

energynews.us

Toxics

Wetter weather worsens risks from coal ash ponds, environmental advocates report

Even without floods, multiple Ohio sites already have been found to have elevated contaminant levels in groundwater.

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energynews.us

www.theintelligencer.net

Toxics

Speakers cite health hazards linked to petrochemical industry

An environmentalist and a physician, who spoke in Wheeling Tuesday, paint a dire picture of health impacts of the petrochemical industry, including oil and gas fracking and ethane cracker plants.

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www.theintelligencer.net

www.athensnews.com

Toxics

Multi-state panel OKs voluntary Ohio River water standards

The federal commission responsible for regulating water standards along the Ohio River voted to allow Ohio and other states in the commission to set water-quality standards, rather than enforce mandatory rules.

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www.athensnews.com

www.post-gazette.com

Editorial

Abandoning the Ohio: Cowardly ORSANCO vote imperils the river’s health

The ORSANCO board hid from public scrutiny and concern.

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www.post-gazette.com

www.nextpittsburgh.com

Toxics

Pollution standards on the Ohio River are now optional and local environmental groups are alarmed

In a move that environmental advocates have called a grave setback for public health, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), has voted to roll back longstanding pollution controls along the Ohio River.

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www.nextpittsburgh.com

www.post-gazette.com

Water

Ohio River water quality standards diluted by multi-state agency

The multi-state agency that for the last 60 years has set water quality standards protecting the Ohio River Thursday approved industry-backed changes to make those rules voluntary.

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www.post-gazette.com

www.wkyufm.org

Toxics

Ohio River regulators adopt voluntary pollution control standards

The multi-state commission overseeing water quality along the Ohio River has adopted voluntary pollution control standards nearly a year after member states considered a plan to abandon the standards entirely.

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www.wkyufm.org

www.alleghenyfront.org

Toxics

Fish species in Ohio River have substantially increased since '60s, study finds

Researchers looked at 60 years of fish survey and credit the Clean Water Act, less agriculture near the river and modified dams.

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www.alleghenyfront.org

From our Newsroom

Fighting pollution and apathy on the Lower Ohio

It's not easy being a Southern Indiana Waterkeeper

What the petrochemical buildout along the Ohio River means for regional communities and beyond

The water is cleaner but the politics are messier: A look back at the Clean Water Act movement after 50 years

Paddling 300 miles to protect the waters of Ohi:yo', the 'good river'

'That's vinegar:' The Ohio River's history of contamination and progress made

On media: These journalists speak for the river

Pennsylvania is discharging radioactive fracking waste into rivers as landfill leachate

Wetter weather worsens risks from coal ash ponds, environmental advocates report

Speakers cite health hazards linked to petrochemical industry

Multi-state panel OKs voluntary Ohio River water standards

Abandoning the Ohio: Cowardly ORSANCO vote imperils the river’s health

Pollution standards on the Ohio River are now optional and local environmental groups are alarmed

Ohio River water quality standards diluted by multi-state agency

Ohio River regulators adopt voluntary pollution control standards

Fish species in Ohio River have substantially increased since '60s, study finds

The disturbing link between environmental racism and criminalization

How powerful institutions are criminalizing populations by locking people up and deeming them undeserving of clean air, water and healthy housing.

Bhopal nocturne

35 years after the chemical industry's worst accident, have we learned any lessons? A petrochemical buildout along the Ohio River suggests we haven't.

Federal tests 'dramatically' undercount BPA and other chemical exposures

Researchers say federal agencies use highly inaccurate tests to estimate exposure to BPA—findings that extend to multiple other harmful chemicals that get into our bodies

Exposed: A scientific stalemate leaves our hormones and health at risk

American industry, aided by federal regulators, is conducting a large-scale, consequential experiment with our hormones and the developing brains and reproductive systems of our children.

Exposed: How willful blindness keeps BPA on shelves and contaminating our bodies

EHN.org investigation finds regulatory push to discredit independent evidence of harm while favoring pro-industry science despite significant shortcomings.

Coraopolis drinking water shows PFAS contamination among highest in Pennsylvania, but below federal advisory

PFAS contamination has previously been found at two nearby military bases.

It's not easy being a Southern Indiana Waterkeeper

How powerful institutions are criminalizing populations by locking people up and deeming them undeserving of clean air, water and healthy housing.

35 years after the chemical industry's worst accident, have we learned any lessons? A petrochemical buildout along the Ohio River suggests we haven't.

Researchers say federal agencies use highly inaccurate tests to estimate exposure to BPA—findings that extend to multiple other harmful chemicals that get into our bodies

American industry, aided by federal regulators, is conducting a large-scale, consequential experiment with our hormones and the developing brains and reproductive systems of our children.

EHN.org investigation finds regulatory push to discredit independent evidence of harm while favoring pro-industry science despite significant shortcomings.

PFAS contamination has previously been found at two nearby military bases.

Above The Fold

Above the Fold