After the uninsured rate fell to an all-time low of 8 percent in 2022, nearly 6.8 million people have lost their Medicaid health coverage since the so-called unwinding of federal pandemic protections began earlier this year. Observers say it’s the largest simultaneous loss of health coverage in United States history, with impacts threatening to reverberate through the already struggling health…
In Pennsylvania, healthcare profiteers top the list of the most aggressive spenders on lobbying in the state. Corporations in the United States spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on well connected lobbyists to influence legislation both on a federal level and in states and cities. Pennsylvania is one of the many states in the US with relatively loose regulations on lobbying and gifts…
Child gun deaths hit a record high in 2021, breaking the previous record set just one year before, new research finds. A total of 4,752 children in the U.S. died gun-related deaths in 2021, a new study found using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. This is an 8.8 percent increase in the pediatric gun mortality rate for 2020 and a staggering 41.5 percent increase from 2018.
A GPs advocacy group says that practices learned from the covid-19 pandemic, like staying home when sick or wearing masks in health facilities, should remain in place to halt the spread of infectious diseases.
As of August 15, the mandates ended for the seven-day isolation period and masks in health settings, with the Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall saying wastewater testing showed little trace of the virus.
Dr Verrall acknowledged many would still feel vulnerable.
“So it is on all of us to think well if we’re visiting an aged residential care home for example, that we do follow the recommended procedures there.
“Te Whatu Ora will continue to encourage people to wear masks when they go to hospital — they won’t be mandated.”
Covid cases accounted for just over 2 percent of hospital admissions, Dr Verrall said.
Last step on wind down
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ Morning Report this was the last step in winding down covid-19 restrictions.
“We waited until after the winter peak period. The health system overall, while it’s been under pressure and it’s still under pressure, had a much better winter this winter than last winter.”
He said it was on the advice of the director-general of health and there was never a perfect time to make changes to health settings.
General Practice New Zealand chair Dr Bryan Betty said practices like mask wearing and self-isolation should be encouraged for all viruses, not just Covid.
He told Morning Report people needed to continue with the lessons that were learnt from covid but which were applicable to all viruses that were spread from person-to-person such as influenza and RSV.
“Voluntarily staying at home if you do have a flu or a cold so you don’t spread it, and I think masking in public areas of health facilities voluntarily is something we should still keep in play.”
Health providers should consider ensuring masks were worn in places where sick people gathered such as hospitals or GPs’ waiting areas, Dr Betty said.
Vaccination still important
Vaccination would still play an important part in reducing infection and re-infection, he said.
“We do that every year for influenza, we are potentially going forward going to be recommending that for covid, especially for vulnerable populations.”
Employers should be considering how to support workers so they do not come into work sick, he said.
Employers should give people with colds, the flu or Covid the opportunity to work from home if they can to avoid spreading the illness around the workplace, he said.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker also urged people to stay home when they were sick with covid-19, even though all of the health restrictions had been lifted.
Professor Baker told Morning Report that covid had transitioned from a pandemic threat to an endemic infectious disease.
“Unfortunately that means it’s there the whole time, it is still in New Zealand among the infectious diseases, the leading cause of death and hospitalisation and we know that those infections and reinfections are going to add to that burden of long covid.”
Still vital to isolate
People must remember that it was still vital to isolate when they were sick and not go to work or school or socialise which spread the virus, he said.
People should also continue to wear masks in medical facilities and in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, he said.
New Zealand had come through its fourth wave of infection for the Omicron variant, he said.
“We are going to see new subvariants or lineage of the virus arrive, they will be better at escaping from our immunity, our immunity will wane of course unless you get boosted.”
The government needed to look at how to reinforce those behaviours that prevented covid from spreading now that the mandates had been removed, he said.
“I mean this could be running media campaigns or developing codes of practice say with employers, Business New Zealand, I mean this is a chance for them really to show leadership about how they’re going to support the workforce in New Zealand, self-isolating when they are sick.”
Hospitilisations and mortality rates showed that covid-19 continued to have an impact and watching those rates would indicate whether the mandates had been removed too early, he said.
Integrated approach needed
New Zealand needed to develop a coherent, integrated approach to dealing with all respiratory infections which were the infectious diseases that had the biggest impact, he said.
“They have a big drain on our health resources and so we do need to look at better surveillance for these infections that will tell us what’s happening and also really it’s just having a culture of limiting transmission of these infections.”
That meant staying home when sick and using masks in indoor environments with poor ventilation, he said.
Auckland Council disability strategic advisory group chair Dr Huhana Hickey said getting rid of masks at health care centres was extremely dangerous for immunocompromised people.
“The problem for immune-compromised people is we’re frequent flyers, but we’re being asked to go into a situation that puts us all at risk of not just dealing with what’s making us sick but risking getting covid, which could kill us.”
Hickey said scrapping the seven-day compulsory isolation period could result in more workers returning while still infectious, which she believed would mean immunocompromised people were likely to stay home.
“If they cannot stay home and employers require them to work, they’re going to spread covid as well, so that means I don’t go to restaurants now because I don’t know if the waiter’s sick, I don’t know if the chef’s sick.”
Minimal impact of numbers
University of Auckland mathematics professor and covid-19 modeller Michael Plank expected the lack of mask and isolation requirements to have a minimal impact on case numbers.
He said the main drivers of infection were people who were asymptomatic cases or had not tested yet.
“I’m not sure than an isolation mandate is going to have a particularly large effect on infection rates in the long term.
“If we look at other countries that removed isolation mandates, like Australia, there’s really no evidence of a surge in numbers.”
Restaurant owners embraced the government’s decision.
The Restaurant Association surveyed more than 200 of its members, and 84 percent said they supported the idea.
But many planned to introduce their own requirements, chief executive Marisa Bidois said.
“Thirty nine percent of the respondents said they intended to mandate a five day isolation period for their employees,” she said.
“So that’s something they’re going to implement themselves as an internal policy.”
Many hospitality workers would also be expected to test themselves proactively.
“We also had 42 percent of respondents planning to require employees with any symptoms to undergo testing before returning to work.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Laurie Harper, director of education for the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School, a K-12 tribal school on the Leech Lake Band Indian Reservation in north-central Minnesota, never thought that a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, would be an issue for her community. That’s partly because, up until a few months ago, she didn’t even know what PFAS were. “We’re in the middle…
When COVID-19 broke out across the world in 2020, it produced widespread support for expanded public health measures, including “lockdowns,” that are estimated to have saved up to a million lives in the U.S. and millions more worldwide. As tragic as the pandemic has been, as many mistakes were made, we should be grateful to the health care workers, public health officials and vaccine researchers…
That is especially the case in Philadelphia, which has the highest infant mortality and poverty rates among the nation’s 10 most populous cities. In their first year, Black infants die at more than triple the rate of white babies.
Throughout the U.S. in 2020, the leading causes of infant mortality included low birth weight and preterm birth. A guaranteed basic income for expectant parents can address those problems and even result in improved early childhood development, studies have shown.
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So Philadelphia is doing just that: offering expectant parents unrestricted cash payments to improve birth outcomes and reduce racial disparities.
Beginning in 2024, the Philly Joy Bank will provide 250 pregnant Philadelphians with $1,000 a month in no-strings-attached cash throughout their pregnancy and for one year postpartum. Expectant parents who earn less than $100,000 annually and live in one of the city’s three neighborhoods with the highest percentages of low birth weight — majority Black neighborhoods — will be eligible for the program run by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
Developed in partnership between the city’s Department of Public Health and the Philadelphia Community Action Network — a coalition focused on reducing infant mortality — the pilot program resulted from hours of conversations with local community members, as well as literature reviews of similar programs in Manitoba, Canada and San Francisco.
“We heard from Philadelphians not only that a program like this was sorely needed here, but that the amount of the monthly guaranteed income needed to be tied to a meaningful line item in a family’s monthly budget, such as housing or childcare,” said Stacey Kallem, Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s director of maternal, child, and family health division.
Stacey Kallem, Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s director of maternal, child, and family health division. (Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health)
The $1,000 monthly benefit is based on the costs of local housing and childcare. Doula support, financial coaching and maternal and child home visits were also requested during community focus group sessions.
The rise of basic income
Guaranteed basic income experiments have increased in recent years as people search for solutions to growing income inequality that threatens wellbeing. Nearly 50 active guaranteed income programs exist throughout the U.S., according to Stanford Basic Income Lab, which conducts research and holds conversations on basic income. Those programs address a range of issues, including poverty and housing insecurity.
Critics of a general basic income argue that recipients will lose motivation to work. But years of research show that unrestricted cash helps people cover basic needs and can increase employment. A recent study on a basic income program in Stockton, California, revealed that $500 a month over 24 months resulted in improved mental health.
A Black mother of two, Lydia Seymour, helped develop the pilot program by sharing her lived experience, facilitating workgroups and fundraising.
Lydia Seymour, a Philadelphia Community Action Network coordinator, helped develop the guaranteed income program for expectant parents. (Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Community Action Network)
The Philadelphia Community Action Network introduced her to other moms who provided tips and resources while she was unemployed and pregnant with her second child in 2020. Eventually, the coalition paid her $25 an hour to share insight from her motherhood journey. The additional income covered some basic needs during her pregnancy, said Seymour, who now works as a coordinator for the coalition.
Adverse birth outcomes hit close to home for Seymour, since her daughter was born at an extremely low birth weight — 1 pound, 8 ounces — in 2017. If the guaranteed income program was around at that time, she said it would have made a significant difference for her first pregnancy.
“Across the board in any ethnic background or racial group, finances are seen as a stress and a source of need,” Seymour said. “So having an extra $1,000 during pregnancy would have helped to put food on the table.”
The Philly Joy Bank was also inspired by Manitoba’s Healthy Baby Prenatal Benefit program, which launched in 2001 to improve health outcomes during pregnancy. Recipients of the government-run program receive up to $81.41 (about $60 USD) a month throughout their second and third trimester, depending on their income. Additionally, expectant parents receive access to prenatal care and referrals to a support system where they can, among other things, learn about baby development, connect with other expectant parents, get breastfeeding support or ask questions about pregnancy. To be eligible for the program, expectant parents must have a household income under $32,000 and reside in Manitoba.
From 2001 to 2016, the Manitoba program provided over $27 million in total to around 63,000 women, according to the latest government report. In 2016, over 30% of the beneficiaries lived in First Nations communities.
Study author Marni Brownell, a University of Manitoba professor in community health sciences and senior research scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, evaluated the prenatal benefit for children born from 2003 through 2011 and followed them through kindergarten over several studies. In one paper, she found that the benefit led to increased vaccination, as well as improved cognitive and language development among First Nations children.
Marni Brownell, a University of Manitoba professor in community health sciences and senior research scientist at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, evaluated Manitoba's prenatal benefit program over several years. (Photo courtesy of the University of Manitoba)
For jurisdictions that want to implement a similar program, Brownell recommends free prenatal care and efforts to reduce barriers to that service, including a lack of childcare and transportation, as well as distrust of the healthcare system.
In Philadelphia, the pilot program’s recruitment and enrollment process is still underway. The Department of Public Health anticipates holding community events and outreach in childcare centers and prenatal care sites. Philly Joy Bank will be considered for renewal if it improves financial security, as well as maternal and child health outcomes, said Kallem, adding that the city is currently selecting an external evaluator to measure the program’s impact.
In Brownell’s eyes, the research on Manitoba’s program provides a key message: “Women know best what they need to improve their prenatal health.”
With the Tokyo Electric Power Company planning to begin a release of 1.3 million tonnes of treated wastewater from the former Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan next month, reports of radioactive fish in the area have raised alarm in recent years — and new reporting on Sunday revealed that the problem is far from mitigated, prompting questions about how dangerous the company’s plan...
Forget “repeal and replace,” an oft-repeated Republican rallying cry against the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans have advanced a package of bills that could reduce health insurance costs for certain businesses and consumers, partly by rolling back some consumer protections. Rather than outright repeal, however, the subtler effort could allow more employers to bypass the landmark health...
In the first year of abortion being nearly fully banned in Texas, infant mortality rose for the first time in seven years, nearly entirely undoing years of progress on infant mortality in a single year, new data shows. According to preliminary data obtained from the Texas Department of State Health Services by CNN, infant mortality increased by 11.5 percent in 2022 over the previous year. Overall...
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced on Wednesday that at least 45 percent of tap water nationwide is likely contaminated with one or more type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, a family of harmful “forever chemicals” that do not break down in the environment and can now be widely detected in water supplies and virtually all of our bodies.
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) chair Muhammad Isnur has condemned the drafting of the Healthcare Bill (RUU Kesehatan) as “fake”, saying that the draft is almost the same as the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Cipta Kerja).
According to Isnur, the similarity can be seen from a test of the academic context, which like the Jobs Law is unable to be seen.
“Should we say it’s a fake — yeah, the academic manuscript is fake,” he said.
Isnur said that the initial study or academic manuscript used in the drafting the draft Health Law was written carelessly and it had no legitimacy.
It could not be called an academic manuscript as the basis for drafting a law.
“For example, in the research methodology it quotes several specialists or experts whose books are outdated, their books have even been revised by the authors themselves,” said Isnur.
Isnur noted that the Health Bill would result in the reevaluation of policies in other laws, yet the references in the academic manuscript were unclear, including who did the research for it.
Lack of accountability
“We also do not know at all who drafted this. How can this be accountable as an academic manuscript if we don’t know who wrote it,” he said.
The YLBHI along with 42 other civil society groups are asking that the ratification of the Health Bill be postponed.
Aside from the fact that the academic manuscript was similar to Jobs Law, several concerns were raised by the Civil Society Coalition such as the deliberations on the law which were closed and without meaningful public participation.
Another reason was the weakness of the argument that the Health Bill was urgent and therefore needed to use the omnibus law method.
The law was also seen as tending to lead towards the liberalisation of the health system, expanding the privatisation of health services and would eliminate the minimum allocation for the health budget.
The centralisation of healthcare management by the central government is also regarded as reducing independent learning and development in the health sector.
As unprecedented, climate change-fueled wildfires in Canada are resulting in record-breaking pollution in cities and towns across the U.S., marking not only a climate event but also a major public health event, a coal-funded lawyer went on Fox News on Wednesday night to spread a particularly dangerous lie: that breathing wildfire smoke doesn’t have any negative health effects. Appearing on “The...
In a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), federal researchers acknowledge in detail that police-perpetrated killings are a major cause of violent death in the United States, and Black and Indigenous men are disproportionally killed by police compared to all other groups tracked in the data. Experts say the analysis is a step forward for the CDC, but crucial data on...
Before Missouri resident Amanda K. Finley had heard of COVID-19 or long COVID, she worked as an archeologist. Although her work schedule was erratic, she was frequently hired by engineering firms to make sure that the development sites they intended to build on conserved the cultural integrity of the land. She did this for 14 years. Then, in March 2020, 10 months before the COVID vaccine became...
Tokelau’s largest atoll, Nukunonu, is now out of lockdown after experiencing its first community cases of covid-19.
In a statement, the government said Fakaofo Atoll has had two cases at the border and Nukunonu now has six positive community cases — all within the same household.
This includes the two new community cases who are children from the same family who have been isolating together.
The two kids were confirmed as covid-19 positive on Friday, May 26.
Tokelau confirmed its first community case on May 21, becoming one of the last places in the world to record community transmission.
Government spokesperson Aukusitino Vitale said they were all in good health and were being taken care of.
Hospital staff continued to manage their situation daily.
Meanwhile, the Council for the Ongoing Government, chaired by the Ulu o Tokelau (head of government), is set to meet on Friday to discuss the next official covid-19 update.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Between 2000 and 2020, an estimated 482,000 primates were imported into the U.S. to be experimented on in testing laboratories. All the while, pharmaceutical drug development has been mired in serious challenges, particularly during the animal-heavy research stages known as preclinical phases. Now, a series of supply chain disruptions have created a shortage of primates for laboratory testing use.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved over-the-counter sales of the opioid overdose reversal medication Narcan, a move that advocates say will reduce stigma around a lifesaving medication and increase access for people in need — if they can afford to pay for it. Narcan is a popular nasal spray version of the drug naloxone, the antidote administered to quickly block the effects of...
A ruling handed down by a U.S. district judge on Thursday will threaten a range of lifesaving preventative healthcare services for more than 150 million people, legal experts and advocates said, as the decision challenged the legality of a federal task force that enforces coverage for the services.
Judge Reed O'Connor, a Bush appointee who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ruled that insurance companies do not have to comply with preventative care recommendations made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which was established by a key provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.
O'Connor ruled that the appointments of members of the task force violate the Appointments Clause in the U.S. Constitution and said that violation "invalidates its power to enforce anything against anyone nationwide," according toSlate journalist Mark Joseph Stern.
The USPSTF has issued recommendations for a wide range of preventative care services, including screenings for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, and diabetes; interventions and tests for pregnant patients; anxiety screenings for children and adolescents; and pediatric vision tests.
Under the ACA, insurance companies are required to cover those services, but following O'Connor's ruling coverage will no longer be mandated.
The decision is "nothing short of catastrophic to the U.S. healthcare system," said Stern.
\u201cI anticipated this decision in September when O'Connor first telegraphed it. It is nothing short of catastrophic to the U.S. health care system. Millions of Americans, including many pregnant women, will have to forgo basic care if it is upheld.\nhttps://t.co/eVpemaBN5c\u201d
— Mark Joseph Stern (@Mark Joseph Stern)
1680184452
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 2020 by Christian employers who objected to paying for services such as contraceptives and preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), to prevent HIV transmission.
In September, O'Connor ruled that coverage for PrEP violated the companies' religious freedom in a decision that one doctor who specializes in HIV treatment condemned as "disgusting and inhumane" and likely "driven solely by homophobia and transphobia."
\u201cA Bush-appointed judge blocks the ACA's coverage of preventative care, including cancer screenings and the HIV-prevention drug PrEP, as the Stephen Miller-backed plaintiffs claim it "encourage[s] homosexual behavior, prostitution [and] sexual promiscuity."https://t.co/IVTbOmOzCg\u201d
The companies are being represented by Texas attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who helped develop the state's abortion ban that allows private citizens to sue anyone who "aids or abets" a person who obtains abortion care.
More than 150 million Americans who have private health insurance have coverage for preventative care under the ACA, as well as approximately 20 million Medicaid and 61 million Medicare recipients.
Last July, as O'Connor was considering the case, titled Braidwood Management Inc., vs. Xavier Becerra, national health organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists warned that a ruling in the plaintiffs' favor would "reverse important progress and make it harder for physicians to diagnose and treat diseases and medical conditions that, if caught early, are significantly more manageable."
"With an adverse ruling, patients would lose access to vital preventive healthcare services, such as screening for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease, diabetes, preeclampsia, and hearing, as well as access to immunizations critical to maintaining a healthy population," the organizations wrote. "Our patients cannot afford to lose this critical access to preventive healthcare services."
The Biden administration is expected to appeal O'Connor's ruling, and since insurance coverage contracts typically run through the end of the year, coverage will likely not change for many before 2024.
If upheld, the ruling will deal "a devastating blow to American public health," said University of California law professor Jennifer Oliva.
\u201cA federal judge deals a devastating blow to American public health by enjoining the ACA preventative mandate nationally. Included among plaintiffs\u2019 claims was that it was against their religion for insurance plans to cover counseling for substance use disorder.\u201d
Last year, a Morning Consult poll found that at least 2 in 5 Americans were not willing to pay out-of-pocket for preventative services currently covered by the ACA.
O'Connor previously ruled in 2018 that the ACA should be struck down in its entirety, but that ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The judge's latest ruling offers "another reason why we need Medicare for All," said the Debt Collective. "The milquetoast ACA is being dismantled before our eyes. There is no reason not to fight for real solutions when the non-solutions stand no better chance."
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
As many as 15 children under the age of five in Central Papua have reportedly died of measles.
Parish Priest of Christ the Redeemer Church in Timeepa, Yeskiel Belau, told Jubi News he estimated the number to be higher because there were areas that had not been checked.
The data obtained by the church stated as many as 83 children in his ministry area alone had had measles, he said.
“In the parish centre, there are five kombas (base communities). The 15 children who died were only from the five commanders. Excluding the Toubai, Degadai, Megai Dua, Abaugi, and Dioudimi Stations.
“If the number is added, it will surely explode,” he said.
Timeepa Health Center head Yoki Butu said his party was conducting post-handover services for the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine by the Acting Dogiyai Regent, Petrus Agapa, to prevent measles in Dogiyai District.
His party immediately administered drugs to the targeted babies, he said.
“Our immunisation coverage has been carried out, in my service area there are only four villages and we have done that,” Yoki said.
Regarding the death of the 15 toddlers, Jubi News reported Yoki said the measles case was not only in the Dogiyai area but was currently the concern of all parties because it had become an “extraordinary event” in Central Papua Province.
“So let’s join hands to break the chain of transmission,” he said.
Measles is a serious viral infection, which can spread to others via coughing and sneezing.
Samoan baby admitted to hospital In Samoa, an 11-month-old baby has been admitted to hospital suspected of measles.
Director-General of Health Aiono Dr Alec Ekeroma told TV1 Samoa the infant was showing symptoms of measles and had been isolated to await results of blood samples sent to New Zealand.
He confirmed two other patients were tested recently and returned negative results.
The Ministry of Health were continuing the mumps measles and rubella (MMR) vaccination push around the country, according to Aiono.
“We’ve approved the payment of staff overtime to allow for them to work Saturday,” he said.
It had been three weeks since the MMR immunisation campaign started and they had reached 85 percent of babies with the first dosage, Aiono said.
The second dosage was only at 45 percent coverage, and Aiono urged parents to push for their children to be fully vaccinated with both doses.
“We hope to reach 80 percent coverage with the second dose by June,” he said.
Meanwhile, the latest test results are expected next week.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
As of Monday, more than 500 physicians and other medical professionals had signed on to a letter urging federal regulators to prevent the expansion of a fracked gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest.
The sign-on campaign comes as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is expected to weigh in on TC Energy's Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress project as soon as this month.
The Canadian company's proposed expansion would boost the capacity of a pipeline that runs through British Columbia, Canada and the U.S. states of Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California.
"FERC should deny the permit for this pipeline expansion proposal, which is both unnecessary to meet our energy needs and harmful to people in our communities."
"We are in a climate crisis, where we are already experiencing the devastating effects of rising temperatures, the direct result of burning fossil fuels, including so-called 'natural gas,' i.e., methane," the health professionals wrote, noting that methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years.
Dr. Ann Turner of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) said that "as medical practitioners, we see the impact the climate crisis has on people each and every day. And we have a responsibility to sound the alarm. We urge FERC to prioritize the health of our most vulnerable communities over profit."
As the letter explains:
TC Energy proposes to increase the amount of gas in its existing pipelines by expanding compressor stations which provide the force which propels gas through pipelines. These compressor stations emit significant amounts of air pollution, both from the operation of the engine which powers the pump as well as from venting. Compressor stations and meter stations vent methane, volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. All of these air pollutants have serious health impacts, including increased risks of stroke, cancer, asthma and low birth weight, and premature babies. Compressor stations also produce significant noise pollution. The air and noise pollution from these compressor stations disproportionately harms the rural, low-income, and minority communities that already experience significant health disparities, especially those that are living in proximity to the pipeline expansion project.
"In addition to the health consequences from the pipeline expansion project itself, gas in the GTN pipeline is extracted by fracking in Canada," the letter highlights. "Fracking degrades the environment including contamination of soil, water, and air by toxic chemicals. Communities exposed to these toxins experience elevated rates of birth defects, cancer, and asthma."
"The negative health impacts of methane gas, and its contribution to warming the climate and polluting the air, are unacceptable impacts that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and people of color and low-income communities," the letter adds, arguing that the project is inconsistent with both global and regional goals to reduce planet-heating emissions.
Organizations supporting the letter include Wild Idaho Rising Tide as well as the San Francisco, Oregon, and Washington arms of PSR—which have previously joined other local groups in speaking out against the project alongside regional political figures including U.S. Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both of Oregon.
\u201cTAKE ACTION: Sign on to the letter urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny the bid to expand shipments of fracked gas through WA.\nhttps://t.co/A86LLz8lRY\u201d
— Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (@Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility)
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"Idahoans dread FERC approval of the GTN Xpress expansion project, which would force greater fracked gas volumes and hazardous emissions through the aging GTN pipeline," according to Helen Yost of Wild Idaho Rising Tide.
"This expansion project would further threaten and harm the health and safety of rural communities, environments, and recreation economies for decades," she warned. "This proposed expansion does not support the best interests of concerned Northwesterners living and working near compressor stations and the pipeline route."
Dr. Mark Vossler, a board member at Washington PSR, pointed out that "states in the Northwest have made great strides in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and creating healthier communities."
"I urge FERC to consider the human health impact of the proposed pipeline expansion and respect the leadership of local, state, and tribal governments in addressing the climate crisis," he said. "FERC should deny the permit for this pipeline expansion proposal, which is both unnecessary to meet our energy needs and harmful to people in our communities."
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Philipsburg, Montana — On a recent day in this 19th-century mining town turned tourist hot spot, students made their way into the Granite High School lobby and past a new filtered water bottle fill station. Water samples taken from the drinking fountain the station replaced had a lead concentration of 10 parts per billion — twice Montana’s legal limit for schools of 5 parts per billion for the...
One month after a fiery train crash in East Palestine, Ohio sparked an ongoing environmental and public health crisis, an anti-plastic coalition on Friday highlighted how the petrochemical industry poisons communities across the United States and called for “systemic change.”
The Norfolk Southern-owned train that derailed and ignited near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on February 3 was overloaded with hazardous materials, many of them derived from fossil fuels. To avert a catastrophic explosion, authorities released and burned vinyl chloride—a carcinogenic petrochemical used to make plastic—from five tanker cars, provoking residents’ fears about the long-term health impacts of toxic air pollution and groundwater contamination.
“This is a plastics and petrochemical disaster,” the global Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) coalition said Friday in a statement.
According to the coalition:
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the train derailment was caused by a hot axle that heated one of the train cars carrying polypropylene plastic pellets, according to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. These plastic pellets serve as the pre-production materials that corporations manufacture into shampoo bottles, plastic cups, and other single-use items. The highly combustible, fossil fuel-derived pellets ignited the initial fire aboard the Norfolk Southern train, which led to its derailment.
In addition to the pellets, yet another plastic building block is at the heart of this disaster: vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen used almost exclusively to produce polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC plastic, which is often turned into pipes, flooring, shower curtains, and even plastic food wrap. Not only is vinyl chloride toxic and harmful itself, Norfolk Southern’s burning of the chemical likely resulted in dioxins, one of the most persistent and toxic chemicals, even at low levels of exposure.
In response to public pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday ordered Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins, a class of highly toxic industrial byproducts that the agency had previously opted to ignore in the East Palestine disaster zone.
“While we’re glad to see this announcement, we wish it had come sooner,” said Graham Hamilton, U.S. policy officer at BFFP. “Justice delayed is justice denied, and we expect more from an administration that claims to prioritize environmental justice.”
Mike Schade, director of Toxic-Free Future’s Mind the Store campaign, said that “the EPA must not only test for dioxins in soil, but also in indoor dust, sediments, fish, and on farms impacted by the massive plume.”
“Importantly, the EPA should be conducting the testing itself and/or hiring independent scientists to test for dioxins, rather than requiring the community of East Palestine to rely on Norfolk Southern for that accountability,” said Schade.
“This disaster is yet another painful reminder of the dangers of making, transporting, using, and disposing of chemicals in plastics, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic,” Schade added. “Governments, retailers, and brands must redouble their efforts to phase out PVC plastic and other highly hazardous plastics and chemicals and move towards safer solutions.”
The U.S. is home to more than 1,000 train derailments per year, and according to one estimate, the country is averaging one chemical disaster every two days.
Low-income communities in the Ohio River Valley and along the Gulf Coast are disproportionately harmed by the petrochemical industry.
“These communities subsidize the cost of cheap disposable plastic at the fenceline of oil rigs, petrochemical plants, incinerators, and the trains and trucks used for transporting the toxic and deadly chemicals,” said Yvette Arellano, the founder and director of Fenceline Watch, a Texas-based advocacy group and BFFP member.
“The price we pay is with our lives, from shortened lifespans [to] reproductive harm [and] developmental issues; these toxics trespass our bodies and harm our communities for generations,” added Arellano, whose organization helped pressure the EPA to halt the 1,300-mile shipment of contaminated wastewater from East Palestine to the Houston area, where it had been slated to be injected underground.
“The petrochemical industry is inherently unsafe. Even standard operations pollute and damage communities, and regulators continue to fail to do the bare minimum to hold polluters accountable.”
As BFFP pointed out, the ongoing East Palestine disaster “is not the only petrochemical crisis” hurting residents of the Ohio River Valley.
“Less than 15 miles from the derailment site,” a new Shell facility in Beaver County, Pennsylvania “has received numerous violations and exceeded its annual emissions limits since coming online in November of 2022,” the coalition pointed out.
As Andie from the Eyes on Shell watchdog group observed: “With the community already on edge, just one week following the release and burn in East Palestine, Shell activated an enormous emergency flare which, without warning, continued flaring for hours. The derailment and emergency flare are terrifying reminders of the risks the petrochemical industry poses to our community every single day.”
Earthworks campaigner Anaïs Peterson stressed that “the petrochemical industry is inherently unsafe.”
“Even standard operations pollute and damage communities,” said Peterson, “and regulators continue to fail to do the bare minimum to hold polluters accountable.”
Amanda Kiger of River Valley Organizing (RVO)—a Columbiana County-based group that has been working to support East Palestine residents since the derailment—said that “nobody should have their entire lives upended because Norfolk Southern and makers of these hazardous chemicals put their profits ahead of the safety of our communities and our country.”
“With people developing rashes and breathing problems, it’s clear people are still being exposed to dangerous chemicals,” said Kiger. “Norfolk Southern should give residents the resources to relocate and should pay for independent testing of the soil, water, and air, as well as medical exams and follow-up for years to come.”
Ultimately, BFFP argued, “we need systemic reforms to stop the petrochemical industry from having carte blanche to profit off of poisoning people and the planet.”
Despite BFFP’s demands for a robust, legally binding global plastics treaty that prohibits corporations from manufacturing an endless stream of toxic single-use items, Inside Climate Newsreported this week that the initial proposal from the Biden administration’s delegation to the United Nations was described as “low ambition” and “underwhelming” because it “sidesteps calls for cuts in production, praises the benefits of plastics, and focuses on national priorities versus global mandates.”
The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a “climate-friendly” initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to agency records obtained by ProPublica and The Guardian, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a...
Labeling a newspaper column an “opinion” doesn’t create a license to play fast and loose with facts.
All of my op-eds for the New York Times have gone through rigorous fact-checking with a conscientious Times editor. Apparently, columnist Bret Stephens is exempt from any such requirement. The Times should alert its readers to his special status so they can protect themselves.
Masks Work
For years, the science of masking to minimize the spread of airborne viruses, includingCOVID, has been settled. But Stephens’ February 21 column mischaracterized a recent review of other researchers’ studies to push his anti-masking views. In the process, he made the Times amegaphone for broadcasting incomplete, misleading, and dangerous assertions as if they were facts.
Stephens began his column by describing the Cochrane Library’s January 30, 2023 review as the “most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses — including Covid-19.” Then he wrote that one of the study’s 11 authors, Tom Jefferson, said its conclusions “were unambiguous.”
We’ll return to that one.
Quoting Jefferson, Stephens continued, “‘There’s just no evidence that they’ – masks – ‘make any difference.’”
How about high-quality N-95 masks?
Again, quoting Jefferson, Stephens wrote, “‘Makes no difference – none of it.’”
Stephens then quoted Jefferson on the futility of using masks in conjunction with many other accepted medical precautions – hand hygiene, physical distancing, or air filtration: “‘There’s no evidence that many of these things make any difference.’”
Stunning statements – and flat-out wrong. Even Cochrane’s review undermined Jefferson’s draconian certainty. The “plain language summary” accompanying the published review began with this “Key message” about its findings: “We are uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses based on the studies we assessed.”
"Uncertain" is a far cry from “unambiguous.”
Then again, Jefferson has been wrong before. In March 2020, he said of COVID, “[T]here does not seem to be anything special about this particular epidemic of influenza-like illness.” In July 2020, he asserted that COVID may have been lying dormant around the world, rather than originating in China. And for years, he has been hostile toward masking.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
Stephens used Jefferson’s comments to introduce his larger argument: “Mask mandates were a bust.” As he attacked the CDC’s “mindless adherence to its masking guidance,” Stephens failed to mention the growing body of medical and scientific literature lambasting those misusing Cochrane’s review to undermine masking generally.
First, Cochrane’s was not a new scientific study. It retrieved and combined data from separate trials that varied greatly in “quality, design, populations, and outcomes” in what scientists call a “meta-analysis.” But combining such apples, oranges, grapes, peaches, and pears can create problems.
That’s why the 11 Cochrane authors themselves warned: “The variable quality of the studies hampers drawing any firm conclusions.”
Second, most of the actual trials in Cochrane’s review tested only mask effectiveness at preventing infection in the wearer. They ignored the potential benefits of face masks in preventing the spread of infection to others. In fact, buried in Stephens’ op-ed is his telling admission:
“[T]he analysis does not prove that proper masks, properly worn, had no benefit on an individual level.”
Third, Cochrane’s authors acknowledged that in their assessment of community-wide masking effectiveness, “Relatively low numbers of people followed the guidance about wearing masks or about hand hygiene, which may have affected the results of the studies.”
How can anyone conclude from clinical trials that masks don’t work when most people in the trials didn’t wear them, much less wear them correctly?
Likewise, some of the studies in Cochrane’s review relied on participants to self-report their mask usage. That’s a big problem. In a study of masking in Kenya, 76% of participants self-reported masking in public, but the actual observed masking rate was only 5%.
The Cochrane Review Itself Repeatedly Acknowledged Its Limitations
As a group, Cochrane’s authors themselves listed the many limitations of their review that accounted for “the observed lack of effect of mask-wearing”: poor study design, lower adherence to mask-wearing (especially among children), the quality of the masks used, and more.
Commenting on Cochrane’s review, one medical fact-checker observed, “Each of these factors increases the risk of bias, reducing the reliability of [Cochrane’s] conclusions. In addition, while some studies confirmed the type of [COVID] infection by a laboratory test, many others relied on self-reporting to assess both mask-wearing and infection, further increasing the risk of bias.”
All of which explains why Cochrane’s authors collectively expressly discounted their own conclusions about the effectiveness of population-level masking: “The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions.”
Again, the authors’ “plain language summary” accompanying the review noted: “Our confidence in these results is generally low to moderate for the subjective outcomes related to respiratory illness….”
In less technical terms: “garbage in, garbage out.”
Tragedy Ahead
The New York Times’ failure to fact-check Stephens on this critical public health issue has real-world consequences. It prolongs needless controversy over whether wearing masks protects individuals from COVID when the proven fact is that they do. As a result of Stephens’ rant, some people will decide not to wear a mask, even in high-risk settings. Some people will become ill. Some people will be hospitalized. Some people will die.
For me and the millions of immunocompromised households in America, this is especially personal. To a great degree, our health depends upon others wearing masks to protect us, as well as them, in high-risk settings. We’re on the front lines of a war that Americans can win. But Bret Stephens and the New York Times have erected another misinformation obstacle to victory over the pandemic.
Waiting for Stephens’ Next Epiphany
Maybe someday Stephens will change his mind, as he did with climate change. For more than a decade, he was a leading climate-change denier. While still at the Wall Street Journal, he wrote in 2008 that global warming was “a mass hysteria phenomenon.” A year later, he said that the intellectual methods of “global warming true believers” were “instructively similar” to Stalin’s.
But in August 2022, Stephens’ trip to Greenland’s melting glaciers resulted in “fresh thinking” that produced a lengthy op-ed for the Times. He opened his eyes and changed his mind:
“I always said to myself, that I should never be afraid to change my mind in public, even on subjects where I’ve taken, you know, I’ve really put a stake in the ground. So that was, that was how that long 6,000-word giant piece came to life….”
Using the thin reed of the latest Cochrane Library review, Stephens has put another bad stake in the ground. Someday he might change his mind. But the country can’t afford to wait the years that it took for his epiphany on global warming.
Visiting COVID patients in an ICU might accelerate his awakening. Perhaps Stephens could bring along another New York Times columnist without public health qualifications who has downplayed COVID repeatedly – David Leonhardt.
If they believe what Stephens led his readers to conclude on February 21, they won’t wear masks. And they’ll encourage the doctors and nurses in attendance to remove theirs.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Three weeks after the lives of East Palestine, Ohio residents were upended by a fiery wreck involving a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials, rail union leaders on Friday implored federal regulators and lawmakers to "focus on the primary reasons for the derailment and take immediate action to prevent future disasters."
In a statement, Railroad Workers United (RWU) pointed to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) newly published preliminary report on the February 3 crash and subsequent burnoff of vinyl chloride and other carcinogenic chemicals, which suggests that an overheated wheel bearing likely caused the train to derail. The inter-union alliance of rail workers also cited NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who said Thursday at a press conference: "This was 100% preventable. We call things accidents—there is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable."
RWU, which has previously highlighted how industry-led deregulation and Wall Street-backed policies such as "precision-scheduled railroading" have made the U.S. rail system more dangerous, said Friday that "Class 1 freight rail carriers, including Norfolk Southern, have prioritized profits over safety, cutting maintenance, equipment inspections, and personnel in all crafts while increasing the average train size to three miles or more."
In the words of RWU co-chair Gabe Christenson: "Railroad workers experience firsthand every day the dangers inherent in this style of railroading. It has impacted their safety and health, state of mind, and lives on and off the job."
"Limits on train lengths and weights are necessary to prevent catastrophic derailments."
Jason Doering, general secretary of RWU, echoed Christenson's message, saying: "Every day we go to work, we have serious concerns about preventing accidents like the one that occurred in Ohio. As locomotive engineers, conductors, signal maintainers, car inspectors, track workers, dispatchers, machinists, and electricians, we experience the reality that our jobs are becoming increasingly dangerous due to insufficient staffing, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of oversight and inspection."
"We recognize," Doering added, "that limits on train lengths and weights are necessary to prevent catastrophic derailments."
One week ago, RWU made the case for nationalization, arguing that the U.S. "can no longer afford private ownership of the railroads; the general welfare demands that they be brought under public ownership."
In the absence of such sweeping transformation, which remains far-off given the current state of the beleaguered U.S. labor movement, the alliance on Friday demanded that federal agencies and Congress move quickly to "rein in" Norfolk Southern and other profit-maximizing rail corporations that have fought regulations, laid off workers, and purchased billions of dollars in stock rather than investing in employees and safety upgrades.
Specifically, RWU called on regulators and lawmakers to:
Ensure sufficient staffing to do the job properly, efficiently, and safely, with all trains operating with a minimum of a two-person crew;
Cap train length and weight at a reasonable level to mitigate the increased likelihood of breakdowns, train separations, and derailments;
Implement adequate and proper maintenance and inspections of locomotives and rail cars, tracks and signals, wayside detectors, and other infrastructure; and
Standardize ample training and time off without the harassment of draconian attendance policies.
Of these measures, only a proposed rule to require two-person crews—described by RWU as loophole-ridden—was included in the blueprint the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled Tuesday to hold rail companies accountable and protect the well-being of workers and fenceline communities.
The DOT also encouraged rail carriers to voluntarily provide sick leave. Norfolk Southern—facing intense scrutiny and backlash amid the ongoing East Palestine disaster—agreed Wednesday to provide up to a week of paid sick leave per year to roughly 3,000 track maintenance workers.
But because the Biden administration and Congress recently imposed a contract without paid sick leave on rail workers who were threatening to strike, the vast majority still lack this basic lifesaving benefit, as do millions of private sector workers in other industries who are also awaiting legislation to address the issue.
Characterizing the DOT's plan as inadequate, RWU said Tuesday that "rank-and-file railroad workers can diagnose and fix the problems" and urged U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to enact "some of our solutions."
RWU treasurer Hugh Sawyer reiterated that call on Friday.
"We demand that the railroad be run safely, efficiently, and professionally, and not as some 'cash cow' for Wall Street investors and billionaires," said Sawyer. "Much of what is wrong with the rail industry today can be fixed easily and quickly by acting on what is outlined above. We demand action NOW."
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
An investigation published Monday revealed that just weeks before a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials derailed and caused a toxic chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, the rail giant donated $10,000—the maximum amount allowed—to help fund the inauguration of the state's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
According to WSYX, the Columbus-based news outlet that conducted the investigation, "This contribution, which is part of $29,000 the Virginia-based corporation has contributed to DeWine's political funds since he first ran for governor in 2018, is merely one piece of an extensive, ongoing effort to influence statewide officials and Ohio lawmakers."
"In all, the railway company has contributed about $98,000 during the past six years to Ohio statewide and legislative candidates, according to data from the secretary of state," WSYX reported. "Virtually all went to Republicans, although Norfolk Southern hedged its support for DeWine in 2018 with a $3,000 check to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray."
In addition to shelling out loads of campaign cash, Norfolk Southern has also extensively lobbied DeWine, statewide officials, and Ohio lawmakers.
Quarterly reports disclosing the company's lobbying activities show that DeWine and other statewide officials were targeted 39 times over the past six years, while Ohio lawmakers were targeted 167 times during the same time period.
"Most of the disclosed attempts to influence Ohio leaders came on generic rail or transportation issues," WSYX reported. "Some efforts, however, were devoted to defeating legislation that would have established tougher safety standards for rail yards and train operations."
River Valley Organizing, a local progressive group, declared on social media that "this is what we're up against."
\u201cThis is what we\u2019re up against. \n\nIf they can pay for lobbyists and politicians, they can pay to clean up the mess they made in our community. https://t.co/yPQX3EE8sA\u201d
— River Valley Organizing (@River Valley Organizing)
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Norfolk Southern's successful bid to thwart at least one Ohio bill aimed at improving railroad safety—explained in depth by the local news outlet—mirrors the company's triumphant campaign to weaken federal regulations.
Before dozens of its train cars careened off the tracks and burst into flames in East Palestine on February 3—leading to the discharge of vinyl chloride and other carcinogenic chemicals—Norfolk Southern "helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry's Civil War-era braking systems," The Leverreported earlier this month.
\u201cNorfolk Southern happily put profits over people - and now the folks of the East Palestine community are paying the price. \n\nIt's time to make Norfolk Southern pay. https://t.co/1By480jRuU\u201d
— River Valley Organizing (@River Valley Organizing)
1676906104
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has been criticized by progressive advocacy groups and lawmakers for his lackluster response to the crisis in East Palestine, sent a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Sunday stating that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the cause of the derailment and that the Federal Railroad Administration is examining whether safety violations occurred and intends to hold Norfolk Southern accountable if they did.
Buttigieg insisted that the company "demonstrate unequivocal support" for the poor rural town's roughly 4,700 residents as well as the populations of surrounding areas potentially affected by air and groundwater contamination.
"Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole—and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop putting communities such as East Palestine at risk," the transportation secretary wrote. "This is the right time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation."
Buttigieg also said that Norfolk Southern and other rail companies "spent millions of dollars in the courts and lobbying members of Congress to oppose commonsense safety regulations, stopping some entirely and reducing the scope of others." He said the effort undermined rules on brake requirements and delayed the phase-in for more durable rail cars to transport hazardous material to 2029, instead of the "originally envisioned date of 2025."
The transportation secretary said the results of the investigation are not yet known, but "we do know that these steps that Norfolk Southern and its peers lobbied against were intended to improve rail safety and to help keep Americans safe."
Nevertheless, as The Leverreported earlier this month, Buttigieg is actively considering an industry-backed proposal to further erode federal oversight of train braking systems.
The outlet has published an open letter urging Buttigieg "to rectify the multiple regulatory failures that preceded this horrific situation," including by exercising his authority to reinstate the rail safety rules rescinded by the Trump administration at the behest of industry lobbyists.
The full environmental and public health consequences of the ongoing East Palestine disaster are still coming into view, as residents question the validity of initial water testing paid for by Norfolk Southern.
Despite state officials' claims that air and water in the area remain safe, thousands of fish have died in polluted local waterways and people in the vicinity of the derailment have reported headaches, eye irritation, and other symptoms.
Just days after his company skipped a town hall meeting, Shaw visited East Palestine on Saturday and said that "we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety."
"Something's wrong with corporate America and something's wrong with Congress and administrations listening too much to corporate lobbyists."
Norfolk Southern, which reported record-breaking operating revenues of $12.7 billion in 2022, originally offered to donate just $25,000 to help affected residents—an amount equivalent to about $5 per person—but recently announced the creation of a $1 million charitable fund instead.
Lawmakers in Ohio "are now scrambling to make sure the railroad is held accountable," WSYX reported. "The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hear 'informal testimony' Wednesday from Karen Huey, assistant director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, and John Esterly, chairman of the Ohio State Legislative Board with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers."
In Washington, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on Friday requested information regarding the handling of hazardous materials from the CEOs of several large rail corporations, including Norfolk Southern.
"Over the past five years, the Class I railroads have cut their workforce by nearly one-third, shuttered railyards where railcars are traditionally inspected, and are running longer and heavier trains," Cantwell wrote. "Thousands of trains carrying hazardous materials, like the one that derailed in Ohio, travel through communities throughout the nation each day."
Notably, Norfolk Southern announced a $10 billion stock buyback program last March. The company has routinely raised its dividend, rewarding shareholders while refusing to invest in safety upgrades or basic benefits such as paid sick leave.
\u201cThere's no secret conspiracy behind the Norfolk Southern derailments.\n\nThe company cut over 9,600 jobs since 2002, and in that same period they've given shareholders 4,500% more money to line their pockets.\n\nThe story here is deadly corporate greed.\nhttps://t.co/EyLXqKqvXR\u201d
— More Perfect Union (@More Perfect Union)
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Just days after he sent co-authored letters raising safety and health concerns to the NTSB and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said during a Sunday appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" that Norfolk Southern is responsible for the East Palestine disaster, which he characterized as another chapter in "the same old story."
"Corporations do stock buybacks, they do big dividend checks, they lay off workers," said Brown. "Thousands of workers have been laid off from Norfolk Southern. Then they don't invest in safety rules and safety regulation, and this kind of thing happens. That's why people in East Palestine are so upset."
“They know that corporate lobbyists have had far too much influence in our government and they see this as the result," Brown continued. "These things are happening because these railroads are simply not investing the way they should in car safety and in the rail lines themselves."
"Something's wrong with corporate America and something's wrong with Congress and administrations listening too much to corporate lobbyists," he added. "And that's got to change."
Another Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials crashed last week near Detroit, Michigan. Like Brown, union leaders and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have attributed the recent derailments to Wall Street-backed policies that prioritize profits over safety.
As David Sirota, Rebecca Burns, Julia Rock, and Matthew Cunningham-Cook of The Leverpointed out in a recent New York Times opinion piece, the U.S. is home to more than 1,000 train derailments per year and has seen a 36% increase in hazardous materials violations committed by rail carriers in the past five years.
The rail industry "tolerates too many preventable derailments and fights too many safety regulations," the journalists wrote. "The federal government must move quickly to improve rail safety overall."
An inter-union alliance of U.S. rail workers, meanwhile, has called on organized labor to back the nationalization of the country's railroad system, arguing that "our nation can no longer afford private ownership of the railroads; the general welfare demands that they be brought under public ownership."
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Thousands of people in East Palestine, Ohio have been assured by the state Environmental Protection Agency and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine that the town's municipal water has not been contaminated by the train derailment that took place in the town earlier this month, but the only publicly available data comes from testing that was funded by the company behind the crash.
As HuffPostreported late Friday, the Dallas-based consulting firm AECOM contracted with Norfolk Southern, which operated the 150-car train that was carrying the toxic chemical vinyl chloride, to sample water from five wells and from treated municipal water.
DeWine announced on Wednesday that those tests "showed no evidence of contamination," but as one aquatic ecologist told HuffPost, the lab report indicates several testing errors that violated federal standards and should have disqualified the results.
"Their results that claim there were no contaminants is not a reliable finding," Sam Bickley of the advocacy coalition Virginia Scientist-Community Interface, told the outlet. "I find this extremely concerning because these results would NOT be used in most scientific applications because the samples were not preserved properly, and this is the same data they are now relying on to say that the drinking water is not contaminated."
The testing was done on February 10, seven days after the train derailed and authorities began a controlled release of the vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, to avoid an explosion. The burning of vinyl chloride can send hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the environment. The former chemical has been known to cause throat, eye, and skin irritation and the latter can cause vomiting and difficulty breathing.
An environmental testing lab analyzed the samples on February 13 and 15, according to HuffPost, and scientists who examined that analysis found it to be flawed. As the outlet reported:
Five of the six collected samples had pH, or acidity, levels that exceeded the 2 pH limit allowed under the EPA method listed in the analysis for detecting volatile organic compounds, rendering them improperly preserved. One sample also "contained a large air bubble in its vial, while the EPA method requires that sample bottles should not have any trapped air bubbles when sealed," the report states. David Erickson, a hydrogeologist and the founder of Water & Environmental Technologies, an environmental consulting firm in Montana, called the sampling "sloppy" and "amateur."
The Biden administration said in a press call Friday that Norfolk Southern has not been solely behind the testing that's been conducted so far, with a spokesperson telling reporters, "It's been with the Columbiana County Health Department, collecting samples along with Norfolk Southern and sending those as split samples to two different labs for verification."
The state EPA, however, did not receive the health department's results until after DeWine declared the water safe based on AECOM's flawed testing.
The lab report shows low levels of the chemical dibutyl phthalate, which is not linked to cancer in humans but can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, irritation of the eyes and throat, and seizures.
Some of the residents who were told days after the derailment that they could safely return to East Palestine have reported symptoms including headaches, nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
Reuters reported Friday that many East Palestine do not trust state and local authorities, and have been purchasing large quantities of bottled water as they determine whether it's safe to stay in the town.
\u201c'The people in town are afraid': Deb Blair, a cashier in East Palestine, Ohio, says bottled water has been flying off the shelves after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, causing concern about water safety https://t.co/bvTi7f2mG3\u201d
"We're not getting any truth," said Ted Murphy, who is now planning to leave the town out of safety concerns just seven months after moving to his current home. "They're not going to own up to what's going [into the water] until they are forced to."
The U.S. EPA has not conducted any sampling of the municipal water. On Thursday, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered independent testing of water in local communities. East Palestine is just over the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
The state EPA told HuffPost that water testing is ongoing.
On Friday, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced the panel would launch an investigation into the handling of hazardous materials. Railroad workers have been raising alarm in recent years about their employers' loosening of safety standards in the interest of maximizing profits, and say the reduced safety measures were to blame for the crash.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Norfolk Southern—the railroad giant whose train derailed and caused a toxic chemical fire in a small Ohio town earlier this month—has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a 2017 lawsuit filed by a cancer-afflicted former rail worker, and the Biden administration is siding with the corporation, fresh reporting from The Lever revealed Thursday.
If the high court, dominated by six right-wing justices, rules in favor of Norfolk Southern, it could be easier for the profitable rail carrier to block pending and future lawsuits, including from victims of the ongoing disaster in East Palestine. Moreover, it "could create a national precedent limiting where workers and consumers can bring cases against corporations," wrote two of the investigative outlet's reporters, Rebecca Burns and Julia Rock.
Former Norfolk Southern worker Robert Mallory was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016. The following year, he filed a lawsuit alleging that his illness stemmed from workplace exposure to asbestos and other hazardous materials and that the rail carrier failed to provide safety equipment and other resources to ensure he was adequately protected on the job.
Although he had never worked in Pennsylvania, Mallory filed his lawsuit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas because his attorneys were from the state and "he thought he would get the fairest access to justice there," Ashley Keller, the lawyer representing him before the Supreme Court, told The Lever.
As Burns and Rock explained:
Pennsylvania has what's known as a "consent-by-registration" statute—something states have had on the books since the early 19th century—which stipulates that when corporations register to do business in the state, they are also consenting to be governed by that state's courts. Norfolk Southern asserts that being forced to defend the case in Pennsylvania would pose an undue burden, thereby violating its constitutional right to due process.
Even though Norfolk Southern owns thousands of miles of track in the Keystone State, the Philadelphia county court sided with the railroad and dismissed the case. Mallory appealed, and the case wound its way through state and federal courts before landing at the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
The rail carrier is asking the high court "to uphold the lower court ruling, overturn Pennsylvania's law, and restrict where corporations can be sued, upending centuries of precedent," the journalists noted. "If the court rules in favor of Norfolk Southern, it could overturn plaintiff-friendly laws on the books in states including Pennsylvania, New York, and Georgia that give workers and consumers more leeway to choose where they take corporations to court—an advantage national corporations already enjoy, as they often require customers and employees to agree to file litigation in specific locales whose laws make it harder to hold companies accountable."
Unsurprisingly, the American Association of Railroads (AAR) and other powerful corporate lobbying groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the American Trucking Association want to undercut the ability of workers and consumers to file lawsuits in the venue of their choosing. AAR, the rail industry's biggest lobby, filed a brief last September on behalf of Norfolk Southern.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also filed a brief siding with the railroad giant. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the coming months.
"This is totally insane," The Lever's editor, David Sirota, wrote on social media.
"Wow. Just wow," Pennsylvania Sen. Katie Muth (D-44) tweeted in response to the report. "Sadly, this isn’t that surprising, but WTAF."
\u201cWow. Just wow.\ud83d\ude31 Sadly, this isn\u2019t that surprising, but WTAF. But hey, keep exempting these trains carrying toxic substances from being classified as hazardous.\u26a0\ufe0f\u2623\ufe0f\u2622\ufe0fAnd allowing workers to be exposed to these harmful carcinogens &chemicals is gross negligence. #TrainDerailments\u201d
— Senator Katie Muth (@Senator Katie Muth)
1676587587
"Should Norfolk Southern prevail, the company could use the ruling to challenge other lawsuits on the grounds that they're filed in the wrong venue," The Lever reported, citing Scott Nelson, an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which filed a brief backing Mallory. "Such a decision could affect lawsuits filed by residents exposed to hazardous chemicals as the result of accidents in other states," including victims of air or water pollution caused by the recent derailment in East Palestine, five miles west of the Pennsylvania state border.
“[Norfolk Southern] might say, 'You can only sue us in Ohio or Virginia [where Norfolk Southern is headquartered],' even if you were injured at your home in Pennsylvania from an accident that took place five miles away in Ohio," Nelson told the outlet.
In its brief, AAR argued that if the high court rules in favor of Mallory, he and other plaintiffs suing railroads under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA)—a law protecting rail workers injured on the job—"could have a wide range of jurisdictions to choose from."
However, Burns and Rock reported, "groups weighing in on Mallory's side pointed out that 'forum shopping' is the norm for corporations," including when companies with no physical presence in Delaware register in that state to dodge taxes or when firms file bankruptcy cases in states more likely to hand down favorable opinions.
Notably, "Norfolk Southern freely utilizes the Pennsylvania courts to enforce its rights," the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys, a group of lawyers who represent rail workers, pointed out in a brief. "The railroad certainly is not prejudiced in any way by defending lawsuits in the state. For purposes of jurisdiction, there is no valid reason that a corporation such as Norfolk Southern should be treated differently than an individual within the state."
During oral arguments in the case last fall, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, a liberal appointed by former President Barack Obama, asked Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon why the Biden administration decided to involve itself in this case.
In response, Gannon said, "We pointed out not just that… the excessive availability of general jurisdiction could cause international concerns for trade with the United States and our commercial interests, but also the petitioner had called into question the constitutionality of a federal statute, and so we thought that it was important to make sure that the court's decision here wouldn't implicate the constitutionality of federal statutes."
The Biden administration's contention that Pennsylvania's law amounts to an overreach of state authority and calls into question the constitutionality of a federal statute is nonsensical, Keller, the plaintiff's lawyer, told The Lever.
“The United States relies on consent-by-registration statutes [like the Pennsylvania law] to obtain personal jurisdiction over various foreign entities," said Keller. "If it's unconstitutionally coercive when Pennsylvania does it, why isn't it unconstitutionally coercive when the United States does it?"
Burns and Rock warned that the high court's decision could have implications for future lawsuits as well as pending ones.
At least five class-action negligence lawsuits have been filed in Ohio against Norfolk Southern since the company's February 3 freight train crash in East Palestine.
While progressive advocacy groups and lawmakers have demanded that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg move immediately to improve rail safety rules in response to that unfolding environmental and public health catastrophe, The Leverreported last week that Buttigieg is actively considering an industry-backed proposal to further weaken the regulation of train braking systems.
Another Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials careened off the tracks on Thursday near Detroit, Michigan. Union leaders and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have described the recent derailments as the predictable result of Wall Street-backed policies that prioritize profits over safety.
As Sirota, Burns, Rock, and Matthew Cunningham-Cook of The Lever pointed out in a Friday op-ed in The New York Times, the U.S. is home to more than 1,000 train derailments per year and has seen a 36% increase in hazardous materials violations committed by rail carriers in the past five years.
The rail industry "tolerates too many preventable derailments and fights too many safety regulations," the journalists wrote. "The federal government must move quickly to improve rail safety overall."
"It shouldn't take a chemical cloud over a community in the American heartland to compel the government to protect its people," they added. "If we want to get train derailments much closer to zero, the rail industry must evolve."
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
