Blog
Cancer causing Oil-Chemical Pollutants for making rubber and plastic release into the air during explosion in Texas
On November 27, 2019, residents in southeast Texas experienced a devastating public health threat when a 218-acre TPC petrochemical plant blew up in Port Noches, Texas. (Photo credit: NBCNews.com) The plant produces flammable toxic chemicals: raffinate, a petroleum gas, and butadiene, which is used in the production of plastics and synthetic rubber for tires. For…
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ALERT takes new legal action with the EPA
It’s said that maritime law is written in blood or oil—after disasters rather than before them. The same can be said of our nation’s emergency oil and chemical disaster response plan, the National Contingency Plan (NCP or the Plan).Our campaign to ban toxic dispersants from use during oil spill response started after the Exxon Valdez disaster…
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Riki Ott commemorates the 30th anniversary of Exxon Valdez oil spill in solidarity with Heiltsuk First Nation lawsuit
Thirty years ago on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean. This set off a chain of events that still informs decisions and actions today by government, courts, the oil industry—and by people who don’t want the…
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BP Deepwater Horizon Medical Victims Deserve Justice
On the eighth memorial of the BP disaster, let’s support the individuals and communities sickened by the BP disaster and by multiple system response failures. In this ongoing nightmare, we can work toward justice for BP victims and their families and toward system-wide accountability to avert similar tragedies in the future. Hundreds of thousands of…
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Standing in Solidarity Against the DAPL
ALERT received requests for basic information about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from allies who are standing with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation to support their 1868 treaty rights to protect their land and water. The Fort Laramie Treaty – like every other treaty with Native American Tribes – has been broken by the United…
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Groundhog Day: EPA Postpones Decision on Dispersants & What You Can Do About It NOW
Ever feel like you’ve heard the exact same thing before? In April of 2015, EPA promised to make a decision on rules regarding dispersant use in oil spill response in the fall of 2016. Now EPA has decided to postpone the final rules until August 2018 at the earliest. Sounds like the same old, same…
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Introducing Toxic Trespass – A new teaching tool
Mobile, Alabama. For the past three months, an alliance of oil-spill survivors, academics, trained first responders, fence-line and frontline community residents, and community organizers in Houston, Mobile, and Coden, Alabama, have worked with ALERT, myself and Emily L. Harris, to develop a concept and a course. Toxic Trespass is the first in a series of…
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What’s next on the EPA’s rulemaking process
First of all, congratulations! The EPA received 487 comments on its proposed rulemaking on use of dispersants and other products during oil spill response. ALERT, a handful of other groups, and over 460 ordinary citizens––many empowered by ALERT’s webinars, talking points, and social media—filed a total of 472 comments. Each commenter can opt to join…
Read MoreWhat’s Next for U.S. EPA Rulemaking on Dispersant Use?
Canada’s move to legalize toxic dispersants may thwart efforts to ban them in the United States, because the two countries work together to “harmonize” environmental (and other) policies. ALERT has requested that U.S. EPA take proactive international action to ban toxic dispersants in oil spill response. Help ALERT leverage our comments into final rules by…
Read MoreTulane Summit On Environmental Law And Policy Panel on EPA Rulemaking
Contact: Lisa Marie Jacobs 970-903-6818 [email protected] February 23, 2015 MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tulane Summit On Environmental Law And Policy Adds Panel on EPA Rulemaking Panel title: Shaping EPA policy on oil spill response Use of dispersants, chemical and biological agents, and other substances to be discussed On Friday, February…
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