Toxic America

Reporting from Al Jazeera on the Moapa Band of Paiute fighting back against coal ash dumping on their land. 

Great reporting from Julia Lurie for MJ on atmospheric inequalities and environmental racism.

This is a great report from Al Jazeera on oil drilling and fracking in North Dakota. Of note: "Health officials have said that radioactive filter socks — tubular nets that strain liquids during the oil production process — and other waste are increasingly being found along roadsides, in abandoned buildings or in commercial trash bins, sometimes those of competing oil companies"

Great short doc on environmental racism in Camden NJ

Barry Carter, reporting for the Star Ledger, on groundwater contamination in the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, NJ. Homes built on land (brownfield) previously occupied by a company that made cigarette lighters are drawing water from a toxic supply.

Reporting from Al Jazeera on South Bronx residents attempt to block the relocation of the FreshDirect grocer HQ, citing arguments on air pollution and environmental racism.

Check out this excellent GIS data on toxics, extractive industry, and waste from the Environmental Justice Atlas commodity map. 

Peter Moskowitz reporting for Al Jazeera on coal ash dumping by Duke Energy in the Dan River basin, NC. 82,000 tons of coal ash have been dumped. From the article, "Coal ash can contain a slew of dangerous chemicals like mercury, lead, arsenic and selenium." Waterkeeper Alliance has been documenting and reporting on this event so far.

Robert Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism

Al Jazeera reporting on the Galveston Bay fuel oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 168,000 gallons. Wildlife ecologists at Texas A&M are already looking at marine habitat destruction and its long term effects.

Great podcast from Physics World with Kate Brown, author of Plutopia (Oxford UP, 2013), on plutonium disasters and toxic waste.

Part of a documentary from The Record on hazardous toxic waste in North Jersey (particularly Mahwah and Ringwood). 

The Ramapough Lunaape Nation actively monitors toxic waste and cleanup in North Jersey and New York. Check out their site, excellent stuff on lead contamination in Ringwood in NJ, and on fracking politics.

A helpful infographic on fracking from Occupy.

Tim Murphy for Mother Jones has written an article documenting the toxic history of Mossville, LA. This story has everything: environmental racism, industrial chemicals, corporate welfare, and greenhouse gases. Fun.

An example of using  GIS to document toxics in NJ from a Google Maps user.