News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Every Massachusetts County Hit By At Least One Recent Weather Disaster; New Report Says Global Warming to Bring More Extreme Weather

After a year that saw many parts of the country hit by scorching heat, devastating wildfires, severe storms and record flooding, a new Environment Massachusetts report documents how global warming could lead to certain extreme weather events becoming even more common or more severe in the future.  The report found that, already, every Massachusetts county has been hit by at least one federally declared weather-related disaster since 2006.

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Report says expect more extreme weather

In Holyoke on Thursday Environment Massachusetts released a new report called In the Path of the Storm: Global Warming, Extreme Weather, and the Impacts of Weather Related Disasters in the United States.

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Report Warns Of More Wild Weather

A Massachusetts environmental group today released a report on Thursday outlining how global warming could lead to greater frequency of extreme weather events across the country.  Representatives from the organization Environment Massachusetts gathered in Holyoke to talk about the report and to present an interactive map using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They document which counties and how many people were hardest hit by 2011 weather-related disasters, including the June tornadoes, Hurricane Irene, and the October snowstorm.

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Oldest, dirtiest power plants told to clean up

The EPA announced new regulations yesterday that will force all power plants to control mercury and other toxic pollutants for the first time. Health advocates said the move was long overdue. The new standards will rein in the largest remaining source of uncontrolled toxic pollution in the United States - the emissions from the nation’s coal- and oil-fired power plants, which have been allowed to run for decades without addressing their full environmental and public health costs.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

President Obama and EPA protect public health, announce landmark mercury standard for power plants

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued new public health standards to protect everyone from emissions of mercury and other toxics from the nation’s dirtiest power plants.  

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Patrick-Murray Administration Announces 91 Percent Reduction in Toxic Mercury Air Emissions

The Patrick-Murray Administration today announced that toxic mercury air emissions in Massachusetts have fallen by 91 percent since 1996, greatly exceeding the original goal of 75 percent, according to a study released by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The reductions have been accomplished in part by the Administration's comprehensive efforts targeting mercury pollution from municipal waste combustors, coal-fired power plants, mercury-added products and other sources. To continue the progress in this area, Massachusetts will need strong federal and international actions similar to what has been accomplished in the Northeast. In particular, a proposed federal rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be a major step forward, by greatly reducing mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants across the country. Massachusetts' state rule for coal-fired plants is already more stringent than the proposed federal mercury limits, but the federal rule, if implemented, would be an important step forward in reducing toxic mercury transported on the winds from Midwest and Southeast states and deposited from the air into Massachusetts.

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Group points blame at mercury

Environment Massachusetts seeks federal emission rules aimed at coal-fired power plants and mercury is pointing to the toxin's spoiling of fish in state waters, including local ponds and lakes and the Charles and Sudbury rivers.

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Treasured Pond Contaminated With Toxic Pollution

One of Massachusetts most treasured waterways is contaminated with mercury, according to a new report from Environment Massachusetts.  The report found 124 waterways in the state that have advisories for mercury. The advisories instruct citizens to limit their consumption of certain fish in Massachusetts' waterways due to mercury contamination.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

New Report Shows Walden Pond Contaminated by Toxic Mercury Pollution

124 waterways in Massachusetts have advisories for mercury pollution, according to the latest government data outlined in a new report from Environment Massachusetts.   These advisories instruct citizens to limit their consumption of certain fish in Massachusetts’ waterways due to mercury contamination. Among the waterways under advisory is Walden Pond, considered by many to be the birthplace of the conservation movement. 

Report | Environment Massachusetts

Toxic Waterways:

 Coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of mercury pollution in the United States. Emissions from these plants eventually make their way into Massachusetts’ waterways, contaminating fish and wildlife. Many of Massachusetts’ waterways are under advisory because of mercury contamination. Eating contaminated fish is the main source of human exposure to mercury. Mercury pollution poses enormous public health threats. Mercury exposure during critical periods of brain development can contribute to irreversible deficits in verbal skills, damage to attention and motor control, and reduced IQ. In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed and proposed the first national standards limiting mercury and other toxic air pollution from existing coaland oil-fired power plants. Implementing these standards will reduce mercury in our waterways and fish, and protect public health.

 

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