Category Archives: Pollution

Former NSW Coalition government was warned recycled soil products posed ‘unacceptable risks’

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Exclusive: Environment watchdog advised in 2021 the material ‘should not be used broadly’, before backing away from proposals to tighten regulations

The New South Wales environment watchdog warned the former Coalition state government that a widely used recycled landscaping product posed “potential unacceptable risks to the environment and the community”.

Guardian Australia revealed in January that the Environment Protection Authority had known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste – known as recovered fines – were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants.

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Canada’s 2023 wildfires produced nearly a decade’s worth of blaze emissions

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Fires made at least three times more likely by climate crisis and emitted about 2bn tonnes of CO2, data reveals

Canada’s “record-shattering” wildfires last year produced nearly as much greenhouse gas emissions in one season as would be expected over a decade of fires in normal circumstances, data has shown.

The fires, in Canada’s “wildest season ever”, were made at least three times more likely by the climate crisis, and produced about 2bn tonnes of CO2, about a quarter of the total global emissions from wildfires last year, according to data in the State of Wildfires report, published on Wednesday.

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US landfills are major source of toxic PFAS pollution, study finds

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New research shows toxic ‘forever chemicals’ gas may escape landfills and threaten the environment

Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that leach from landfills into groundwater are among the major pollution sources in the US, and remain a problem for which officials have yet to find an effective solution.

Now new research has identified another route in which PFAS may escape landfills and threaten the environment at even higher levels: the air.

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UK rivers and beaches have been heaped with pollution for years – when will we talk about restoration?

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The penalties reflect the failings of the Environment Agency and Ofwat as much as the water companies

Behind the record fines announced by Ofwat for the routine dumping of sewage into rivers and seas by three water companies, there is a voiceless victim, one that does not sit in boardrooms, or get a chance to count dividends. It is our rivers and coastal waters, subjected to years of continuous pollution under the noses of the regulators, which are suffering.

In all likelihood the £168m penalties for the already struggling Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water will be followed by fines for the remaining eight water and sewerage companies, all of whom Ofwat is investigating over failure to treat sewage according to the law.

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‘Our bet paid off’: Paris celebrates Olympic triathletes’ swim in the Seine

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City officials say they have ‘reversed the tide of history’ thanks to completion of €1.4bn sewerage system

French city officials have hailed a “historic day” after the Olympic triathlon competitions were held in the River Seine just a day after it was deemed unsafe for swimming.

Tests on the water showed the men’s and women’s competitions could go ahead on Wednesday morning, resulting in victory – against all odds – for the city as well as for French athletes who took medals in the women’s and men’s events.

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Goals to stop decline of nature in England ‘off track’, report warns

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Audit of Environmental Improvement Plan finds it inadequate as government announces overhaul of goals

Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned.

An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.

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Number of plastic bags found on UK beaches down 80% since charge introduced

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Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items

The number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches has fallen by 80% over a decade, since a mandatory fee was imposed on shoppers who opt to pick up single-use carrier bags at the checkout.

According to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual litter survey, volunteers found an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed last year, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.

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Childhood air pollution directly linked to adult lung health, study says

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Connection found between early exposure and bronchitic symptoms in adults without previous lung problems

Air pollution breathed in during childhood is one of the factors in adult lung health, according to a new study.

The origins of the study date back to 1992 when researchers began investigating the effects of air pollution on groups of children in California. Some of these children are now in their 40s.

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Deafening concerts have turned Madrid stadium into ‘torture-drome’, say residents

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People living next to Santiago Bernabéu venue say gigs – including those by Taylor Swift – are ruining their lives and are taking action

When Delphine de Pontevès opens the window of her first-floor flat in Madrid a little before 10pm on a Tuesday night, more spills into the living room than the unforgivingly hot night air.

The voices and shouts of the crowds below give way to cheers, then to bass-heavy beats and music that will last until midnight and further stretch the patience of those who, like De Pontevès, live next door to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

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Let there be night: digital billboards to be turned off to curb light pollution under Melbourne city proposal

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Illuminated signs have increased nocturnal artificial light and are detrimental to the city’s liveability and sustainability, a review has found

Large digital billboards could be turned off late at night under a proposal by Melbourne city council to crack down on light pollution and reduce its health and environmental impacts.

A review, commissioned by the council, recommended the introduction of a curfew for illuminated signs above ground level.

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Paris mayor swims in Seine as river is cleaned up just in time for Olympics

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Anne Hidalgo fulfils pledge after cleanup operation makes water quality safe enough to host events at Games

It has been the dream and promise of Paris mayors for decades and a nightmare for Olympic organisers: could the Seine be cleaned up enough to swim in and hold triathlon and other events?

For the last 100 years and up until a few days ago, the answer seemed to be no.

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Mother suing government for child’s pollution death seeks official apology

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Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments over Ella’s fatal asthma attack

The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate has said she wants an official apology for her daughter’s suffering as her high court claim against the government heads to trial.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is suing three government departments for compensation for personal injury arising from the illness and premature death of her daughter Ella, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution.

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Chicken industry must halt expansion to stop ‘environmental scandal’ in River Severn

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Campaigners warn of same ‘tragic events’ as in River Wye if planners ignore pollution risks of intensive production

The chicken industry is facing calls to halt the expansion of intensive production in the River Severn catchment, with campaigners warning that the river is at risk from the same pollution that has blighted the River Wye.

An outcry over the ecological plight of the Wye has effectively halted the proliferation of intensive poultry units across the catchment. Campaigners say that the pollution threat is being transported “from one catchment to the other”.

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Large pod of pilot whales almost wiped out after stranding on Orkney beach

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Rescuers including vets rush to save 12 survivors from 77-strong group lying on Sanday shore

Dozens of long-finned pilot whales have died after a 77-strong pod came ashore on an Orkney beach in what could be the biggest mass stranding in decades.

Twelve of the animals at Tresness beach, on the island of Sanday, were still alive, but according to rescuers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), it was thought unlikely they could be saved.

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Concern over fumes and contaminated runoff as Derrimut chemical factory fire still smoulders in Melbourne

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Fire expected to burn for days as local residents warned to avoid nearby waterways

Residents in Melbourne’s west have been told to avoid lingering fumes and potentially contaminated runoff after a chemical factory fire sent toxic smoke billowing over the city.

Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the day and night after a large explosion at the Derrimut factory on Wednesday morning.

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Ecuador court rules pollution violates rights of a river running through capital

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Ruling, based on constitutional rights for natural features like Quito’s Machángara River, appealed by government

A ruling described by activists as “historic,” a court in Ecuador has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of a river that runs through the country’s capital, Quito.

The city government appealed the ruling, which is based on an article of Ecuador’s constitution that recognizes the rights of natural features like the Machángara River.

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Revealed: the ‘catastrophic scale’ of sewage spills in England and Wales

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Water companies have logged five sewage spills a day, every day, for a decade, analysis by the Observer shows

Water companies in England and Wales have averaged five serious sewage spills into rivers or seas every day over the past decade, the Observer can reveal.

Analysis of Environment Agency data has found that the 10 firms recorded 19,484 category 1-3 pollution incidents between 2013 and 2022, the most recent year recorded, an average of one every four and a half hours.

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Microplastic discovery in penises raises erectile dysfunction questions

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The contaminants have also recently been found in testes and semen amid concerns about falling male fertility

Microplastics have been discovered in penises for the first time, raising questions about a potential role in erectile dysfunction.

The revelation comes after the pollutants were recently detected in testes and semen. Male fertility has fallen in recent decades and more research on potential harm of microplastics to reproduction is imperative, say experts.

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Wisconsin Republicans block PFAS cleanup until polluters are granted immunity

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GOP-controlled committee thwarting distribution of $125m budgeted by legislature until polluter immunity approved

Wisconsin Republicans are withholding $125m designated for cleanup of widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water and have said they will only release the funds in exchange for immunity for polluters.

The move is part of a broader effort by Republicans in the state to steal power from the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, the funding’s supporters say, alleging such “political games” are putting residents’ health at risk.

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Olympic Games’ €1.4bn clean-up aims to get Parisians swimming in the Seine

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Organisers expect 75% of identified bacterial pollution will be gone by the time the starting gun fires for the open water events

Beside a sign saying “No swimming”, Pierre Fuzeau defiantly pulled on his swimming cap, slipped into the green water of the Ourcq canal on Paris’s northern edge, and set off with a strong front-crawl.

The 66-year-old company director regularly joins his open-water swimming group for well-organised illegal dips, including in the River Seine, where swimming has been banned since 1923 largely as a result of the health risk from unclean water and bacteria from human waste.

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