When a Mon Valley Air Pollution Episode alert is issued, whose air is at risk?

Jillian ForstadtJuly 21, 2023

When a warning is in effect, industrial facilities in the Mon Valley must limit their activities, and residents, especially vulnerable ones, are discouraged from spending time outdoors.

HealthPollution

Learning to live with wildfires, as climate change heats up

Anne DanahyJuly 21, 2023

Wildfires in Canada are breaking records this year. A Penn State fire ecology expert talks about what role climate change is playing.

Climate ChangeHealthPollution

Norfolk Southern finishes soil remediation under East Palestine train tracks

Abigail BottarJuly 7, 2023

Norfolk Southern has completed soil remediation under both tracks in East Palestine where the February train derailment took place.

PollutionTransportation

What you can do to protect yourself from wildfire smoke

Justin StewartJune 27, 2023

Wildfire smoke exacerbates the air quality and poses a significant risk for people with asthma. But there are some ways to stay safe.

HealthPollution

EPA assures farmers that it’s safe to grow food near East Palestine train derailment

Julie GrantJune 16, 2023

The agency says the results of extensive testing for chemicals reveal nothing worrying for farmers or consumers.

Food and AgricultureHealthPollutionYour Environment Update

PWSA receives $52.4M EPA loan to continue drinking water system improvements

Jillian ForstadtJune 9, 2023

The EPA loan came through the federal Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which aims to modernize aging treatment systems.

EconomyEnvironmental JusticePoliticsPollutionWater

A Penn State researcher weighs in on the UN negotiations to end plastic pollution

Kara HolsoppleJune 9, 2023

Countries met in Paris to decide whether plastic production or recycling should be the focus of the agreement they hope to adopt by 2024.

EconomyPollutionWaterYour Environment Update

Residents rally against Shell plastics plant pollution in Beaver County

Reid FrazierJune 8, 2023

They want Shell to be held accountable for pollution from its ethane cracker, including for it to be shut down during air pollution events.

EnergyHealthPollutionThe Coming Chemical Boom

Officials don’t know what the long-term health impacts will be from the East Palestine derailment

Julie GrantJune 7, 2023

Residents told to see their doctors. "We may not know how to get rid of vinyl chloride from the body, but we know how to treat those cancers.”

HealthPollution

These high school students are grappling with living in the shadow of chemical pollution

Reid FrazierJune 2, 2023

Living near Shell's ethane cracker and East Palestine, one student came to a realization: "I was like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, stuff is actually serious.'"

HealthPollutionThe Coming Chemical BoomYour Environment Update