Environmental

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. EPA for failing to regulate harmful pollution from oil refineries.

The lawsuit—filed by a coalition of 12 states, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York— alleges that the EPA is in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for failing to adopt standards requiring that new or renovated oil refineries install technologies to control global warming pollution.

The CAA specifically requires EPA to adopt standards, known as New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), for oil refineries—as well as power plants and other major pollution sources—if the EPA determines they emit air pollution that poses a danger to public health and welfare.

"The EPA has defied the Clean Air Act and the Supreme Court by repeatedly ignoring a ruling that global warming ... more »

Safety

The metal cadmium plays a major role in causing emphysema, and even low-level exposure through secondhand smoke and other sources can increase the risk of lung disease, a new study says.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health research also suggests that people with high levels of cadmium in their bodies may have as much as double the risk of developing a pulmonary disease such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

In this study, principal investigator Howard Hu and his colleagues tested the lung function of 96 men. Those with higher levels of cadmium in their urine had a reduced ability to exhale. This association was most evident among current and former smokers.

"The study suggests that the critical ingredient in smoking that may be causing emphysema is cadmium, a well-known contaminant of cigarette smoke. The worry is if you are exposed to this (cadmi ... more »

Environmental Resource Center is an environmental, health, safety, and transportation consulting firm that leads the way in serving industry, academia, and federal and state government agencies. Since 1981, our team of safety and environmental consultants has been helping organizations like yours identify and comply with all applicable environmental, health, safety, security, and transportation regulations from both federal agencies (EPA, DOT, IATA, DHS, and OSHA) as well as your state and local regulators.

To help you meet your environmental objectives, we hold training seminars on hazardous waste management and hazardous materials management throughout the country; we also offer many of our courses as live interactive webcasts; we conduct environmental audits, DOT audits, and safety audits; we provide customized onsite RCRA, DOT, and OSHA training classes; and, via our answerline service, our environmental consultants work with you to ensure you are in compliance with any permitting requirements as well as other environmental and safety regulatory issues.

To contact one of our safety and environmental consultants, for more information about our RCRA, DOT, IATA, and OSHA seminars or webcasts, onsite hazardous waste training and hazardous materials training, HAZWOPER training, and OSHA training classes, or for more information about our environmental audits, DOT audits, and safety audits click here or call 800-537-2372.