Articles by Joshua Schneyer

California Settles 19-Year Old Public Nuisance Claim Against Lead Paint Makers

When Californian counties and cities first sued paint makers in 2000, they wanted the companies to pay billions to remove dangerous old lead paint from hundreds of thousands of homes. After a 19-year legal struggle, they have finally succeeded in …

Regulators Wonder If One Farm’s Tainted Milk Is Isolated Case or Broader Problem

For Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone, the discovery in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk has since brought financial ruin and threatened to shut down a century-old family business. Now state regulators and health experts are investigating whether …

Reuters: Beyond Flint, Thousands of Areas in U.S. Struggle with Lead Poisoning

On a sunny November afternoon in St. Joseph, Missouri, birthplace of the Pony Express and death spot of Jesse James, Lauranda Mignery watched her son Kadin, 2, dig in their front yard. As he played, she scolded him for putting …

Washington LNG Blast Spotlights Natural Gas Safety

An unexplained blast this week at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in rural Washington state, which injured workers, forced an evacuation and raised alarm about a potentially large second explosion, could focus attention on the risk of storing massive …

Oil Tank Cars Like Those in Quebec Rail Tragedy Long Seen as Flawed

The oil-laden train that derailed and exploded in a small Canadian town on Saturday, possibly killing as many as 50 people, included a class of railcar whose vulnerability to leaks and deadly explosions was well known to regulators. The U.S. …

What Did Regulators Know Before Texas Plant Exploded?

Despite being located within a short walk of a nursing home, school and residential buildings, West Fertilizer Co. in central Texas had no blast walls and had filed no contingency plan to the Environmental Protection Agency for a major explosion …

Chevron, Transocean Charged in Brazilian Oil Spill

A Brazilian federal prosecutor filed criminal charges on Wednesday against Chevron and drill-rig operator Transocean for a November oil spill, raising the stakes in a legal saga that is adding to Chevron’s woes in Latin America and threatens to slow …

Earthquake Tested Safety of East Coast’s Nuclear Plants

The largest earthquake to hit the East Coast of the United States in 67 years raised concerns on Tuesday about the safety of the country’s nuclear power plants. The 5.8 magnitude quake’s epicenter was just a few miles from the …