Avon Park seeks citizen input on fluoride issue

Stopping the fluoridation of city water has opened the floodgates of concern from the community, which was evident from comments at Wednesday’s special city council meeting. The fluoridation issue was added at the last minute to the meeting’s agenda. City Manager Julian Deleon explained why he decided to cease the injection of fluoride into the […]

Avon Park stops water fluoridation

AVON PARK – Citing “no quality control,” City Manager Julian Deleon has stopped the injection of fluoride into the city’s drinking water. Deleon said he contacted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to request permission to discontinue the fluoridation practice. The fluoride injection system has technology problems, he said. The water demand drops off “drastically” […]

Dirty Dozen: The 12 Most Commonly Used Air Toxics in Unconventional Oil Development in the Los Angeles Basin

INTRODUCTION For the first time in California, operators of oil and gas wells have been forced to disclose some of the chemicals they use in extreme oil and gas production techniques. These reports confirm that dangerous extraction methods are using harmful and toxic chemicals and exposing Californians to unacceptable risks. Starting June 4, 2013, the […]

Feature: No fracking way!

Marin is pumping for a ban on hydraulic fracturing You may not have heard of Mainstreet Moms or 350Marin, but you will feel the heat, and soon. The Moms, along with 350.org and its associated nonprofits, are tangling with big oil companies to ban fracking in California. You don’t know from fracking? Fracking allows oil […]

SIDEBAR: A Short History of Chemical Warfare

Chemical Weapons Outlawed The use of chemical gases in the trenches of WWI horrified the world, prompting a global campaign to ban their use as weapons of war. In 1925, a Geneva protocol was passed outlawing the use of nerve gas, tear gas, and other deadly agents in warfare. The 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (which […]

HCFC-22: U.S. reaches settlement with Safeway to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting substances nationwide

Largest case ever under Clean Air Act’s ozone protection requirements WASHINGTON – In a settlement agreement with the United States, Safeway, the nation’s second largest grocery store chain, has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and implement a corporate-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of […]

Sonoma County: Fluoridation: Not Safe, Not Effective

Everyone agrees that life is better with teeth.  But there is much evidence that fluoride in drinking water may harm teeth and bones and may not reduce tooth decay at all. Writing in the August Gazette, Sonoma County’s Public Health Officer, Lynn Silver Chalfin, M.D., mentioned the Iowa Fluoride Study.  But instead of telling us […]

Piney Point tainted water threat grows

If the water storage systems fail, millions of gallons of contaminated water could again flow into Bishop Harbor. The owners of a former phosphate processing plant here have failed to comply with several environmental mandates after millions of gallons of tainted factory water spilled into Bishop Harbor during a Port Manatee dredging project. HRK Holdings […]