Latest News

Release: Environmental Justice Council Urges EPA to Change Course

May 9, 2019

Washington, DC — The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) issued formal recommendations to EPA Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, urging the agency to address two issues vital to environmental justice communities and public health. Grassroots organizations and people who live in impacted environmental justice communities praised NEJAC's recommendations to the EPA.  Read More

Release: Dollar Tree Moves To Address Toxic Chemicals in Products

May 6, 2019

One of the nation's largest discount retail chains, Dollar Tree Stores Inc, has taken an important step toward increased health and safety for customers by joining the Chemical Footprint Project, a bench-marking metric that helps companies assess their market risk from toxic chemicals and understand the opportunities for safer chemicals in its supply chain. This decision may carry important implications for public health, consumer rights, and Dollar Tree's extensive supply chain, as the discount retailer is a Fortune 200 company which operates over 15,000 stores across the United States and Canada. Grassroots justice groups cheered this step toward quantifying toxic chemical risks—but also warned it falls short of a more complete, transparent and protective toxic chemical policy, which should include public disclosures and specific goals to reduce hazardous chemical use. Read More

Watch: Life at the Fenceline - Our Video Collaboration with NRDC and Rashida Jones

April 22, 2019

See our stunning new animated video collaboration with EJHA, NRDC and Rashida Jones: Life at the Fenceline. 

High-risk chemical facilities threaten the lives of nearly 40% of all US residents with catastrophic explosions or poison gas leaks — do you live in a potential chemical disaster zone? Read More

News: 99 Cents Only stores carry products with toxic chemicals, protesters say

April 18, 2019

Environmental activists are calling on the 99 Cent Only store chain to clear their shelves of products with toxic chemicals.

"Four years ago we walked 150,000 petition signatures in there from their customers who wanted toxics out of products and they haven't listened," said Jose Bravo, with the Campaign for Healthier Solutions.

The group told Eyewitness News they conducted testing on some of the chain's products and found chemicals linked to cancer and the disruption of hormone levels. Read More

Release: 99 Cents Only Executives Agree to Meet and Discuss Customer’s Concerns About Toxic Chemicals in Easter Products

April 17, 2019

Los Angeles, CA — As shoppers rush to dollar stores for last-minute Easter Holiday supplies, toys, and candy, allied organizations with the environmental justice group, Campaign for Healthier Solutions, held their own ‘Toxic Easter Egg Activity’ outside the headquarters of LA-based dollar store chain, 99 Cents Only Stores.  Children searched for products purchased from 99 Cents Only Stores that didn’t contain toxic chemicals—but had no way to know if each product was safe because the chain has no public toxic chemical policies or protections for customers and their children. Executives from 99 Cents Only Stores agreed to meet with the campaign and discuss customer's concerns but did not commit to any action to protect them from toxic chemicals. Read More

Ejecutivos de 99 Cents Only Acuerdan una Reunión para Dialogar Sobre las Preocupaciones de sus Clientes Sobre Sustancias Químicas Tóxicas en sus Productos de Pascua

April 16, 2019

Los Ángeles, CA — Mientras consumidores acuden a las tiendas de dólar para adquirir materiales, juguetes, y dulces, organizaciones aliadas con el grupo de justiciar ambiental, Campaña para Soluciones Saludables, llevó a cabo su propia ‘Búsqueda de Huevos de Pascua Tóxico’ en Los Ángeles afuera de la sede nacional de la cadena de tiendas de dólar, 99 Cents Only.  Niños buscaron entre los productos adquiridos de tiendas de 99 Cents Only con el fin de encontrar aquellos que no incluían sustancias químicas toxicas – pero no tenían manera de saber si los productos eran seguros ya que la cadena no tiene una política disponible al público sobre las sustancias químicas, ni ofrece protecciones para sus consumidores y sus hijos.  Ejecutivos de las tiendas de 99 Cents Only acordaron reunirse con la campaña para dialogar sobre las preocupaciones de sus consumidores sobre sustancias químicas toxicas pero no se comprometieron a ninguna acción. Read More

News: One dead, two seriously injured in fire at KMCO specialty chemical plant in Houston area

April 4, 2019

“From Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Harvey, we’ve repeatedly witnessed communities inundated by toxic flood waters—laced with an unknown concoction of hazardous chemical substances. Black, brown, and poor communities are more likely to be impacted by chemical spills and suffer the health impacts of pollution,” says Michele Roberts, National Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance. Read More

News: Environmental justice advocates have questions after Croda settlement

April 3, 2019

Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice (an EJHA affiliate) is featured in this piece about the toxic ethylene oxide leak eminating from Croda Industries.

“Fines are meant to discourage polluters from violating again,” said Lambert. “If you look at that fine, if it were doubled or even tripled, it would still be a slap on the wrist. So with that being said, that fine isn’t acceptable.” Read More

OpEd: Why We Need Organic for All?

April 2, 2019

An OpEd by Jeannie Economos and Virginia Ruiz with our Farmworker Health and Justice Team:

"Many people choose organic food in order to protect themselves and their families from exposure to pesticides. But choosing organic also means helping to create a healthier food system for everyone, from farm to table. Far too often, discussions about pesticides in the food system exclude the men, women, and children who plant, tend, and harvest our food." Read More

OpEd: Industry growth must also address emergency response

April 2, 2019

OpEd by Pam Nixon, spokeswoman for People Concerned About Chemical Safety, an EJHA affiliate in Charleston, WV.

"We have known for years that chemical emergencies disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color and result in cumulative health problems. Yet, emergency response concerns remain unaddressed in the unincorporated fenceline communities of Institute and Jefferson, and others like them in the Kanawha Valley." Read More

Release: Houston Chemical Fire and Spill Bolsters Case for Needed Reforms

March 29, 2019

The aftermath of a horrific fire at the ITC chemical plant in Houston has reinforced ongoing oversight and enforcement gaps, according to a coalition of groups that filed suit last week in federal court to force the chemical industry to undertake “worst-case scenario” planning. Read More

Advisory: People Impacted by Carcinogenic Ethylene Oxide to Attend EPA Hearing

March 26, 2019

Both before and after a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public hearing on hydrochloric acid production and ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions, people from communities which have been exposed to ethylene oxide emanating from nearby industrial facilities will be available to tell their stories–some of which have suffered cancers and other health problems linked to the carcinogenic and extremely explosive chemical. These impacted people will be urging the agency not to risk public health by undermining a new assessment from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which found cancer-risk from EtO exposure to be 30-times worse than previously estimated. Read More

Blog: The Stories We Bring

March 22, 2019

Over the past two weeks, our colleague, Michele Roberts, had the distinct honor of participating in the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women as a member of the national Episcopal Church’s delegation. Read More

Release: Groups Sue EPA Over Decades-Long Failure to Protect Communities from Most Dangerous Chemical Spills

March 21, 2019

New York, N.Y. – The Environmental Justice Health Alliance, Clean Water Action, and Natural Resources Defense Council today filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to pass regulations requiring the most dangerous chemical facilities to develop plans to prevent and respond to worst-case scenario spills of hazardous substances, including spills triggered by natural disasters that put people’s health at risk. Congress mandated such regulations in 1990 – but more than 25 years later, EPA has failed to act. Read More

Blog: Our New Website - Frontline Voices and Action for Environmental Justice and Health

March 19, 2019

Release: Victory for Environmental Justice Communities as Court Orders Disclosure of Emissions from Chemical Facility Incidents

March 12, 2019

Environmental justice community members celebrated a ruling which will require chemical facilities to disclose unpermitted toxic chemical emissions to the public. Read More

News: Croda gas leak reportedly among worst of its kind in country this year

December 22, 2018

It took nearly a month after a toxic gas leak shut down the Delaware Memorial Bridge on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year for company and state officials to shed some light on what went wrong.

It remains unclear who will pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tolls, who will fix any environmental harm, and who will address any lingering health effects that travelers, first responders and neighbors may have been exposed to that Sunday night... Read More

Blog: Fighting for Chemical Security - Raising Our Voices for Health & Justice for People at the Fenceline

November 15, 2018

Imagine being woken up early in the morning by a siren blaring loudly. You turn on the news to learn that there is a massive fire at the oil refinery in town. Residents are instructed to “shelter in place,” so you make sure all the windows are closed, but you know there is not much more you can do. You realize that your 8-year-old child is having a very hard time breathing, so you head to the hospital as soon as you can. It turns out that sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide gases were released from the refinery because of the fire. Read More

News: Croda gas leak highlights risks to poorer Delaware communities

November 27, 2018

As emergency crews worked to contain a gas leak that shut down the Delaware Memorial Bridge for six and a half hours Sunday night, some nearby residents had not been notified of the incident. That highlights the danger of industrial sites in close proximity to residential areas, according to a Delaware environmental group... Read More

Press Release: Dollar Store Chains Lag on Toxic Chemicals, while 21 Retailers Make Progress to Protect Consumers

November 14, 2018

Los Angeles, CA — A report released today reveals that major retail companies are making slow but meaningful progress at improving the chemical safety of the products, food, and packaging they sell, but nearly half of those scored — including the 99 Cents Only discount retail chain — have failed to take any public measures to help eliminate toxic chemicals from the products they carry. The third annual Who’s Minding the Store? A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals evaluated and graded the chemical policies and practices of 40 of the largest North American retailers, including grocery and fast food chains, as part of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families’ Mind the Store campaign and the Campaign for Healthier Solutions. Read More