Category: Environmental health

Air Pollution Arrogance Cancer City of Madison Community engagement Dane County Denialism Development Doublespeak Ecology Environmental destruction Environmental health Environmental Justice F-35 Fighter jets Fish Advisory Futility Hypocrisy Madison Martin Luther King Jr. Obfuscation Peace?? Privilege Public Participation Public Relations Racial disparities Racial Justice Racism

Reflections on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 2024 Jim Powell

MEJO founder Dr. Maria C. Powell wrote three essays on Dr. King and his views on the “giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism,” each posted on previous MLK Jr…

Air National Guard Air Pollution Arrogance Cancer Dane County Parks Deception Denialism Doublespeak Ecology Environmental health Environmental Justice F-35 Fish Hypocrisy Illicit discharge Inequality Landfills Madison Madison-Kipp Corp. Mercury PCBs PCE Pesticides PFAS Poisoned Yahara Lakes PFCs or PFAS Privilege Racial disparities Racial Justice Racism Starkweather Creek Stupidity Toxic Chemicals Toxins Trash Trees Truax Water Pollution Water quality

“Maria Powell wasn’t just an activist. In Madison, she was the premier environmental activist.”

November 18, 2023 Jim Powell

From the Cap Times: Madison just lost one of its best environmental assets By Steve Elbow, Opinion Editor Maria Powell wasn’t just an activist. In Madison, she was the premier…

Environmental health Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory Illicit discharge Madison-Kipp Corp. Mercury PCBs Pesticides PFAS Poisoned Yahara Lakes PFCs or PFAS Public Participation Racial disparities Soil contamination Starkweather Creek Starkweather EJ Project TCE Toxic Chemicals Toxins Vapor intrusion Water Pollution

MEJO founder Dr. Maria Powell wins Bill Iwen Environmental Justice Award

October 28, 2023 Jim Powell

On October 26, the Midwest Environmental Advocates held a ceremony naming MEJO founder Maria Powell as one of its 2023 Bill Iwen Environmental Justice Awardees. MEJO Vice President Touyeng Xiong…

Denialism Environmental health Toxic Chemicals

WHO: An estimated two million lives were lost due to chemical exposures in 2019

September 27, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Our regulatory system is a failure. If two million lives were lost due to chemical exposures in 2019, about the same number of people (or more) likely die from chemical…

City of Madison Environmental health Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Wisconsin DNR

Water Utility General Manager misinforms Madison alders on PFAS in our drinking water

December 13, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo from Newsweek ************* The new General Manager of the Madison Water Utility, Krishna Kumar, was invited to the November 29, 2021 Common Council President’s Work Group on Environmental Justice…

City of Madison Environmental health Environmental Justice PCE TCE Wisconsin DNR

Are eastside Madison residents breathing poisonous vapors? Does anyone care?

November 30, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about the very unfortunate situation Madison resident Kenny Koeppler landed in by accident. In 1987, Koeppler

Burke sewage treatment plant Environmental health Madison Oscar Mayer Racial disparities Trash Truax landfill

Porcine Pollution Solutions: A stinky blast from Madison’s sordid past

November 15, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

For those not familiar with pig terminology… From the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition: PORCINE (pronunciation: pôr′sīn″), adjective: Of or resembling swine or a pig. Of…

Denialism Environmental health Madison-Kipp Corp. Toxic Chemicals Wisconsin DNR

Lo and behold, the Madison-Kipp poison plume is still there!

November 15, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

For anyone who believes that Madison Kipp’s giant plume of toxic chlorinated solvents (and plethora of other poisons) under the increasingly hip

Burke sewage treatment plant City of Madison Environmental health Oscar Mayer PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek

What’s draining from these pipes into Starkweather Creek? PFAS & other poisons

November 11, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Above: Giant drain pipes in Bridges Golf Course, which receive PFAS-contaminated stormwater from the former Truax landfill and Burke sewage plant–and former Oscar Mayer factory area–before discharging via the “golf…

Cancer City of Madison Denialism Environmental health Madison Water Utility

How contaminated is Madison’s drinking water compared to other cities?

November 4, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

As reported by Sharon Udasin in The Hill, Environmental Working Group’s recently released 2021 Tap Water Database compares contaminant levels in drinking water across all 50 states and Washington, D.C.…

Environmental health Environmental Justice Starkweather Creek

“After 50 years of neglect, Starkweather to get its due.”

October 7, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

(Above: Sign about 1992-93 Starkweather Creek remediation near O.B. Sherry Park; photo by Maria Powell in 2018) “After 50 years of neglect, Starkweather to get its due?” Too bad this…

Dane County Environmental health Environmental Justice PFCs or PFAS Racial disparities Starkweather Creek

“‘Something has to be done’ about Starkweather Creek, one of Wisconsin’s most polluted waterways”–Wisconsin Watch

October 7, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Above–MEJO’s Ida Jammeh (left) talking with residents of Darbo-Worthington neighborhood about Starkweather Creek in 2018 (photo by Maria Powell). Learn more about our Starkweather project here. ********* When we started…

Environmental health PFCs or PFAS

John Oliver: “The world is soaked in the Devil’s Piss” (PFAS)

October 4, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

PFAS is not at all funny. But comedian John Oliver’s story of how the world came to be soaked in PFAS–“the Devil’s Piss”–is hilarious. Check it out here:

Environmental destruction Environmental health Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District PFCs or PFAS Wastewater Treatment

How much PFAS is the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District spreading on Dane County farmland? Does anyone care?

October 1, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

How much PFAS is in Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) sludge, applied to 5000 acres of Dane County farmland? From MMSD’s (TRC) Sept. 30, 2021 report: MMSD Class A Biosolids:…

Endocrine disruptors Environmental destruction Environmental health Environmental Justice Toxic Chemicals

Are we sleepwalking?

September 24, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

This morning I came across an excellent–though very disturbing–Mongabay article, part of a series: Novel chemical entities: Are we sleepwalking through a planetary boundary? The answer is unequivocal: YES Mongabay…