Category: Toxic Chemicals

Air National Guard City of Madison Dane County PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax

Dane County airport burn pit contamination began in the 1950s

January 15, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

PHOTO: Former Dane County airport fire pit being excavated to build a parking lot in May 2018. The County, City, DNR and DoD were aware of the contamination for at…

Cancer City of Madison Environmental Justice Fish Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Risk Assessment Toxic Chemicals Truax Water quality

Drinking water contamination linked to chemicals seeping from air base rose slightly

January 8, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo: Madison Well 15 By Steve Verburg, Wisconsin State Journal Testing results released Monday show a slight increase in hazardous fluorinated compounds in Madison drinking water. A Madison Water Utility…

Air National Guard City of Madison PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Truax Wisconsin DNR

Public Health PFAS doublespeak: Exposures expected, but no risks! Huh?

January 6, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo: Child catches panfish at the mouth of Starkweather Creek where it flows into Lake Monona, July 2018 Our October 2018 article raised questions about exposures to toxic PFAS (per-…

Climate Change Environmental Justice Plastics Toxic Chemicals

Eco Crises: Doom & Gloom, Truth & Consequences

October 27, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Kristine Mattis, Counterpunch. Photo Source Sakeeb Sabakka | CC BY 2.0 …We can’t save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to change. Everything needs…

Air National Guard Cancer City of Madison Dane County Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Wisconsin DNR

Toxic PFAS is in Starkweather Creek; will anyone test the fish?

October 6, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Fish caught by children at the mouth of Starkweather Creek in June 2018 (they did not eat the fish). A MEJO post last May linked to an Air National Guard…

Climate Change E-waste Endocrine disruptors Environmental Justice Over-consumption Plastics Toxic Chemicals

Dying of Consumption While Guzzling Snake Oil: a Realist’s Perspective on the Environmental Crisis

August 11, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Kristine Mattis, Counterpunch We’re an egoistical, delusional lot, us humans. We’re the only species on the planet who despoils its own life support system and who does not live…

Community engagement Dane County Environmental Justice Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Toxic Chemicals

Truax Contaminants May Be Affecting Madison Drinking Water–CSWAB ACTION ALERT

August 9, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger. The Madison Water Utility has reported that Truax Field’s Wisconsin Air National Guard base is a possible source…

City of Madison Environmental Justice Madison-Kipp Corp. PCBs stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Wisconsin DNR

The Kipp raingarden PCB saga is not over

June 14, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo: Kipp PCB raingarden, June 5, 2018 Are the Kipp raingarden PCB investigations and excavations finally over, six years after PCBs were first found there? Is the adjacent bikepath area…

Air National Guard Environmental Justice EPA PFCs or PFAS Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR

Truax Field PFC (PFAS) Contamination 569 Times Over EPA Health Advisory Level; Madison Drinking Water Contaminated?

May 16, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Last week the Wisconsin DNR released documents pertaining to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)—also commonly called poly- or per-fluoroalkyl substances or PFAS—at Truax Field’s Wisconsin Air National Guard (WANG) base. One of…

Cancer Madison-Kipp Corp. PCBs Public Health Madison Dane County Toxic Chemicals Vapor intrusion

Sharon Helmus, your courageous Kipp resistance will be remembered!

April 10, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

One month ago, on March 10, 2018 Sharon Helmus died from complications after colon cancer surgery. She was 78. My husband and I visited Sharon three times in the hospital—our…

Madison-Kipp Corp. Toxic Chemicals Vapor intrusion

Kipp’s Carcinogenic Chemicals Still Vaporizing into Surrounding Neighborhood

March 16, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

The class action lawsuit against Madison Kipp Corporation, settled in 2013, seems like eons ago. Have Kipp’s pollution problems been resolved? Far from it. PCBs remain in soils under the…

Air National Guard Environmental Justice EPA Fighter jets Toxic Chemicals Truax

F-35 Environmental Impact Study Begins; Public Meeting March 8 in Madison

February 10, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Steve Verburg, Wisconsin State Journal The Air National Guard has begun accepting public comments on the scope of a study it will conduct on the expected environmental impact of…

EPA IRIS NRDC Risk Assessment Toxic Chemicals

MEJO Joins 90 Scientists and Community Leaders on NRDC Letter Supporting EPA IRIS Program

February 3, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

MEJO joined 90 scientists, environmental health experts, medical professionals, and community leaders on a letter by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Scientist Dr. Jen Sass supporting the EPA Integrated…

Air National Guard Environmental Justice Fighter jets Racism Toxic Chemicals Truax

F-35 Fighter Jets in Madison: What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. say?

January 15, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

What would Martin Luther King, Jr. say about the proposal to locate F-35 supersonic fighter jets at Madison’s Truax Field Air National Guard base? In his 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech,…

Environmental Justice Toxic Chemicals

Environmental Justice and Our Electronic Devices

January 9, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo by Kai Loffelbein. Women melt circuit boards in Guiyu, China The beloved electronic devices that many think they cannot live without are produced and discarded at great environmental and…