News & Press
Environmental Health Strategy Center Expands with Appointments to Board and Staff
PORTLAND, Maine, February 5, 2018—The Environmental Health Strategy Center, a Maine-based public health organization working in the state and nationally for safer food, water, and products, has appointed a new board member and expanded its organizing team. Joining a nine-person board of directors, David Bennell is the Food, Land, and Water manager for the… Read more »
Toxic Golf Balls? Sporting Good Illustrates Need for Prompt Action by EPA to Address Persistent Chemical Threats
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 21, 2018 CONTACT: Jamie Nolan on behalf of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families jamie@nolanstrategic.com 410-463-9869 Advocates uncover likely use of toxic, environmentally harmful chemical in golf balls; call on EPA to follow Congressional directive to promptly address chemicals that build up in people and the environment WASHINGTON, D.C. – When an errant… Read more »
EPA Eases Path for New Chemicals, Raising Fears of Health Hazards
The Environmental Protection Agency is shifting course under the Trump administration on how it assesses new chemicals for health and environmental hazards, streamlining a safety review process that industry leaders say is too slow and cumbersome. But some former EPA officials, as well as experts and advocates, say the agency is skipping vital steps that… Read more »
E.P.A. Wanted Years to Study Lead Paint Rule. It Got 90 Days.
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to revise its nearly 17-year-old standard for dangerous levels of lead in paint and dust within one year, a rare legal move that amounts to a sharp rebuff of President Trump and Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. administrator. The decision also called attention… Read more »
Senator Collins Applauded for Support of Tax Incentives to Create Forest-Based Jobs and Fight Climate Change
A bipartisan effort to attract investment in climate-friendly, biobased manufacturing jobs, The Renewable Chemicals Act of 2017, was introduced late yesterday in the U.S. Senate, sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others. The legislation, if it passes, will create a production tax credit or an investment tax… Read more »
Strategy Center Joins Two Lawsuits Challenging Trump EPA
PORTLAND, Maine, August 14, 2017–The Environmental Health Strategy Center today announced it has joined two lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency for rewriting rules that determine how the agency will regulate toxic chemicals found in consumer products, building materials, and workplaces as well as in drinking water and food. Earthjustice, the nation’s… Read more »
Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto to Pass Law Helping Rural Maine Families Access Safe and Affordable Drinking Water
LD 1263 creates fund to help families treat arsenic-contaminated well water. AUGUSTA, Maine, August 3, 2017—A safe drinking water law, passed yesterday by the Maine Legislature through a decisive bipartisan override of the Governor’s veto, will help Maine families who need to treat arsenic-contaminated well water. It’s the second safe drinking water law the… Read more »
Maine Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto To Pass Unprecedented Law Phasing Out Flame Retardants
Passed via dramatic veto override, new law will protect firefighters and families from toxic chemicals in household furniture AUGUSTA, Maine, August 2, 2017—Decisively overriding the Governor’s veto, Maine legislators have passed the first law in the nation to phase out all toxic flame retardants in upholstered furniture, protecting the health of families and firefighters. “Once… Read more »
Governor LePage Vetoes Important Bills That Would Protect Maine Firefighters and Families from Harmful Chemicals
Legislature Will Convene Tomorrow for Potential Override LD 182 would phase out toxic flame retardants in household furniture.LD 1263 would help low-income families treat well water for arsenic. AUGUSTA, Maine, August 1, 2017—Two common-sense laws that would help protect Maine people from toxic chemicals, LD 182 and LD 1263, were vetoed today by Governor LePage.… Read more »
Firefighters, Families, and Lawmakers Urge Legislature To Vote to Phase Out Toxic Flame Retardants
“He was my hero,” Therese Flaherty said of her husband, a firefighter who died of a rare form of cancer. Today would have been their 48th wedding anniversary. AUGUSTA, Maine, July 19, 2017—Yarmouth resident Theresa Flaherty spent her 48th wedding anniversary at the State House today, urging Maine legislators to support a bill that would… Read more »