EARTHJUSTICE ALERTS & CALLS TO ACTION 28SEP25

 NOW more than ever the Earth needs a good lawyer, and EarthJustice fills that need where it can. Please see this update from EarthJustice, participate in any or all of the actions and make a donation if you can...

TAKE ACTION: Stop this ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico 18JUL25

Over the last month, Earthjustice supporters submitted over 200,000 comments urging our elected officials to protect our environment. You’ve spoken up for the legal backbone of federal greenhouse gas emission standards and urged the Forest Service to keep one of our most effective land-conservation policies intact, joining the larger environmental movement in voicing our opposition to these destructive policies. As Earthjustice fights in court and on the Hill to preserve our landscape from pollution, protect biodiversity, and fight for an electric future, we need to keep up the pressure. Take action now and tell the government to side with the American people over billionaires and polluting industries. Climate progress won’t happen without advocates like you pushing our government to prioritize the environment and our public health. We’ll need you in our corner as we forge ahead.       Defend the Boundary Waters from mining pollution Boundary Waters, one of our treasured landscapes in Northern Minnesota, is under attack. Chilean mining giant Antofagasta wants to build a copper-nickel mine. If built, the Twin Metals mine would mean permanent destruction of habitat for hundreds of species. As climate change shrinks our planet’s biodiversity, we can’t afford to lose the Boundary Waters. TAKE ACTION    MY e mail to the Interior Dept on Boundary Waters: I am writing to oppose the rescission of Superior National Forest mineral withdrawal in the Rainy River Watershed.  The Boundary Waters is the most visited Wilderness Area in the country, with over one thousand lakes and hundreds of trails that offer superb camping, fishing, canoeing, and hiking for every American to enjoy. By undoing the federal mineral withdrawal in the Rainy River watershed, your Department is opening the door to a foreign sulfide-ore copper mine that would permanently pollute this irreplaceable landscape. This pollution will not be contained in the Boundary Waters area but will flow into Lake Superior and so the rest of the Great Lakes as well as Hudson Bay and the Mississippi River. Satisfying corporate greed can never justify widespread environmental damage to wildlife and humanity. The Boundary Waters is an engine that powers Northeastern Minnesota’s outdoor recreation economy, which sustains 17,000 jobs and over $1 billion in sales every year.  Economic studies show that protecting the Boundary Waters would produce far better outcomes for job creation and generated income than opening the area to copper mining.  Your Department wants to “unleash American energy” by mining near the Boundary Waters. But the minerals produced in the Twin Metals mine would be shipped outside of the US for processing and then sold on the world market. The mine would do nothing for American energy.  The science is clear: Sulfide ore mining would cause irreversible pollution and environmental degradation if allowed along the rivers and streams flowing into the Boundary Waters. I urge you to protect this American icon from foreign mining pollution by keeping the Rainy River watershed mineral withdrawal intact.   Tell Congress to safeguard the Marine Mammal Protection Act Marine mammals across the world face extinction thanks to human-caused threats. The Marine Mammal Protection Act is one of our strongest tools to safeguard these mammals from extinction. Urge your members of Congress to oppose any efforts to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act. TAKE ACTION  MY e mail to Department of the Interior, U.S. Congress, Department of Transportation, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: I am your constituent, and I support the Marine Mammal Protection Act. I ask you to oppose all legislative attempts to weaken this important law.   In 1972, Congress responded to overwhelming public support for marine mammals by adopting the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Since that time, this landmark law has protected the country’s dolphins, whales, manatees, seals, sea otters, polar bears, and other much-loved species from harm. Not a single species has disappeared from American waters even as our use of the ocean has increased.   Unfortunately, this successful law has come under increasing and relentless assault from some corners of Congress in recent years. Over one-third of marine mammals are threatened with extinction globally. The Marine Mammal Protection Act is one of our strongest tools to fight this extinction crisis and ensure healthy, abundant marine mammal populations for future generations.   Humans are connected to the ocean and all of the life it sustains. How we treat it impacts our own existence. Marine mammals are an important part of marine ecosystems, helping keep our coasts and ocean productive. They’re also culturally significant to many communities, support coastal economies, and loved by people across the country.   Now is not the time to give handouts to polluting and extractive industries at the expense of marine mammal survival. Marine mammals simply can’t afford it, and Americans don’t want it. Those in government and business  who claim to be religious should be aware that the majority of people of any faith believe God / the gods command humanity to protect the Earth and all creatures on it and also believe the cost of protecting the plants, animals and people on the Earth is justified. Please consider your claim to faith (if any) and you faith teachings and prevent the weakening of the MMPA. I hope you will be a defender of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and all of the species it sustains.   SUPPORT OUR WORK Craig, thank you for making our lawsuits possible through your support of Earthjustice. To help fight back against the Trump administration’s environmental attacks, please consider making another gift today – it will be matched $1:$1 to double your impact!                                    MATCH MY GIFT       Tell the Trump administration: Keep our highways safe from hazardous materials Every day, oil and gas companies haul potentially hazardous materials from oilfields onto our highways without following adequate safety rules. This is putting truckers and communities at greater risk of catastrophe. Join Earthjustice and our client, Truckers Movement for Justice, to demand that the federal government enforce existing hazardous material rules when it comes to hauling oilfield waste. TAKE ACTION  MY e mail to Department of the Interior, U.S. Congress, Department of Transportation, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: I am writing to demand safer conditions, proper training, and fair pay for truckers hauling hazardous materials from oilfields. The hazardous materials laws on the books aren’t being enforced, which is seriously concerning for worker and public safety. Keep in mind this is an risk not just for the general public, it is also a risk you are exposing your families and friends to every time they are on the road. Are corporate political donations or guarantees of executive positions in these companies worth putting your family and friends at risk? Many truckloads of oil and gas waste are not being tested before they are loaded and transported across U.S. highways and communities. Some truckloads can be more than 2,000 times the consignment threshold for radioactive material under Department of Transportation regulation.  This is unacceptable and unsafe.  If the Department of Transportation enforced the laws on the books, things would be much safer for us all. Oil and gas companies would have to test and classify their loads before putting it on trucks to drive down the highway. The truck drivers hauling these hazardous materials would have HAZMAT certification, the proper equipment, and appropriate pay for hauling hazardous materials. The trucks would be clearly marked as hazardous materials so our local firefighters and first responders would know how to respond in the case of a bad accident.    Enforcing the law isn’t just justice for truckers — it’s safety for every community with a road running through it.     Stop this ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico Fifteen years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon — the most destructive oil spill in U.S. history — the same company is asking the federal government to approve a new, massive offshore drilling project in the Gulf. The regional Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) office in the Gulf is now weighing whether to approve BP’s new proposal. We need to show strong public opposition to this risky project. TAKE ACTION    MY e mail to Department of the Interior, U.S. Congress, Department of Transportation, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: You must disapprove BP’s proposed Kaskida ultra-deepwater drilling project.   Even with the modified proposal from BP, Kaskida, as proposed, poses significant risks to our economy, the marine and coastal environment, and the humans who depend on it.   BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, which caused $17.2 billion worth of damage, dealt significant blows to the regional economy, including eliminating 25,000 jobs in the Gulf. Deepwater Horizon also led to billions of dollars in financial losses including gross regional product, lost labor income, and federal, state and local tax revenues. It was particularly cruel to the Gulf’s tourism and fishing industries, the latter of which suffered an estimated $1.5 billion in lost revenue alone. Kaskida, which is proposed in more extreme conditions, could repeat Deepwater Horizon’s economic devastation to the Gulf if it were to fail.   With Kaskida, BP is asking to develop oil and gas reserves at even greater depths than where its Deepwater Horizon rig suffered a loss of control incident – an event that killed 11 people and turned into the worst marine oil spill in U.S. history. The Kaskida project proposes to drill wells in waters up to 6,200 feet deep — whereas BP’s well that blew out in 2010 was about 5,000 feet deep.  It would also be one of the first development projects in the region to use oil well equipment that needs to be able to handle pressures up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. By comparison, the faulty blowout preventer used in Deepwater Horizon could handle pressures of only 15,000 pounds.  In its proposal to the government, BP has failed to demonstrate that the company can safely operate a high-pressure, high-temperature well like Kaskida. BP has not obtained U.S. certification to operate a high-pressure, high-temperature well and has not pointed to experience drilling these types of wells in other places.  In other words, BP is pushing ultra-deepwater drilling to extreme depths while relying on still-emerging technologies to prevent disaster. This is concerning and highly risky, since the likelihood of well blowouts and uncontrolled oil spills increases exponentially with depth and pressure, and spills from this type of drilling are harder to respond to and contain. In fact, reports have shown that projects like Kaskida are six times more likely to experience an incident due to the extreme pressures and temperatures at such great depths.   In addition to significant oil spill risks, this project would negatively impact already overburdened Gulf communities, sensitive deep-sea ecosystems, and imperiled marine life such as Kemp's ridley sea turtles and the critically endangered Rice's whale, whose population was significantly harmed by Deepwater Horizon.   Past deepwater drilling incidents show us what is at stake, and the Gulf of Mexico cannot handle another catastrophic disaster.  Past incidents also show how unprepared  these companies like BP are for these catastrophic disasters, how protecting their profit margins are more important than clean up, environmental restoration and healthcare and economic compensation. There was even an attempt by BP and associated companies to leave the American taxpayers financially responsible for their catastrophe in the Gulf. Please deny BP's request for approval of their Kaskida Project. You have another opportunity to make the right decision and fully reject BP’s proposed Kaskida project. Your activism is creating change — click here to engage at every step by taking all of the actions above on one page. . Sincerely, Swetha Pottam Digital Advocacy Associate

Thank you for your support of Earthjustice, Craig. DONATE NOW   Thanks for sending 100 messages to policymakers Delivered to you by Earthjustice. Your support makes the difference. Photo Credits: The Sun setting over Alder Lake in the Minnesota Boundary Waters Canoe Area. (John Zilka / Getty Images) © 2025

'Enough with the politics': Derailment investigator takes aim at partisan sniping, misinformation & In East Palestine, Erin Brockovich gives reeling residents advice and tells them to trust their instincts 23&25FEB23

WELL said NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, and how refreshing to have someone in a position of authority to put the welfare of the people in need first and to basically tell the politicians and social media / reporter clowns to grow up and address the situation at hand and the needs of  the people. This from Politico followed by an interesting article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.....

'Enough with the politics': Derailment investigator takes aim at partisan sniping, misinformation

"Enough with the politics on this," National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Thursday at an update on her agency's probe.

A Norfolk Southern freight train passes passes through East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. | Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

By TANYA SNYDER

02/23/2023 11:41 AM EST

Updated: 02/23/2023 03:28 PM EST

The head of the federal probe into the Ohio train derailment lashed out Thursday at “politics” and “misinformation” she said are clouding the ongoing investigation and expressed her exasperation that vital safety recommendations can be ignored amid the noise.

“Enough with the politics on this,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Thursday at an update on her agency’s probe. “I don’t understand why this has gotten so political. This is a community that is suffering. This is not about politics.”

She was responding to a question about Donald Trump’s visit Wednesday to the derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio, which he used to slam Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Biden administration for their response.

“There’s a lot of misinformation on what would have prevented this,” she said. “Everyone is guessing. I saw it all over media, which was driving me nuts. Those solutions, all of the ones I heard of, are not the solutions.”

She hinted at an article that circulated soon after the derailment blaming it on a rule that would have mandated faster brakes on some trains, which was withdrawn in 2017. She said those brakes would not have prevented this derailment or even have significantly reduced its severity.

Homendy said the speculation about cause, much of which is false, is doubly frustrating because once the final report is issued, “we get ignored.” Though the NTSB investigates serious transportation accidents, the changes their investigations recommend are not mandated unless an agency or Congress decides to act on them.

NTSB’s preliminary report released Thursday showed that the engineer at the controls of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Ohio tried to stop the train following a warning about an overheating wheel, but by that time several cars had already come off the tracks.

According to the report, before it derailed, the train passed three detectors intended to alert train crew to physical problems, including overheating wheels. Though the train detectors showed one of the wheels was steadily getting hotter, it did not reach a temperature Norfolk Southern considered critical until it passed the third detector and alerted, as outlined by the National Transportation Safety Board.

When the train passed that last detector, the detector “transmitted a critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle,” the report said.

By then, the engineer was already trying to slow the train because it was behind another train. Upon hearing the alarm, the engineer increased the application of the brakes, and then automatic emergency brakes initiated, bringing the train to a stop.

When it stopped, the crew “observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment,” the report said.

Thirty-eight cars derailed and 12 more were damaged in the ensuing fire.

The hopper car with the overheating bearing was carrying plastic pellets, which caught fire when the axle overheated, Homendy said.

The placards that designate which cars are carrying hazardous materials — and which she said are “critical in response and in protecting the community,” were also made of plastic and melted. NTSB may recommend a different material for the placards.

The focus of the investigation is on the wheelset and the bearings. They are also looking at the design of the tank cars themselves, the accident response, including the venting and burning of the vinyl chloride, railcar design and maintenance procedures and practices, Norfolk Southern’s use of wayside defect detectors, and Norfolk Southern’s railcar inspection practices.

NTSB plans to hold a rare investigative field hearing near the site in the spring with the goals of informing the public, collecting factual information from witnesses, discussing possible solutions and building consensus for change.

In East Palestine, Erin Brockovich gives reeling residents advice and tells them to trust their instincts

JORDAN ANDERSON

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

janderson@post-gazette.com

25FEB23

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Three weeks after a toxic train derailment and chemical explosion upended this village just over the Pennsylvania border, famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich offered support for reeling residents worried about their health. 

At a packed town hall Friday evening, Ms. Brockovich gave advice to concerned residents, telling them to trust their instincts. She said moments like this can feel like the “biggest gaslight” of people’s lives,  and she told them that it won’t be a “quick fix,” but a “long game.” 

“I've learned in communities over and over again — they can handle the truth,” she said. “Whether it scares them, or they don't want to hear it. What they can't handle is a mistruth, being misled.”

She told the residents to be aware of how they and their children are feeling and to document information. “You know if you smell something. You know if the water is a funny color,” she said. 

 

Hanna Webster

East Palestine residents say health assessment clinic falls short: 'A dog and pony show'

Ms. Brockovich was joined by attorney Mikal Watts, who urged people to get tested as soon as possible.

"I'm begging you, for your own good, go get your blood and your urine tested now," he said. "If it says you don't have anything, you have peace of mind. If it says you have something, you now have an objective, medical basis."

Bob Bowcock, a water expert and the founder of the water development firm Integrated Resource Management, shared his concerns that contaminants may spread to the city’s drinking water sooner than expected. 

“The state of Ohio has determined that groundwater protection from the surface contamination in this community is zero,” he said. “I've never seen a zero. Groundwater is very shallow here. If the chemicals are already at this location, we've got a real problem.”

Mr. Watts said while what happened in East Palestine is new to the community, it’s not a new phenomenon for trains to carry hazardous materials.

"We live in a society, for better or for worse, that chooses to ship the most deadly, the most toxic, the most dangerous chemicals ever made by man in rail cars right through populated cities,” he said.

As a law clerk, Ms. Brockovich was instrumental in revealing that a Pacific Gas and Electric facility in Hinkley, Calif., was contaminating the groundwater with high levels of hexavalent chromium, sickening the small community for decades.

 

Ford Turner

‘The whole sky was black’: Pa. residents describe the horror of the East Palestine derailment

With Ms. Brockovich’s help, residents reached a $333 million settlement with the company in 1996, the largest ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit at the time. The story propelled Ms. Brockovich into fame and later inspired the Oscar-winning 2000 film with her namesake.

Friday night, she called back to what happened in Hinkley and said it has happened everywhere, from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the Flint, Mich., water crisis.

"We've got failing infrastructure, companies with poor corporate models that put all of us at risk and continue to just think once we poison a community, it's just going to magically go away,” she said. “We often find out five and 10 years down the road after you were told it was safe."

Ms. Brockovich said she started receiving emails right after the train derailment Feb. 3 from concerned residents and was invited by the community to visit. 

“I could see the frustration and the confusion growing for all of you and I feel bad for you,” she told the crowd. “And I’ve experienced this in community after community.” 

The event at East Palestine was packed; every seat in the auditorium was filled and another room was set up with a live feed for the overflow. 

John Messer, lives about 5 miles away from the train derailment, was one of the many in attendance. He worries East Palestine, where he’s lived all his life, will become a ghost town if everyone is forced out due to health concerns. Mr. Messer came to the town hall seeking information that he feels he isn’t getting from authorities.

“Will I get cancer if I stay here?” he said before the meeting. “I’m trying to get answers to what’s going on.”

George Psomas came to the event because he and his mother Helen Gould lives just 3,000 feet away from the derailment site. After hearing the information shared during the meeting, Mr. Psomas said he is going to call his doctor to see about getting his blood tested for toxic chemicals released during the accident, including vinyl chloride. 

“That was one of my questions — what should I get done?” Mr. Psomas said. “I'm going to reach out to my doctor and get a baseline, get the basics done, so that they can monitor it five,10 years from now.”

The event concludes a busy week for East Palestine. Former President Donald Trump visited the village Wednesday with water and cleaning supplies, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came Thursday, sharing his regret for not visiting sooner and echoing calls to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and prevent future rail incidents.

Ms. Brockovich was also on the ground in East Palestine on Thursday, sharing on Twitter that she was meeting with residents. 

This week, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office has made a criminal referral to the attorney general, which will investigate Norfolk Southern to determine possible criminal activity. The move came after the EPA announced that the company would be financially liable for all cleanup costs.

A preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board Thursday painted a more detailed picture of the circumstances leading up the accident. The report found that hot box detectors tracked the increasing temperature of the train’s troubled axle before it derailed.

As residents continue to report nausea, headaches, skin irritation and other symptoms in the aftermath, the Ohio Department of Health opened a temporary medical clinic earlier this week. But people have shared that the center falls short, failing to offer blood testing or other kinds of health assessments.

First Published February 24, 2023, 8:10pm