California backs Council, developer preference for Zeneca cleanup plan

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) on Friday announced its selection of a cleanup plan for one of Richmond’s most notorious brownfields: an industrial site located on the city’s south shoreline, once occupied by a succession of corporate tenants including Stauffer Chemical Co. and pharmaceutical company Zeneca Inc. The plan will excavate contaminated soil…

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Human Rights Commission endorses ‘No Coal’ ordinance in Richmond

The Human Rights and Human Relations Commission of the city of Richmond unanimously endorsed an ordinance calling for the phasing out of coal transportation by privately-owned Levin-Richmond Terminal. Monday’s vote was a new development in the contentious debate over coal and petcoke brought by train from Utah to Richmond for transport to Asia.  The legislation,…

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Richmond waste roundup combats illegal dumping

A steady line of vehicles pulled into the parking lot of Richmond’s Galileo Club, most of them carrying old mattresses, hazardous household waste and empty propane tanks. Workers in neon vests unfastened the cushy bedding and large containers, moving and stacking the items like a well-oiled machine.  The scene was Richmond’s annual Household Hazardous Waste…

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City council tightens vaping regulations over health concerns

Richmond’s City Council unanimously approved a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes, including vapes, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t deemed safe. The measure, passed Tuesday night amid mounting nationwide concern over harm to health, will go into effect in 2020. There have been six vaping-related deaths reported in the United States, according…

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Western monarch butterflies could disappear

Each year, thousands of monarch butterflies from across the west make their way to the California coast where they spend their winter, including making migratory stops at East Bay parks. For the past two decades, volunteer citizen scientists have been counting them during the Annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, organized by the Xerces Society. Christina…

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Amid ‘nightmare’ budget cuts, EPA closing its Richmond lab

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is closing its Region 9 lab in Richmond, consolidating some of the lab's services and moving others out of California. Critics say the move will cripple the agency's ability to conduct testing and analysis in the region.

With “nightmare” budget cuts on the legislative slate, the EPA is closing its Region 9 lab in Richmond, where scientists perform everything from monitoring drinking water to watching over some of the worst toxic waste sites on the West Coast. It will be consolidating some of the lab’s services and moving others out of California.

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MAP: An overview of every toxic, contaminated site in Richmond

Over the decades, a sprawling network of shuttered chemical plants and oil refineries has left harmful pollutants in Richmond’s air, water, and soil. According to data collected by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, the city is home to more than a hundred hazardous waste sites, including two highly contaminated, federally designated Superfund locations.…

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