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For many years, the 85-mile stretch of chemical plants located in southeastern Louisiana and stretching from Baton Rouge to New Orleans has been nicknamed “Cancer Alley.” Home to approximately 83 chemical plants and 45,000 residents, who are predominantly low-income black families, the region’s high rates of cancer have been blamed on pollution from the plants. […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) and the criteria for an SVEP case. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is well known for not only setting the standards for safety, […]
On July 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it issued a pair of six-figure fines to employers in Missouri and New Jersey. BCP Ingredients Inc., located in Verona, Missouri, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Balchem Corp., faces the larger of the fines—$393,798—after agency inspectors found dozens of serious safety and health […]
Dr. John Howard was trained as a physician in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and occupational medicine and worked in clinical medicine until 1991. From 1991 to 2002, he served as the Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the State of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. In 2002, Dr. Howard was […]
On July 6, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its final report on a fatal incident on December 8, 2020, at Optima Belle LLC in Belle, West Virginia. The board also recently closed two other investigations. During Optima Belle’s production of a sanitizing compound for Clearon Corporation, a dryer at the […]
Rex Lumber LLC faces $184,385 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a 20-year-old worker trying to clear a jammed roller in its Troy, Alabama, sawmill was crushed and killed after stored energy caused the infeed unit to close on him, the agency announced July 5. OSHA issued a willful citation for allowing […]
In June 2023, the Texas Supreme Court narrowly ruled that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is protected by sovereign immunity laws, which generally protect government entities from civil lawsuits. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the all-Republican Court found that ERCOT, which manages most of Texas’s power grid, qualifies for sovereign immunity because […]
On June 6, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)—proposed requirements for automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems on heavy motor vehicles (88 Fed. Reg. 43174). The proposal would require AEB systems on vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms). The […]
On June 9, 2023, the EPA reported on its analysis of operations at Suncor petroleum refinery in Commerce City, Colorado. The analysis was undertaken because Suncor reported more air pollution incidents compared with other refineries. The Suncor analysis serves as a case study for industry to use to prevent similar compliance issues. The Agency reported […]
On June 8, 2023, the EPA proposed a rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to ban most uses of perchloroethylene (PCE), a chemical known to cause serious health risks such as neurotoxicity and cancer. The proposed rule bans all consumer uses of the chemical while allowing for many industrial/commercial uses to continue only […]