30 Dec 2015 6:27 pm
Two important stories I haven't seen covered anywhere but on The Rachel Maddow Show.
All we get everywhere else is all Trump, all the time.
All we get everywhere else is all Trump, all the time.
LA's Gas Leak Is a Global Disaster
One of the worst environmental disasters of the decade is currently underway in a quiet community 25 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Putrid, methane-rich natural gas has been spewing into the air at an estimated rate of nearly 1,300 metric tons per day for over two months.
Experts are calling it the climate version of the BP oil spill, and the leak isn’t going to be contained anytime soon.
Michigan Ignored 'Conclusive Evidence' Of Flint Lead Poisoning, Researcher Says
Michigan state officials insisted that the water supply in Flint was safe even though they knew an unusual number of children had suffered lead poisoning, according to a scientist who helped blow the whistle on Flint's water crisis.
Through a public records request, Marc Edwards, a civil engineering professor at Virginia Tech, uncovered a July 2015 memo warning of elevated lead levels in Flint kids' blood.
An internal report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services warned that lead poisoning rates "were higher than usual for children under age 16 living in the City of Flint during the months of July, August and September, 2014."
In April 2014, city and state officials switched Flint's water source from Detroit's water system to the Flint River, immediately prompting citizen complaints about tap water quality.
Edwards led a team that conducted its own analysis of Flint's water, reporting high lead levels in early September of this year. Brad Wurfel, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, essentially dismissed the allegations in an interview with Michigan Radio, saying the state's analysis of blood data didn't show any signs of a problem.
The government continued to insist that the water was safe until a Flint pediatrician with the Hurley Medical Center reported later in September that the water change corresponded with a significant spike in lead poisoning among city children.
However, the memo obtained by Edwards suggests the state knew about the lead poisoning weeks earlier, yet continued to say the water was okay.