John Deignan is Lead Free DC Program Manager at DC Water. In this episode John says there are more than 20,000 lead drinking water lines on private property in Washington, DC and the utility’s new program provides funding for replacement and requires disclosure of lead by landlords and property sellers.…
Rob Puentes is the President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation. In this episode Rob discusses various intersections of water and transportation, including the challenges and opportunities with both types of infrastructure simultaneously in need of massive investment to modernize and expand. He talks about the impact that…
Carla Burns is a Research and Database Analyst with the Environmental Working Group. In this episode Carla discusses the safety and effectiveness of sunscreens, including EWG’s review of more than 1,300 products that found only 25 percent offer sufficient protection and don’t contain ingredients of concern such as oxybenzone. She…
When actor Mark Ruffalo learned how people were exposed to toxic chemical PFAS he was shocked, called environmental attorney Rob Bilott, and asked how to get the story out to a wide audience. That led to the movie Dark Waters. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopRobBilott
About 69,000 people in Parkersburg, W.V. took place in a study of the human health impacts of PFAS, which was linked to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, preeclampsia, and high cholesterol. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopRobBilott
The companies 3M and DuPont knew for decades that PFAS was toxic, didn't break down easily, and bioaccumulated in people... But they kept that information from the public and the government, says Rob Bilott. Watch the full #podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopRobBilott
Nancy Stoner is the President of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. In this episode Nancy describes how the health of the “Nation’s River” has significantly improved over the past several decades and how it is doing today. She discusses the continued sources of pollution to the Potomac River, which includes agriculture…
Rob Bilott says that PFAS compounds, known as "forever chemicals," are incredibly toxic and have found their way into drinking water, the environment, and humans around the world. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopRobBilott
Many cities in the Southwest are growing while actually using the same or less water, but the supply in the Colorado River system is decimated because climate change is decreasing snow and rainfall, says Luke Runyon. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
The Drought Contingency Plan identifies cutbacks to water supplies for Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico that will occur as drought depletes the Colorado River and its reservoirs like Lake Mead. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
A rare release of stored water to the Colorado River Delta created flowing water where people hadn't seen it in many years, resulting in celebrations and a reconnection of the surrounding Mexican communities to the river. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
Tiffani Ashley Bell is the Executive Director of The Human Utility. In this episode Tiffani talks about the impacts on a person when their water is shut off and how The Human Utility pays water bills to restore service in Detroit and Baltimore. She explains how families, elderly, and those…
Mathew Hauer is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida State University who studies the impacts of climate change on society. In this episode Mathew explains that an estimated 13 million Americans will need to move because of rising sea levels by the end of the century. He discusses how…
Kara Meyer is the Managing Director of + POOL, a nonprofit working to build a swimming pool in the East River in New York City. In this episode Kara discusses the vision for + POOL including how it would filter river water and provide a recreational resource for New Yorkers.…
Vaughn Hagerty is the Public Information Officer for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, North Carolina. In this episode Vaughn discusses the discovery that GenX, a PFAS chemical, was dumped into the Cape Fear River for nearly 40 years by Chemours, a DuPont spin-off company, and ended up…
LukeRunyon says his flight over the Colorado River provided a view of the beautiful Rockies and Southwest landscape, the infrastructure built to withdraw water, and the sad ending where the river fails to reach the ocean. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
La’Meshia Whittington-Kaminski is Deputy Political Director for Advance Carolina and Organizing Campaigns Director for the NC Black Alliance. In this episode La’Meshia explains how the environmental justice movement began in North Carolina and the disproportionate impacts that low-income communities and communities of color have faced in the state, including GenX…
Rob Bilott is an environmental attorney and author of Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont. In this episode Rob details his two-decade legal fight to reveal the harm done by PFAS to people in Parkersburg, W.V. and to call widespread attention to the unique…
It is a travesty that it took a year and a half for the people of #Flint to have their voices heard about lead in their drinking water, says Micah Ragland, a Flint native who helped in the community as part of EPA's response. Watch the full #podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
There are still lead water lines in the ground in Flint. Among the reasons for the replacement effort taking so long are Michigan's cold weather, a lack of records on pipe locations, and making sure local people got the work. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
Six years after the Flint drinking water crisis began the public health impacts on vulnerable populations are still emerging, including a large spike in the number of special needs children that is attributed to lead exposure. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
Here's a heartbreaking story from the Flint water crisis of a Latino mother of three young children. She didn't speak English well and didn't know the water was unsafe, so the family had been drinking it for a year and a half. Watch the full #podcast at https://bit.ly/MicahRagland
Micah Ragland is a native of Flint, Michigan and served as a public outreach official in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama Administration. In this episode Micah describes the history and people of Flint, as well as his experience growing up in the city. He explains how the…
Not only is the Navajo Water Project providing water to homes, but is also providing $15 an hour jobs for the water and solar technicians, who are all Navajo and members of the community they serve. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/goq7JD_FbKc