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New Study Shows Impact of Mercury Pollution: $8.7 Billion Lost Annually Due to Poisoning in the Womb

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2007 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) face pending deadlines on mercury reduction plans, a new study published today calculated that the U.S. loses $8.7 billion annually due to the impact of mercury on children's brain development. The peer-reviewed study by the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine's Center for Children's Health and the Environment was published today, February 28, online by the National Institutes of Health journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.

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"Before they take their first breath, as many as 600,000 babies may suffer permanent brain damage from their mothers' exposure to mercury pollution," said Susan Marmagas, MPH, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility's Environment and Health Program. "The damage has personal consequences for these children, but now we see that it also has enormous implications for the national economy."

Humboldt Waste Management Authority settles with Humboldt Baykeeper in bay pollution lawsuit

Humboldt Baykeeper and the Humboldt Waste Management Authority recently reached a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit that claimed the waste company was allowing polluted stormwater to enter Humboldt Bay and the Palco Marsh.

Humboldt Baykeeper’s pollution claims contested a November 2016 inspection by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board...

County addresses pollution concerns

County staff has responded to concerns about potential onsite wastewater system impacts to impaired watersheds in the Clam/Moonstone Beach area, saying a mix of public outreach and monitoring will address them.

The impacts relate to elevated fecal coliform levels at Luffenholtz Beach, Clam Beach, Trinidad State Beach and Moonstone Beach, which were listed as impaired in 2013. Other watercourses, including Little River, Widow White Creek, Strawberry Creek, Campbell Creek and Jolly Giant Creek were added to the impaired list in 2015.

Whether the areas added later will be adequately addressed was discussed during the Nov. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisors considered the county’s Local Agency Management Program (LAMP), which outlines how state onsite treatment standards will be complied with.

During the discussion, Supervisor Mike Wilson noted that Humboldt Baykeeper has commented on the county program’s lack of specific inclusion of the water bodies added in 2015.

State standards cite 600-foot wastewater system setbacks from impaired water bodies but there’s some leeway. Carolyn Hawkins of the county’s Department of Environmental Health said the county proposes to monitor feeder streams – such as those from the 2015 list – instead of requiring the setbacks.

California Redwood Company has entered into a four-year agreement with the Arcata-based environmental nonprofit Humboldt Baykeeper in order to drop a federal lawsuit alleging the company violated the Clean Water Act, according to a joint announcement this week.

Filed in December 2016 by Humboldt Baykeeper, the lawsuit alleged California Redwood Company was allowing storm water carrying pollutants from its wood chip dock facility and former mill site on the Samoa peninsula to enter Humboldt Bay since at least September 2011.

Royal Gold settles lawsuit

Humboldt Baykeeper warns of chemical runoff on former mill sites

The Arcata-based soil company Royal Gold LLC recently settled a federal civil lawsuit filed by Humboldt Baykeeper that alleged the company allowed harmful chemicals at its Glendale soil mixing facility to contaminate the Mad River and the nearby Mill Creek.

The company agreed to make a variety of infrastructure changes to prevent contaminated runoff from entering soil and groundwater.