Posted inEnvironment

Amid drought, laws to track California’s biggest water users ignored

Water runs along a farm irrigation ditch in Richvale, Calif. Amid a drought, most agricultural water districts are ignoring laws to track their flow.Jae C. Hong/Associated Press The last time California endured a drought, legislators set their sights on the state’s heaviest water users: farmers. The state designed laws to push agricultural water districts to […]

Posted inEnvironment

Treasure Island cleanup exposes Navy’s mishandling of its nuclear past

This story was also published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. SAN FRANCISCO – Halfway across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, an abrupt exit leads to Treasure Island, a seven-sided plain with spectacular views that inspire grandiose dreams. The Army Corps of Engineers created the island for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, encircling […]

Posted inUncategorized

Radioactive poisoning may still be risk on Treasure Island, memo says

Department of Public Health surveyors found a half-inch-wide radioactive disk under a grassy area between apartment complexes last March. The octagonal shard was so hot that holding onto it for an hour could cause radiation burns and hair loss, according to a memo.Map tiles by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0. Data by OpenStreetMap, under […]

Posted inEnvironment, Food Security

Foster Farms salmonella outbreak highlights flaws in food safety system

The Foster Farms chicken processing plant on Cherry Avenue in Fresno, Calif., is one of three plants linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 338 people across the country.Craig Kohlruss/The Fresno Bee via Associated Press Each month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes a list calling out chicken processing plants across the […]

Posted inEnvironment, Food Security

9 questions we’re answering about salmonella

Fotokon/Shutterstock.com An outbreak of an especially strong form of salmonella has sickened hundreds of people in 20 states. But how it happened largely has remained a mystery. Here’s what we know about some of the more pressing questions surrounding the outbreak. Have other questions? Email the reporter at kmieszkowski@cironline.org. What led to the salmonella outbreak? […]