skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Two dead after 2 small planes collide midair in AZ; New research offers solutions to address violence in MS; Frozen funds hurting farmers in MO, nation; Bill to legally protect pesticide companies could be coming to ID.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

State legislators chip away at early voting laws, the North Carolina Supreme Court election saga continues, and universal private school voucher programs expand nationwide, putting public school funding at risk.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A Taos, NM sheriff won't comply with immigration enforcement that could erode public trust, NH worries that a dearth of charging stations will force tourists driving EVs to vacation elsewhere, and Southern states promote workarounds to improve education.

Map Highlights Where Ohio Kids Are Exposed to Oil, Gas Emissions

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 17, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – As the Environmental Protection Agency backs away from limiting toxic emissions from oil and gas wells, Ohio environmental groups are stepping up calls to limit the pollution.

Earthworks and Moms Clean Air Force have released an updated version of their interactive Oil and Gas Threat Map. It identifies areas at risk from emissions from oil and gas production.

Laura Burns, the Ohio field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio says the map reveals there are 780,000 Ohio children who attend schools near facilities that can emit methane, volatile organic compounds and other pollutants.

"Ohio has the largest number of students who are exposed to oil and gas industry, and I think a lot of people find that surprising," she says. "But when you look at the concentration of population, it is primarily in the eastern portion of the state, where all of the shale is."

Burns says EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is working to roll back Obama-era rules that reduce methane emissions, although the effort is currently tied up in the courts. She says these types of pollution put kids at risk for cancer, respiratory illness, birth defects, blood disorders and neurological problems.

The map is not intended to cause panic or fear, says Burns, but rather inspire action. She explains Ohioans can use the information to speak with their county, state and federal leaders about the impact of oil and gas infrastructure.

"You can go to these meetings and say, 'If you're going to continue to march across our state with your infrastructure, then we need to make sure that not only our children are protected, we also need to make sure that those people who work and live right around all of this infrastructure, that they're protected too,'" she adds.

The new version of the Oil and Gas Threat Map identifies more than 100,000 active wells, compressors and processors in the state, as well as the at-risk populations living within a one-half-mile threat zone around each facility.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Doctors caution that children, the elderly and people with chronic conditions such as asthma and COPD are the most vulnerable to toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke and ash. (Prikhodko/Adobe Stock)

play sound

After thousands of homes and businesses burned in the Los Angeles fires, public health doctors are warning about the toxic pollution from plastics …


Social Issues

play sound

As Congress continues to threaten deep cuts to the Medicaid program, a new KFF report shows how some of the proposed changes could end coverage for …

Environment

play sound

Over the last 120 years, U.S. presidents have used the Antiquities Act almost 300 times to recognize national monuments, protecting portions of …


Diesel exhaust represents about 80-percent of the potential cancer risk from all air toxics in the Puget Sound area. (Natalia Bratslavsky/Adobe Stock)

play sound

New legislation would transition more ocean-going container ships to run off electricity instead of diesel while they are docked at Washington ports…

Environment

play sound

Virginia lawmakers and clean air advocates are closely watching budget talks in Congress. They hope clean energy tax incentives, passed in previous …

Mississippi's prison system has been under federal investigation for unsafe conditions. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report found that "conditions in three Mississippi prisons violate the Constitution. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Mississippi grapples with chronic violence and unconstitutional conditions in its prisons, new research provides a roadmap for reducing harm and …

Environment

play sound

By Seth Millstein for Sentient.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collabora…

Environment

play sound

Legislation to provide legal immunity for pesticide companies has been introduced in state capitols across the country and lawmakers in Boise could so…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021