As many as 1 million Californians, mostly in the farming communities of the Central Valley, have dangerous levels of an unregulated chemical linked to cancer in their drinking water, according to California’s State Water Board.
State and private water experts say it remains there and is now found in dangerous levels in the drinking water served by 94 different public water systems.
State data show about two-thirds of the 94 affected water systems are in the Central Valley, although the chemical also has been found at levels experts say is unsafe in parts of the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
The two chemical companies have argued in court they shouldn’t be responsible for damages or cleanup costs because the state doesn’t have a maximum legal limit set for TCP in drinking water.
Those Priorities Don’t Apply Here Activists and environmental groups argue Shell and Dow should bear cleanup costs where TCP contamination is found because of the chemical’s widespread marketing to farmers.
It should be on those that are causing it.” Monaco is working with Central Valley communities to test their water for contaminants such as TCP.
That’s what I worry about.” Although there is no legal limit set for TCP anywhere in the country, attorney Todd Robins has settled eight lawsuits filed against Dow and Shell on behalf of small public water systems affected by TCP.
“This is another compelling example of the fact that the poorest among us, the people with the voices that are least heard, bear the brunt of the worst environmental burdens.” Although no state in the country has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for TCP, California water officials expect to formalize an MCL for the chemical in drinking water soon.
If the water served to the public exceeds the MCL, the water system will be required to clean it up.
A previous NBC Bay Area investigation found that nearly 700,000 Californians still have drinking water contaminated by chemicals already regulated by the state.

CVS updates progress on three major initiatives in corporate social responsibility report.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS on Wednesday providing updates on three pillars that support its corporate social responsibility report, entitled Prescription for a Better World.
“We are committed to making health care more affordable and accessible, reducing our environmental impact, and operating our business with integrity.
These priorities are represented by the three pillars that support our strategy,” CVS stated in the report.
Planet In Balance: We are committed to understanding the connection between our environmental impact and the health of our customers and communities, such as air pollution, water pollution, deforestation and climate change, and working to reduce those impacts.
Our expanding environmental footprint includes thousands of retail pharmacies and a growing supply chain.
We’re committed to assessing and reducing the direct and indirect environmental impacts of that footprint.
Leader In Growth: We follow through on our purpose of helping people on their path to better health — and on our values of integrity and accountability — by striving to create a safe, rewarding, engaging and inclusive workplace.
We’re also committed to transparency and to the implementation of robust standards throughout our enterprise and across our supply chain.” “Our corporate social responsibility strategy supports these efforts — growing our business while building social impact and delivering on our promise,” said president and CEO Larry Merlo.
“As I look ahead to the next ten years, I see so many opportunities for our CSR strategy to play an even bigger role in supporting our business and delivering value to our customers, communities and stakeholders.” To read the full report, click here.

Shanghai’s 12345 hotline was the best among the country’s 300-plus similar hotlines in terms of service standard last year. — Illustration by Huang Yihuan /Shanghai Daily WHEN I took Metro Line 12 on my way to work on Monday, I was surprised to find myself in a carriage carrying neatly posted messages from netizens about why they love Shanghai. It was a pleasant surprise, though, as most of these messages were thought-provoking, and thus a better sight than most commercial ads. Just take a few examples: 1. Road signs in Shanghai are so clear that you never get lost even without a road map at hand; 2. Shanghai is a city where you can either run at full speed or rest at ease; 3. Here you have a sensible combination of sense and sensibility; 4. A city friendly to foreigners; and, 5. Nice bookstores here and there, which make reading easier. The next day I checked news online and found that there were more than 300 such messages on Metro Line 12, selected out of 3,000 contributions from netizens by a leading local media outlet in cooperation with the Shanghai Metro. These messages broadened my view about what it means to live in Shanghai, and prompted me to ponder why, born and bred in Yangzhou, an ancient city in Jiangsu Province, I love Shanghai. Which led me to think of a call I made a couple of weeks ago to complain about water pollution near my home in suburban Shanghai. I dialed the citizen’s hotline 12345 to alert relevant authorities that some construction workers had been shoveling plastic waste into the river circling our neighborhood in Zhaoxiang Town, Qingpu District. I told the receptionist that I had taken pictures. The hotline was set up over four years ago as a response to non-urgent issues pertaining to people’s daily life. I was not sure…

Sandman eyes another run for 8th District seat.
Skip Sandman appears to be returning to run as a candidate in the 2018 race to represent the 8th Congressional District.
In a Facebook announcement this week, Sandman invited supporters to his "candidacy announcement" event on Sunday.
"Skip will announce his intention to run for Congress in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District," the invitation read.
Rep. Rick Nolan, DFL-Crosby, is the three-time incumbent in the state’s 8th District, beating Republican challenger Stewart Mills of Brainerd in the past two elections.
Sandman did not run in the 2016 race.
Gov.
Mark Dayton is not seeking re-election.
In 2014, Sandman ran for Congress on an environmental platform, opposing proposed copper-and-nickel mining on the Iron Range.
He cited the potential risk of water pollution and vowed to keep natural waterways pristine.

Engineering faculty from four departments were funded, including the departments of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
The seven newly funded projects bring the total number of seed research projects supported by J-WAFS to 24 since 2015.
Through the innovative technologies and collaborations we are supporting with these new research projects, J-WAFS is working to secure the future of our communities, the sustainability of our cities, and the prosperity of our economies in the face of rising population, greater urbanization, and changing climate.” Project highlights appear below, followed by a full listing of 2017 J-WAFS Seed Grant-funded projects.
Enhancing crop production with an eye toward sustainability Enhancing crop production while supporting environmentally sustainable farming practices in developing countries was a theme of several funded projects this year.
Two projects are addressing challenges around nitrogen fertilizer.
Harvesting water from air Securing clean drinking water in environments that are water-scarce or polluted is a challenge in many regions of the world.
Mircea Dinca, associate professor of chemistry, and Evelyn Wang, the Gail E. Kendall Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, are teaming up to develop a new technology that can be used to harvest water in even the most arid regions of the globe.
PIs: Mircea Dinca, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry; and Evelyn Wang, the Gail E. Kendall Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering "Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation for Distributed Fertilizer Production."
PIs: Xuanhe Zhao, the Noyce Career Development Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering; and John H. Lienhard, V, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water and Food in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and J-WAFS "Multifunctional Light-Diffusing Fibers for Simultaneous Light Management and Fluid Transport in Microalgae Bioreactors."
PI: Mathias Kolle, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

It was announced Monday that the state has fined the town of Bennington $15,000 for failing to keep its wastewater treatment facility properly maintained.
Given that the town already intends to seek a bond for about $10 million to pay for repairs, the fine is a small insult atop a larger injury.
According to Bennington Town Manager Stuart Hurd, the state requires the town to have 24 RBCs running at a given time.
In 2015, before the problem occurred, the town planned to buy four new RBC gear boxes a year.
At a cost of $22,000 each, there’s a reason it wasn’t done all at once.
Three of the new gearbox units then failed, causing a chain reaction that knocked out all but a third of the others.
The plant is now running with 25 RBCs, one more than the state requires.
It must also submit a plan on how it intends to replace and maintain its RBCs.
Fixing the plant will require the town to bond between $9.5 and $11 million.
Though to hear some people talk, the penalty will lead to Bennington going bankrupt.

$220,000 state grant for Hoosick Falls water costs.
The grant was ushered through the public authority recently with support from Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s office that said the money would need to be repaid only if the two companies blamed for the pollution reimburse the village for those costs.
The windfall for the village comes after the state Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously on a bill that would allow the village to issue bonds to help cover additional costs associated with the pollution.
A similar bill is pending in the Assembly.
The government assistance comes after the village Board of Trustees voted last month to fire the Glens Falls law firm that has billed Hoosick Falls more than $450,000 for its work on the water-contamination issues, including tens of thousands of dollars for public relations advice and processing Freedom of Information Law requests filed by news organizations.
The work included writing speeches for former Mayor David Borge and vetting his public testimony and "talking points" to reporters and at public hearings.
Saint-Gobain owns a manufacturing plant on McCaffrey Street that is a focus of the contamination.
The negotiations fell apart two months ago when the Village Board, facing intense public criticism, voted to indefinitely table the draft settlement agreement with Saint-Gobain and Honeywell.
The agreement was made public in December and touted by Borge and other village leaders as a way for the small community to recoup its out-of-pocket expenses The initial $850,000 settlement proposal brought public criticism, and the companies and village responded with a retooled deal in January that increased the one-time payment to $1.04 million.

High School Students Protect Schuylkill River.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — High school students were recognized today for their work protecting the Schuylkill River.
The Schuylkill River supplies water to two million people in pennsylvania.
Students at Schuylkill Haven High School were awarded for their efforts to keep the river clean.
150 members of the high school’s biology club gathered to recieve their award from the Schuylkill Action Network.
Students were honored for planting trees, picking up litter, and for learning about water pollution from abandoned mines.
"Up in Schuylkill County we’re in the headwaters or the beginning of the watershed so whatever happens up here affects those downstream," explained Virginia Vassalotti, Schuylkill Action Coordinator.
"We tested the water quality here in Schuylkill Haven and other places along the schuylill river to determine the quality of the water," said Corbin Ney, sophomore.
The Schuylkill River is also the largest influence on the Delaware River Watershed, which provides water to more than 15 million people.

Congress takes ‘poster’ pot shots at BJP.
Pune: While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s total victory over the Congress in the recently-concluded civic polls has left it toothless, it has not stopped the beleaguered opposition from taking potshots at the saffron party.
The Mayor has returned, so you too, should come back.” Both Mr. Bapat and the city’s newly-elected Mayor, BJP leader Mukta Tilak were away on foreign tours as the city and the residents of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi grappled with the garbage problem.
Hence, we have put up these banners at different points in the city to subtly protest against the absence of key decision- makers during Pune’s hour of need,” said Arvind Shinde, the Congress’ leader within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
The garbage crisis in Pune ended last Sunday after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis formally met with the residents of Uruli Devachi and Phursungi villages and persuaded them to withdraw their three-week long agitation.
The crisis erupted after a after a fire broke out at the garbage depot at Uruli Devachi, the largest garbage processing utility, prompting villagers to stop the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) from dumping the city’s garbage in the villages.
The residents’ agitation over the grossly insanitary conditions caused by the PMC’s dumping in the twin villages led to a massive accumulation within Pune city, which presently generates an average 1700 tonnes of garbage each day.
Nearly 500 tonnes of untreated waste was lying daily as a result of the stalemate.
The villages have been bearing the brunt of Pune’s indiscriminate urbanisation since the early 1990s.
The methane emissions from the landfills have adversely affected the health of the villagers, who are forced to endure the ravages of water pollution as well.

The report – Inquiry into Havelock North water contamination.
Overview [4]Hastings District Council ("District Council") supplies drinking water to consumers in Havelock North.
[7]This Inquiry has found that several of the parties with responsibility for the water supply regime for Havelock North (in particular the District Council, DWAs and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council ("Regional Council")) failed to adhere to the high levels of care and diligence necessary to protect public health and to avoid outbreaks of serious illness.
The Outbreak [31]In August 2016, an outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred in Havelock North.
Given the evidence received by the Inquiry in relation to the unconfined nature of the aquifer and the security of the Hastings bores and the Brookvale Road bores, the Inquiry considers this was a necessary and prudent decision.
3.What was the source and cause of the contamination of the Havelock North drinking water supply in August 2016.
How was the outbreak managed.
The Regional Council alleged that the District Council had failed adequately to maintain the bore works’ structures for Brookvale Road bores 1 and 2.
He also advised that plans were underway for the Joint Working Group to investigate the security of the aquifer and that the District Council was in the process of reviewing its management and accountability processes in relation to the operation of Brookvale Road bore 3, and the Hastings bores.
[95]As part of the updating evidence, the Inquiry also received evidence from the Chief Executives of the District Council, Regional Council, and the District Health Board as to the workings of the Joint Working Group.