High Court Asked to Take Alaska Union Dues Case
- Details
- Category: News
- Created on Monday, 06 November 2023 15:07
- Hits: 892
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin the process to limit and possibly eliminate a chemical commonly used in car tires, after scientific studies found that the chemical — commonly known as 6PPD — is fatal to salmon.
The EPA announced its regulatory plans Thursday, answering a petition from three Native Tribes in the Pacific Northwest. The states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut also supported the petition.
It likely will take years for the EPA’s rule-making process to take effect; the agency’s first step will be to require tire manufacturers to share their unpublished health and safety studies, but that’s not expected before the end of 2024.
A University of Washington study, funded by the EPA and published in late December 2020, conclusively linked 6PPD to mass die-offs of coho salmon in urban waterways around Seattle.
Followup studies by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, among others, have repeatedly confirmed the results.
The 6PPD chemical is used by all major tire manufacturers to reduce degradation and cracking. Tires deposit small amounts of rubber on the road with each revolution, and those deposits contain 6PPD, which then washes into neighboring waterways with snow and rain.
Limited testing has been done in Alaska, home to the nation’s largest salmon runs, but preliminary sampling in Anchorage in 2021 found levels of 6PPD that are lethal to coho salmon.
––––
https://alaskabeacon.com/james-brooks
Login Form
20 YEARS AGO
February 2005
Photo caption: S&S General Contractors crew bury conduit along Sawmill Creek Road as part of a sewer line project. They’ve been working only at night, using portable lights to direct traffic. Sitkans living between Shotgun Alley and Indian River Road are asked not to use drains or toilets Thursday as pump stations will be turned off.
50 YEARS AGO
February 1975
Photo caption: Five players selected for the first All Tournament team in the American Legion Southeast Alaska Basketball Tournament hold their trophies. From left are Jeff Klanott, Klukwan ANB; Rick Ludigsen, Ketchikan Webber Air; Al Kookesh, Angoon ANB; Terry Friske, Klukwan ANB; and Mike Erickson, Ketchikan Webber Air.
Calendar
