David Velinsky News Today

The announcement comes a month after the USGS found 76% of waterways in the state contain PFAS — and that wastewater treatment facilities and electronics manufacturers were top polluters.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will increase monitoring for the toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. The announcement comes about a month after the U.S. Geological Survey found

Advocates worry the recent removal of tide gates at FDR Park hurt trees. Experts say it depends on the species and on how long they’re inundated.

Coastal communities, from the Jersey Shore to Miami to Southern California, are likely to see a dramatic surge in high-tide floods starting in the mid 2030s as rising sea levels due to climate change align with natural shifts in the moons orbit, a new NASA study warns. High-tide floods, also known as nuisance floods or sunny day floods, occur not because of storm surges from extreme weather or excessive precipitation, but instead when the tide rises into populated areas. The floods can overwhel...

Polymer fragments smaller than a grain of rice, called microplastics, have been found in water samples from 53 waterways in Pennsylvania including anglers beloved Tulpehocken Creek and Blue Marsh Lake, environmental advocates at PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center said in a new report. Collected from January through June 2020 from waters that in some places seemed clean and clear, the sampling suggests microplastics are ubiquitous in the state.  The samples were tested for four types of...

... Posted By: WPMT     HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (WPMT) -- A new study released Wednesday by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center found that all 53 of waterways tested across Pennsylvania contained microplastic contamination -- including the Susquehanna River. The report provides new data on the presence of microplastics in water samples taken at many of Pennsylvania’s most popular rivers, lakes, and streams, including from the Susquehanna River, Codorus Creek, and Conodoguinet...

A new study led by a statewide environmental nonprofit organization found microplastics in each of 53 Pennsylvania waterways sampled, including four in Centre County. The report “Microplastics in Pennsylvania,” released Wednesday by PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center found that samples taken from Spring Creek, Slab Cabin Run, Buffalo Run and Cedar Run all contained microplastics — tiny pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters in length. More than 300 samples were collected from bod...

Credit Kelly Tunney / WPSU Plastic permeates Pennsylvania’s waterways, according to a study released Wednesday by PennEnvironment’s Research & Policy Center. The environmental organization conducted a survey to study the presence of microplastics — pieces of plastic debris less than 5 millimeters long, often too tiny to be caught by water-filtration systems — in the state’s rivers, creeks, and streams. Turns out, microplastics are everywhere. Researchers took 315 samples from 53 bod...

WHYY By Water samples on the banks of Valley Creek. (Hannah Pittel) Updated 11:50 a.m. Thursday Plastic permeates Pennsylvania’s waterways, according to a study released Wednesday by PennEnvironment’s Research & Policy Center. The environmental organization conducted a survey to study the presence of microplastics — pieces of plastic debris less than 5 millimeters long, often too tiny to be caught by water-filtration systems — in the state’s rivers, creeks, and streams. Turns out, mic...

It was called Parkesine, made by treating plant material, cellulose, with nitric acid, hence the name nitrocellulose.   In the ensuing decades, plastic evolved and soon was among the most ubiquitous materials on the face of the earth.   It is in nearly everything, from building materials, to containers, to furniture, to musical instruments, to medical devices. Plastic has to be considered one of the most significant materials in the history of mankind, cemented in the zeitgeist of our ...