Tag: #water-pollution — 57 segments on Living on Earth

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2026

May 01, 2026: The Indigenous Fight to Save Bristol Bay
In 2001, a Canadian mining company proposed a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of pristine Bristol Bay, Alaska. Local Native Alaskans became concerned about how the mine could harm their plentiful sockeye salmon run, a cultural and economic lifeblood. Alannah Acaq Hurley, Executive Director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, helped lead the fight against the mine and was awarded the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. Alannah Hurley joins Host Steve Curwood.
April 24, 2026: Boundary Waters Mining Threat
On April 16 the US Senate voted to reverse a moratorium on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, a million acres on the US-Canada border that’s teeming with wildlife and crystal-clear waters. For years a Chilean company has proposed to extract valuable copper, nickel, and cobalt there using copper sulfide mining. Democratic Senator from Minnesota Tina Smith speaks with Host Jenni Doering about why in her view mining in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters is not worth the risk.
April 24, 2026: Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism
While electrifying transportation is essential to addressing the climate crisis, the mining of nickel, copper, and lithium required to build out these green technologies brings its own environmental and social costs. To understand these impacts, author and political scientist Thea Riofrancos traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile, home to one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. She joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss her book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism.
April 10, 2026: Floating Border Wall
About two thirds of the US-Mexico border is along the Rio Grande, and the Trump Administration is working to install hundreds of miles of buoy barriers in the river, to prevent illegal crossings. Now residents of border towns, researchers, and activists are raising the alarm over how those buoys and other barriers could impact wildlife, restrict access to the river and sever cultural ties. Martha Pskowski, a reporter based in Texas for our media partner Inside Climate News, joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss.
March 13, 2026: PFAS Still at Pittsburgh Airport
Foams containing PFAS or “forever chemicals” are excellent at suppressing fires involving jet fuel and other oil products, but they leave behind a toxic legacy. And they have long been used for firefighting drills, including at a training facility based at Pittsburgh International Airport. Although the facility now uses PFAS-free firefighting foam, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports that sampling is still showing high levels of PFAS being discharged into nearby streams.
March 06, 2026: Stinky Seaweed Menace
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems. Teresa Tomassoni, oceans correspondent with our media partner Inside Climate News, spoke with Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill about impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
February 27, 2026: Note on Emerging Science: Detecting Antibiotics in Wastewater
Wastewater treatment often fails to capture antibiotics, which can lead to antibiotic resistance and even “super microbes” when they end up in our waterways. Living on Earth’s Hedy Yang reports in this Note on Emerging Science that scientists in Brazil have found a novel way to improve antibiotic detection in wastewater, by using sewage sludge itself to create a coating for sensors.
February 27, 2026: Wastewater to Wealth
Urine is packed with nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which can be pollutants when they enter the environment unchecked. But these can also be turned into vital fertilizer to nourish our crops, and 2025 MacArthur Fellow William Tarpeh, an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, is developing methods for “refining” wastewater. He discusses with Host Steve Curwood how we can turn wastewater into wealth.

2025

November 14, 2025: Earth's Cryosphere On Thin Ice
Scientists attending the UN climate talks in Brazil are highlighting the alarming state of the cryosphere, or the frozen part of Earth covered in ice, snow, and permafrost. A recent report warns that the European Alps, Rockies of the Western U.S. and Canada, Iceland, and Scandinavia would lose nearly all ice at 2°Celsius of warming – a threshold we’re currently on track to exceed. Glaciologist and climate scientist Miriam Jackson is the Eurasia and Nordic director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative and joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain how the perilous state of glaciers endangers human civilization as the Earth warms.
November 07, 2025: Hurricane Melissa Recovery Effort
As one of the strongest hurricanes ever documented in the Atlantic, Hurricane Melissa brought catastrophic damage to Jamaica and Cuba, and an extensive relief and recovery effort is now underway. Marianna Kuttothara is Head of Health, Disaster, Climate and Crisis for the Americas at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and joins Host Jenni Doering to talk about the aid efforts, long road to recovery, and importance of building back better.
October 24, 2025: Overseas Chinese Mining and Spills
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has invested over $1 trillion in overseas infrastructure for projects that include mining in developing countries for minerals to fuel the clean energy transition. In the “copper belt” of Zambia, a Chinese-owned tailings dam collapsed, sending toxic sludge into homes and crops. Inside Climate News reporter Katie Surma speaks with Host Jenni Doering about the aftermath and “green colonialism” that appears to no longer be only at the hands of the Global North.
October 17, 2025: Chicago River Restored to Health
On September 21st, hundreds of people leapt into the Chicago River for the first public swimming event since 1927. Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to discuss how major projects including green infrastructure have helped clean up the river for both people and wildlife to enjoy.
September 05, 2025: PFAS Polluters Pay Up
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, discusses with Host Paloma Beltran the legacy of industrial contamination in the state and how the settlement is expected to pay for cleanup as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems.
September 05, 2025: Roadless Rule Under Fire
With an unusually short period for public comments the Trump administration is moving to repeal the “Roadless Rule,” which currently protects over 45 million pristine acres of national forests from access roads for logging. Randi Spivak, the public lands policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity, joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the potential consequences for critical habitat, watersheds, carbon storage and recreation if the Roadless Rule is repealed.
September 05, 2025: Nickel Mining's Toll
Nickel is a key mineral for the clean energy transition but can come at a cost to local communities because of how polluting nickel mining operations can be. In Indonesia leaked company documents reveal that Harita Nickel, one of the world’s largest nickel mining companies, knowingly polluted fresh water sources. Alon Aviram, a reporter with the nonprofit journalism newsroom called The Gecko Project, joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss their investigation.
August 29, 2025: The "Little Sea" with a Big Champion
The Mar Menor or “little sea” lagoon on the coast of Spain faces impacts from mining, agriculture, and a booming tourist industry. Teresa Vicente is a professor of philosophy of law at the University of Murcia who helped pass a 2022 law granting the lagoon legal personhood to give it greater protection. She received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how she led a grassroots movement to protect this beloved lagoon.
August 29, 2025: Oyster Trash to Treasure
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. Host Aynsley O’Neill reports on how these recycled oyster shell reefs are helping to protect the coastline from worsening storms and rising seas.
July 11, 2025: America's Rural Sanitation Crisis
About a quarter of US homes use private septic systems, which can run you thousands of dollars. And more than a million people in America today are living without indoor plumbing, too often in appalling, unhealthy conditions. Catherine Coleman Flowers is working to change that. She is the founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and has published a collection of essays called, Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about her work to help rural families across America lead healthier and wealthier lives by improving sanitation.
April 25, 2025: Fighting PFAS
Laurene Allen moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire to raise a family in the 1980s. Little did she know that, in 2016, the state would reveal that her town’s water supply was contaminated with high levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals, leaked by a nearby plastics plant. Laurene organized a grassroots campaign to expose widespread health harms in her community linked to those chemicals, and the plant eventually shut down. She has been recognized with the 2025 Goldman Prize for North America. Laurene Allen joins Host Steve Curwood to share her story.
March 28, 2025: Dakota Pipeline High Stakes
The movement led by the Standing Rock Sioux to stop the final link of the Dakota Access Pipeline, construction of a tunnel under the Missouri River, is standing firm, but DAPL supporters are equally determined. Sandy Tolan has followed the evolving and increasingly contentious protests since April, and reports on what’s at stake.
March 21, 2025: EPA Abandons Environmental Justice
President Trump’s EPA is halting funding for EJ programs and shuttering its Office of Environmental Justice. David Cash led EPA Region 1 covering New England during the Biden administration and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how EJ initiatives were starting to help overburdened communities clean up their air, replace lead pipes and enjoy better health as a result.
March 21, 2025: Fracking Waste Crisis
The expansion of fracking or hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is generating large amounts of waste contaminated with heavy metals and radiation. Some of it gets sent to landfills like one in the small town of Yukon, Pennsylvania. Kiley Bense of Inside Climate News explains to Host Jenni Doering how EPA has documented unacceptable levels of pollution draining from the landfill into a local creek.
March 07, 2025: On the Greenland Ice
With its staggering volume of ice, the Greenland ice sheet is surely a sight to behold, and Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender brought back this memory from a visit to that otherworldly place.
February 07, 2025: PFAS Rule Withdrawn
One of the many Biden Administration rules the Trump EPA has nixed is one that would have limited the amount of toxic PFAS that petrochemical and other plants can release into waterways. Former Living on Earth intern Shannon Kelleher now reports for The New Lede, and she joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain this setback for regulating “forever chemicals” that cause cancer, immune deficiencies and other harms.

2024

December 13, 2024: Sacred Indian River Polluted
India’s Yamuna River is considered sacred by some devout Hindus, who bathe in the river to cleanse their sins. But around New Delhi it has become polluted with raw sewage and a thick off-white foam linked to laundry detergents. Susmita Sengupta of the Centre for Science and Environment joins Host Jenni Doering to talk about the causes and possible solutions to this ongoing river pollution crisis.
October 25, 2024: 'Ecocide' of Ukrainian River
An explosion that spilled chemical waste into a river near the Russia-Ukraine border this August led to an ecological disaster with mass fish die-offs. Kyiv blames the Kremlin for a deliberate act of ‘ecocide’ amid the war that started with Russia’s 2022 invasion. Ukrainian journalist Artem Mazhulin reports for the Guardian and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the impacts of the spill and the toll the war is taking on his country.
September 20, 2024: Ravaging Floods in Africa
West and Central Africa have been hit hard by extreme flooding in mid September that has claimed thousands of lives and left millions stranded in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Living on Earth intern Nana Mohammed is from northeast Nigeria and joins Host Steve Curwood to describe the perilous situation, which is prompting urgent pleas for wealthy nations to provide more climate adaptation assistance.
September 13, 2024: Flood Buyout Delays
South Carolina is offering to help homeowners move away from areas plagued by flooding, but at one flagship buyout, only one in ten eligible residents chose to participate. Freelance journalist Daniel Shailer reported on this for Inside Climate News and explains to Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering why delays and predatory real estate practices are getting in the way of moving people out of harms’ way.
July 05, 2024: A Vivid New View of Earth
A powerful new NASA satellite called PACE can look at the ocean and clouds to distinguish between different kinds of microscopic phytoplankton and aerosols from an orbit 400 miles up. PACE Project Scientist Dr. Jeremy Werdell joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how the technology works, its value to scientific research on climate change, and the real-time data it provides about water and air quality worldwide.
June 28, 2024: From the History Books
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill look back to the year 2000, when China finally banned the use of lead in gasoline. The same year, a historic rescue moved some 18,000 African or “jackass” penguins out of the path of an oil spill.
June 07, 2024: Alaska's Rusting Rivers
Streams in northern Alaska are turning a cloudy orange, and scientists think the cause is metals like iron leaching from melting permafrost as the Arctic rapidly warms. Jon O’Donnell is an ecologist for the Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network at the National Park Service and discusses the research and potential consequences of these changes with Host Jenni Doering.
May 24, 2024: The Drowning South
Sea levels are rising everywhere due to climate change but not equally, and a recent Washington Post series called “The Drowning South” documents how the US southeast is experiencing an especially rapid rise. Journalist Chris Mooney joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about how communities near Mobile, Alabama and St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana are being affected.
May 24, 2024: The "Little Sea" with a Big Champion
The Mar Menor or “little sea” lagoon on the coast of Spain faces impacts from mining, agriculture, and a booming tourist industry. Teresa Vicente is a professor of philosophy of law at the University of Murcia who helped pass a 2022 law granting the lagoon legal personhood to give it greater protection. She recently received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how she led a grassroots movement to protect this beloved lagoon.
May 10, 2024: Protecting India’s Forest
The 2024 Goldman environmental prize winner from Asia mobilized his community to protect the Hasdeo Aranya forests in the state of Chhattisgarh from coal mining. These forests are known as the “lungs of Chhattisgarh”, and a report from the Wildlife Institute of India estimated that around two-thirds of local annual income is tied to forest resources. Living on Earth’s Aysnley O’Neill spoke to Alok Shukla through a translator about his successful anti-mining campaign.
April 26, 2024: Lake Erie Sickly Green
Lake Erie is being sickened by agricultural runoff and polluted wastewater, turning this important source of freshwater green. The US Department of Justice and two environmental groups recently filed suit against the Campbell Soup Company for its alleged contribution to the problems. Lake Erie Waterkeeper Sandy Bihn joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain the toll that multiple sources of pollution are taking on the lake.
April 26, 2024: Pushback Against 'Chemical Recycling'
Small towns in Appalachia are being targeted for so-called chemical recycling plants, but residents are pushing back and citing concerns about chemical fires, air pollution, and toxic wastewater polluting local rivers. Opponents in Point Township, Pennsylvania succeeded in canceling a project there, and Kristina Marusic of Environmental Health News joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss two other proposed chemical recycling plants in Ohio and West Virginia.
April 12, 2024: Supercharged Hurricane Season
Some scientists are predicting this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will be extremely active as a La Niña develops amid ocean warmth linked to global warming. Meteorologist Ryan Truchelut of Weather Tiger joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the science behind these factors and how people along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts can stay safe.
March 08, 2024: Fracking Under Ohio State Parks
In Ohio, drilling and fracking may soon begin underneath Salt Fork State Park, Ohio’s largest, as well as the Valley Run and Zepernick State Wildlife Areas, despite legal attempts to halt the extraction. Energy News Network reporter Kathiann Kowalski joins Host Steve Curwood to describe concerns about the potential risks of drilling under these lands.
January 19, 2024: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Paloma Beltran with good news of an oyster baby boom in the Chesapeake Bay. Also, the EPA is reviewing the safety of vinyl chloride, which is widely used in everything from water pipes to medical devices but is a carcinogen that can harm livers and neurological systems. And in history, they look back to when John Kerry spoke about climate change at his confirmation hearing as Secretary of State.

2023

November 24, 2023: Unmasking Secret Fracking Chemicals
Many of the chemicals used in fracking for natural gas are hazardous to human health, but loopholes in disclosure laws mean that companies can keep them secret. So Pennsylvania’s Governor is moving to compel companies to disclose the chemicals they use in fracking operations. Environmental Health News reporter Kristina Marusic joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the health risks and disclosure challenges.
October 13, 2023: Toxic Toll of the War in Afghanistan
The 20-year U.S. war in Afghanistan brought tens of thousands of direct casualties but also dangerous pollutants that survivors are still living among. Lynzy Billing reported from Afghanistan for Inside Climate News and New Lines Magazine and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the hazards and health problems some Afghans link to the war.
October 06, 2023: Salt Water in the Mississippi
Amid widespread drought, salty water from the Gulf of Mexico is slowly seeping up the Mississippi River towards New Orleans, Louisiana. Halle Parker of public radio station WWNO explains the situation, how it's linked to climate change and possible solutions to Host Jenni Doering.
September 22, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss a youth climate lawsuit against 32 European states, and the restoration of a Clean Water Act rule that was rolled back by the Trump administration. In history, they raise a glass of hard apple cider for Johnny Appleseed’s birthday.
July 14, 2023: Restoring the "River of Grass
Extensive draining and channeling of the Everglades ecosystem has led to toxic algae blooms and land loss in Florida, so now a huge restoration effort is attempting to reverse some of those human caused consequences. But environmental groups have raised concerns about the design of the sixteen square mile reservoir at the heart of the project. Inside Climate News reporter Amy Green joins Host Jenni Doering to explain.
July 07, 2023: High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish
PFAS “forever” chemicals have widespread health impacts from cancers to reproductive disorders. A recent study revealed high levels of PFAS in wild-caught, American freshwater fish. David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the results and the impact on consumers.
June 30, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share news of the “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean, as species more accustomed to warmer waters find safe harbor in the warming Arctic. They also cover the $10 billion settlement deal with 3M over contamination from the PFAS chemicals it manufactures. And in history, a look back to the delisting of the bald eagle, which had recovered following a few decades on the endangered species list.
June 09, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the $1.19 billion settlement by Dupont and two spinoffs over PFAS “forever chemical” contamination of drinking water supplies. Also, while replacing lead pipes that carry drinking water into homes is essential for public health, the PVC pipes they’re often replaced with can leach toxins into the water. And in history, they look back to an 1804 declaration in Pittsburgh on the nuisance of coal smoke, a problem that would only intensify as the city became the steelmaking heart of America.
June 02, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share news of Uruguay’s salty tap water as a severe drought has forced managers to use estuary water to boost supply. Also, new research links plastic waste clogging up storm drains to a deadly flood in Mumbai in 2005. And in history, they wish Bryce Canyon National Park a very happy 100th birthday.
May 12, 2023: UK Courts Force A Zambian Copper Mine Cleanup
The 2023 Africa recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize brought a UK based mining company to justice for polluting a river in Zambia with waste from an open pit copper mine that sickened locals and killed fish. Prize winner Chilekwa Mumba joins Host Paloma Beltran to share how he organized the community and persuaded a UK based law firm to take on the case.
April 28, 2023: UK Courts Force A Zambian Copper Mine Cleanup
The 2023 Africa recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize brought a UK based mining company to justice for polluting a river in Zambia with waste from an open pit copper mine that sickened locals and killed fish. Prize winner Chilekwa Mumba joins Host Paloma Beltran to share how he organized the community and persuaded a UK based law firm to take on the case.
April 28, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth commentator Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to share news of a lawsuit seeking to curb the use of aerial fire retardants to combat wildfires over water pollution concerns. They also shed light on the murder of Ecuadorian Indigenous activist Eduardo Mendúa, who opposed oil drilling in the Amazon. And they look back 70 years to the day Hooker Chemical Company sold off its Love Canal toxic chemical dumpsite for just one dollar, setting the scene for a public health crisis that came to light years later.
April 14, 2023: Hidden Plastic Waste
There are many sources of hidden plastic in the waste that wealthy countries send to the developing world, in clothing, tires, and electronics. Grist Reporter Joseph Winters joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how all that extra plastic waste is affecting the environment and health of people in the Global South.
April 14, 2023: Used Clothes Pollute Global South
In wealthy countries, cheap “fast fashion” clothing is often thrown away after being worn just seven or eight times. And while donating those clothes may feel like a good deed, they often end up as waste that pollutes developing countries. Veena Holkar, director of Wildlight Global, spoke with Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb.
March 24, 2023: DuPont in Sticky Situation Over Teflon Chemical
Legal problems and health questions are piling up for DuPont thanks to a chemical used to make Teflon and dozens of other consumer products. Living on Earth's Jeff Young tells us how this chemical's problematic nature came to light.
March 17, 2023: Saving the Second Lung of the Planet
The Congo Basin in Central Africa is a critical biodiversity hotspot and linchpin in the fight against climate disruption. Conservationist Irene Wabiwa joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the urgent need to turn the United Nations’ recent promises to protect biodiversity into reality in the Congo and around the world.
March 03, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
In this week’s trip beyond the headlines, contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Jenni Doering discuss the impressive clean energy achievement of a small town in France. Next, they consider a study about growing threats to narwhals from shrinking Arctic sea ice before going back in history for a look at the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.
February 24, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Bobby Bascomb this week to discuss the billions of dollars in damage to Ukraine’s environment since the Russian invasion. They also discuss the ongoing bird flu outbreak in which some 60 million chickens and turkeys have been slaughtered on hundreds of commercial farms in the U.S. For a history lesson, they dive into the 1799 Federal Timber Forestry Purchases Act, which was likely the first forest conservation measure in the U.S.

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