Author: Shawn Collins

Many accidents on the road involve more than one car, especially accidents that occur in hazardous winter conditions or on the highway. These multi-car accidents often result in more serious injuries and greater liability than two car crashes. In addition, once the accident has happened, the danger ...

For the last 50 years, EPA has buckled to pressure from the chemical industry, and basically done nothing to protect millions of Americans from breathing a life-threatening, cancer-causing chemical known as “ethylene oxide” (ETO). Along the way, EPA even repeatedly violated federal law – the �...

Who’s protecting the residents of Cicero and Stickney, IL, from thetons of toxic chemical emissionsmigrating from the massive, 36-acre Koppers coal tar plant at the corner of Laramie and Pershing roads? The danger is that these chemicals from Koppers are blowing into nearby residential neighborhoo...

Just weeks after America witnessed a black plume of toxic murk billowing above East Palestine, the Surface Transportation Board inexplicably decided to increase the chance of an identical derailment horror, right here in the Chicago area. When the Board approved America’s first big railroad merger...

The greatest enduring threat to the residents of East Palestine is contaminated groundwater. Fast remediation — and not empty political assurances — can solve the problem. The director of Ohio’s Department of Health sought to assure East Palestine residents of their safety by remarking that th...

I’ve been an environmental lawyer for more than 20 years, working for communities whose homes, air, and water have been polluted by industry’s careless disposal of dangerous chemicals. I’ve seen government respond aggressively to protect its citizens under these circumstances, but more often n...

Update, July 2022: After being passed in the House and Senate, the Honoring Our PACT Act was expected to go to President Biden’s desk for his signature, but it is currently being blocked in the Senate by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans. After years of denials by the government, Camp LeJeune ve...

As environmental lawyers, one of our passions is fighting for clean drinking water for communities affected by contamination. So, it is disappointing that the EPA, under President Biden, has endorsed a Trump administration decision and decided not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water. What is P...

Recent news reports have revealed that a benzene leak at Ford’s Assembly Plant in Flat Rock, Michigan has contaminated the sewers in a 4-square-mile—and possibly larger—area of the city. As a result of the benzene leak, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is recommendi...

UPDATE: The Collins Law Firm. P.C. and Miner Barnhill & Galland, P.C. have filed a class action lawsuit against Chemtool Incorporated on behalf of residents affected by the explosion and fire that caused them to be evacuated from the area. A massive explosion and fire at the Chemtool plant, 1165...