Environmental Contamination

Shawn Collins’ Feature Interview in Lawyer Monthly Magazine

September 4, 2023 | The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

Partner Shawn Collins is featured in an interview in Lawyer Monthly magazine this month. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Lawyer-Monthly-headline-with-photo Leading the Charge Against America’s Biggest Polluters

Instances of harmful pollution and ecological disasters have grown unsettlingly commonplace in the US – despite environmental regulations that appear strict on paper. Why is this, and how can polluting corporations be held responsible for the damages they cause? Enter Shawn Collins, the ‘environmental lawyer for the people’. In this exclusive interview, Shawn shares a look at the work he does and the clients who come to him, as well as a glimpse into the ongoing battle to hold polluters accountable in the US.

Toxic PCBs in Schools: Why Aren’t States Protecting Children?

August 8, 2023 | Thomas Sheridan

classroom-2-300x200 PCBs – the common term for polychlorinated biphenyls – are toxic manufacturing compounds that do not occur in nature and have been linked to various health problems with the liver, thyroid, skin, and eyes. Moreover, they have been classified as probable human carcinogens by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), based on animals studies that provided conclusive evidence that PCBs cause cancer. And they are commonly found in light ballasts and building materials in schools.

PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto for use in a multitude of products, from floor finishers and oil paints, to caulk, carbonless copy paper, and the ballast contained in fluorescent lights. They are nonflammable, chemically stable, and excellent electrical insulators, making them convenient and versatile in the manufacturing process. However, the price for these manufacturing conveniences – the disastrous consequences they can have on health – is far too steep to pay, and in 1979, they were effectively banned by the U.S. government. But this should have been only the first step – and the next steps have been slow in coming.

The health threats posed by products containing PCBs didn’t disappear with the manufacturing ban. PCBs have very slow decomposition rates and retain their toxicity even in very low concentrations. Animals that ingest them can then pass them up the food chain and contaminate an entire ecosystem. And this isn’t even touching on schools – where testing consistently turns up high concentrations of PCBs.

Pesticide Companies Accused of Withholding the Truth from Regulators

June 9, 2023 | Margaret Collins

agriculture-g318048f3a_1280-2-300x172 The big pesticide companies are once again being accused of manipulating science to get what they want; this time by withholding evidence of pesticide toxicity from European Union (EU) regulators in order to get their pesticides approved. The tactic is not only unethical but is against the law. And finally, researchers are starting to shine a light on this scandal.

New research from Swedish researchers, chemist Axel Mie and toxicologist Christina Ruden, published in the journal Environmental Health reveals that several pesticide manufacturers withheld unfavorable results of toxicity tests for the developing brain from European authorities. The manufacturers–including Bayer, Syngenta, and Nissan Chemical–had conducted developmental neurotoxicity tests to win regulatory approval for their products and submitted them to the US EPA but not to the European Food Safety Authority.

The Swedish researchers discovered that 9 out of 35 developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) studies were withheld from EU regulators despite clear legal requirements to disclose them. In fact, the EU authorities did not even hear about these tests until years later. As a result, the negative studies were not considered by EU regulators during their first authorization of the nine pesticides: abamectin, ethoprophos, buprofezin, fenamidone, fenamiphos, glyphosate-trimesium, pymetrozine, pyridaben, and fluazinam. The pesticides were used on tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, and eggplants.

EPA’s Air Pollution Standards for Particulate Matter are Too High to Protect Against Heart Disease

April 19, 2023 | Thomas Sheridan

air-pollution-1-300x200 Particulate matter is in the air all around us. Emitted from sources like industrial plants, fossil fuel burning, power plants, and wildfires – they are everywhere and can have dire consequences for human heart health. Regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are in place to ensure that things like particulate matter are kept sufficiently in check to protect American citizens. But are they doing enough to curb particulate matter to truly keep Americans safe?

Two facts:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) summarizes its mission on its own website in one unambiguous sentence: “The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.”

Board Ignores the Dangers of Carcinogenic Diesel Exhaust and Approves Railroad Merger

April 4, 2023 | Shawn Collins

Train-diesel-exhaust-300x169 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 in 25 years, it ensured that there will be a 300-600% increase in freight train traffic each day in our communities. That means 11,000 more rail cars filled with toxic chemicals will lumber down the tracks through Chicago and its surrounding suburbs each year. We don’t know what those chemicals will be—carcinogenic? combustible? explosive?—and the towns along the rail lines that will be forced to respond to any derailment won’t know, either.

Board Chairman Martin Olberman defended his approval of this grotesquely-timed merger with vague assurances that transportation of dangerous chemicals by rail is safer than by truck.

Contaminated Groundwater is the Greatest Potential Threat in East Palestine, Ohio

March 17, 2023 | Shawn Collins

The greatest enduring threat to the residents of East Palestine is contaminated groundwater. Fast remediation — and not empty political assurances — can solve the problem.

Aerial_view_Norfolk_Southern_freight_train_derailment_Feb_2023 The director of Ohio’s Department of Health sought to assure East Palestine residents of their safety by remarking that the cancer-causing solvents from the derailment now in the town are no cause for concern, because these chemicals are already “a part of our everyday life.”

What a terribly callous, ignorant, thing for a health official to say. Just because there were some carcinogens in East Palestine before the train derailment does not excuse Norfolk Southern dumping tens of thousands of pounds more of them onto the small town. Plus—and the director should know this—where it comes to carcinogens, there is no such thing as a safe level. That means that every bit dumped by Norfolk adds to the town’s danger.

Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Attorneys in Illinois

March 14, 2023 | Margaret Collins

Hair-relaxer-Photo-244x300 Hair relaxers are the latest beauty products to come under fire because of their link to potentially dangerous health effects. New scientific evidence has emerged that suggests that the long-term use of hair relaxers is linked to increased rates of uterine cancer. More specifically, a groundbreaking new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has shown that women who use chemical hair straightening or relaxing products regularly are at a higher risk for developing uterine cancer than those who do not use these products. This study along with an earlier NIH study linking hair relaxer use to ovarian cancer are the reason women are filing hair relaxer lawsuits.

NIH Study Links Hair Relaxers to Uterine Cancer

Uterine cancer is the 4th most common type of cancer in women, and Black women are twice as likely as white women to develop uterine cancer during their lifetime. The new study from the NIH may partly explain why. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October of 2022, found that women who used hair straightening products in the previous 12 months were more likely to be diagnosed with uterine cancer than women who had never used hair relaxers. And the risk increased with more frequent use. Women who used hair relaxers 4 times in the previous 12 months were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.

Biden Administration’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rule a Necessary Step in Tackling Climate Crisis

February 13, 2023 | Thomas Sheridan

emissions-g955e27000_1920-300x214 If you spend any time on the websites of the leading defense contractors with the U.S. Department of Defense – Lockheed Martin[1], Boeing[2], Raytheon Technologies[3], General Dynamics[4], Northrop Grumman[5] – you will notice a common theme. Each of the above corporations, and many others receiving contracts from the military budget, have a page outlining their commitment to green initiatives and sustainable environmental practices.

So, a new rule proposed by the Biden administration, the Federal Supplier Risks and Resilience Rule, that would compel defense contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, should not stir up much controversy. After all, it is in line with the stated commitments of these defense corporations themselves. Specifically, the regulation would require:

Federal Contractors making between $7.5 million and $50 million (considered Significant Contractors) to report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

“You’re On Your Own”, Says Kansas to Residents of a Contaminated, Historically Black Wichita Neighborhood

December 20, 2022 | Shawn Collins

Wichita-300x218 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 not so aggressively. I’ve even seen government pretend that the contamination is not as bad as it really is to justify not doing anything about it.

But I’ve never seen a state government so matter-of-factly abandon its citizens in need of protection as the State of Kansas did to the residents of more than 1,000 homes in the Historically Black neighborhoods that are located Northeast of downtown Wichita, including the Wichita Independent, Northeast Millair, and Northeast Highgate neighborhoods.

Kansas should be ashamed of itself. It must immediately reverse course and do its duty to protect its citizens against dangerous chemical contamination.

Is Your Sportswear Toxic? Recent Testing Finds BPA in Athletic Clothing

October 27, 2022 | The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

training-ge36778761_1920-300x199 We’re inching closer to that time of year when everyone starts making New Year’s resolutions to hit the gym more. If you’re one of those people, you should make an additional resolution to only buy sports bras and athletic shirts that don’t contain BPA, a dangerous hormone disruptor.

Recent testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has discovered that 14 different brand-name companies are selling sports bras and athletic shirts that contain up to 22 times the safe limit of BPA (also known as bisphenol A). The brands affected include:

All in Motion (sports bras)