Nancy Stoner is the President of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. In this episode Nancy describes how the health of the “Nation’s River” has significantly improved over the past several decades and how it is doing today. She discusses the continued sources of pollution to the Potomac River, which includes agriculture…
Rob Bilott says that PFAS compounds, known as "forever chemicals," are incredibly toxic and have found their way into drinking water, the environment, and humans around the world. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopRobBilott
Many cities in the Southwest are growing while actually using the same or less water, but the supply in the Colorado River system is decimated because climate change is decreasing snow and rainfall, says Luke Runyon. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
The Drought Contingency Plan identifies cutbacks to water supplies for Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico that will occur as drought depletes the Colorado River and its reservoirs like Lake Mead. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
A rare release of stored water to the Colorado River Delta created flowing water where people hadn't seen it in many years, resulting in celebrations and a reconnection of the surrounding Mexican communities to the river. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
Tiffani Ashley Bell is the Executive Director of The Human Utility. In this episode Tiffani talks about the impacts on a person when their water is shut off and how The Human Utility pays water bills to restore service in Detroit and Baltimore. She explains how families, elderly, and those…
Mathew Hauer is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida State University who studies the impacts of climate change on society. In this episode Mathew explains that an estimated 13 million Americans will need to move because of rising sea levels by the end of the century. He discusses how…
Kara Meyer is the Managing Director of + POOL, a nonprofit working to build a swimming pool in the East River in New York City. In this episode Kara discusses the vision for + POOL including how it would filter river water and provide a recreational resource for New Yorkers.…
Vaughn Hagerty is the Public Information Officer for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, North Carolina. In this episode Vaughn discusses the discovery that GenX, a PFAS chemical, was dumped into the Cape Fear River for nearly 40 years by Chemours, a DuPont spin-off company, and ended up…
LukeRunyon says his flight over the Colorado River provided a view of the beautiful Rockies and Southwest landscape, the infrastructure built to withdraw water, and the sad ending where the river fails to reach the ocean. Watch the full podcast at https://bit.ly/LukeRunyon
La’Meshia Whittington-Kaminski is Deputy Political Director for Advance Carolina and Organizing Campaigns Director for the NC Black Alliance. In this episode La’Meshia explains how the environmental justice movement began in North Carolina and the disproportionate impacts that low-income communities and communities of color have faced in the state, including GenX…
Rob Bilott is an environmental attorney and author of Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont. In this episode Rob details his two-decade legal fight to reveal the harm done by PFAS to people in Parkersburg, W.V. and to call widespread attention to the unique…
It is a travesty that it took a year and a half for the people of #Flint to have their voices heard about lead in their drinking water, says Micah Ragland, a Flint native who helped in the community as part of EPA's response. Watch the full #podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
There are still lead water lines in the ground in Flint. Among the reasons for the replacement effort taking so long are Michigan's cold weather, a lack of records on pipe locations, and making sure local people got the work. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
Six years after the Flint drinking water crisis began the public health impacts on vulnerable populations are still emerging, including a large spike in the number of special needs children that is attributed to lead exposure. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/Oio5dDBhz6Q
Here's a heartbreaking story from the Flint water crisis of a Latino mother of three young children. She didn't speak English well and didn't know the water was unsafe, so the family had been drinking it for a year and a half. Watch the full #podcast at https://bit.ly/MicahRagland
Micah Ragland is a native of Flint, Michigan and served as a public outreach official in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama Administration. In this episode Micah describes the history and people of Flint, as well as his experience growing up in the city. He explains how the…
Not only is the Navajo Water Project providing water to homes, but is also providing $15 an hour jobs for the water and solar technicians, who are all Navajo and members of the community they serve. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/goq7JD_FbKc
If you are a Navajo without running water it means you can't wash your hands properly to prevent COVID-19. And not having water can harm mental health because "you don't feel like other people" and "you don't feel normal." Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/goq7JD_FbKc
What do Navajo do if they don't have running water at their house? They fill up and shower at the homes of relatives or haul water, which could be from unsafe sources used for livestock or agriculture... or abandoned wells. Watch the full podcast at https://youtu.be/goq7JD_FbKc
While the system provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act is deeply problematic, the lack of improvement of drinking water in America is ultimately a bipartisan failure, with neither party taking action, says Seth Siegel. Watch the full interview at https://youtu.be/UBK61JbNNl4
Seth Siegel says that if the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was responsible for drinking water instead of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it would be treated as more of a public health issue instead of an environmental issue. Watch the full interview at https://youtu.be/UBK61JbNNl4
Why did @SethMSiegel open his book Troubled Water with the story of #PFAS pollution in Hoosick Falls, NY? He wants to show how even the most picture-perfect communities can have drinking water problems that are ignored. Watch the full interview at https://youtu.be/UBK61JbNNl4
Luke Runyon is a reporter at KUNC in Colorado and produces stories focused on water for a network of NPR stations throughout the Southwest. In this episode Luke describes the iconic Colorado River, including the perspective from his flight over its course, from mountains to the Pacific Ocean, which its…