Imagine the dirtiest engine legal in the United States. It’s an engine responsible for an annual 30 million tons of carbon dioxide, 21,000 tons of fine particulates and 68,000 tons of nitrogen oxides nationwide that are harmful to human health and the environment, PennEnvironment reports. A heavy-duty truck or SUV may spring to mind, but
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First came the heavy rains. Then came the derailed train. On the morning of July 17, the Delaware Valley held its collective breath as reports came in that a freight train had derailed in Whitemarsh Township, a few miles from Philadelphia’s northwest border. The train carried rail cars containing hazardous materials and residents were evacuated
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Carol Foy, a lifelong Grays Ferry resident and community advocate, knows how dangerous air pollution can be. “I lost a son over a decade ago who had lung problems,” she says. “He was only 33 years old.” After moving out of Grays Ferry, her son moved by the oil refinery in South Philadelphia. He lived
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Several weeks have passed since Philadelphia was in a panic over the specter of contaminated drinking water. But while concerns over the March 25 chemical spill at a Trinseo Altuglas plant in Bristol have faded into yesterday’s news, hazards still swirl for both people and animals in Lower Bucks County. In an email to Grid,
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On march 19, 2019, Mom, the red-tailed hawk matriarch of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, disappeared. A post by Carolyn Sutton on the Franklin Hawkaholics Facebook page described how, over the previous weekend, Mom had been looking unwell, sitting listlessly on a branch and showing no interest in a dead rat delivered by her mate, T4
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Much of the opposition to the FDR Park Master Plan centers on the replacement of the open greenspace of the Meadows with the artificial green of 12 synthetic turf athletic fields. Master Plan boosters cite the “playability” of synthetic turf fields, which can host more hours of play per week than natural grass fields. Recent
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Air is something we share. But clean air, it turns out, is not equally available to all. Using technology with an almost cartoonish name, the PurpleAir monitor, Christina Rosan thinks making disparities in air quality “in your face” will lead to more equitable, citizen-informed public policies. Advocating for clean air everywhere, she believes, could promote
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Grid has been hearing a lot lately about FDR Park. After our series of articles on the development of the Cobbs Creek golf courses, Philadelphians concerned about the fate of the South Philly Meadows got in touch to defend the park’s former fairways against a plan to develop the beloved greenspace into a complex of
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Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is taking comments through April 27 about a proposed rule to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sometimes called “forever chemicals,” in drinking water. The chemicals have been linked to a variety of human health problems, including reduced fertility, developmental problems in children, and some cancers. PFAS are a
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Imagine a world without co-pays, deductibles, premiums, explanations of benefits, pre-existing conditions, tiers, in-network and out-of-network providers. I talked to two capitalists the other day. One in favor of Medicare for all. One on the fence. I initially wanted to talk to small businesses in Philadelphia about Medicare For All and their challenges with our
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On a bitterly cold Monday morning, dozens of teachers and many of Philadelphia’s most prominent elected officials gathered outside of Samuel Gompers Elementary School in solidarity with striking teachers. Philadelphia educators are on strike in response to the the School District of Philadelphia’s plan for pre-K through second grade teachers to report to school
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