Environment

A new report out today provides new information about the connections between commonly-used chemicals and the prevalence of diseases. Groups that advocate for safer chemicals are using the data to lobby for updates to federal legislation.

The Environmental Protection Agency will update residents tomorrow evening on the efforts to develop new pollution limits for the Floyds Fork watershed.

Floyds Fork has been designated as “impaired,” which means its waterway can’t fulfill its designated functions. The state Division of Water has asked the EPA to help determine the maximum amount of pollution that can be discharged into the watershed without exceeding the state water quality standard.

A new study compares the taxes Kentucky and neighboring states levy on natural resources, and recommends Kentucky set up a severance trust fund.

Nineteen miners died in the first half of 2012, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s mid-year summary.

Ten of those deaths were in coal mines (the rest were in metal or nonmetal mines). And five of them were in Kentucky—four of them in coal mines, and one in a limestone mine.

According to the release from MSHA:

iWatch News has more details about one of the studies I blogged about earlier this week.