The NYC Department of Education (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been in a stand-off all year over PCBs in city schools. Despite the EPA's warnings about PCBs, which have been linked to cancer as well as immune and reproductive system disorders, the city has largely stuck to the attitude, "we just don't have any money to fix that...and nobody's died." But after the EPA reported that all nine schools spot-checked this year for PCBs in antiquated lighting fixtures were found to have elevated amounts, the city is changing their tune: Mayor Bloomberg has finally approved a $708 million plan to replace all the cancer-spewing lighting in city schools. more ›

[Update below] You know how the EPA keeps saying "there are dangerous PCBs in New York City schools!" And the Department of Education keeps saying "that's nice but we don't really have the money to deal with that right now?" Well, the dance continues! The results are in from the EPA's latest spot check of city schools and once again the results are not good. On Saturday, February 12, the federal agency checked out P.S. 45 in Brooklyn and found a whole mess of leaking lighting ballasts containing the suspected carcinogens. more ›

People, throw the fish back in the water. That is what the city is making sure to remind New Yorkers of with new signage going up at fishing spots around town. This comes after the Daily News discovered that old signs had worn away or were non-existent while fishing for food among lower-income New Yorkers is on the rise. The signs warning of high levels of carcinogens such as PCBs and mercury don't sound likely to deter the fishermen though—they tell the paper that contaminated fish beats an empty dinner plate. While Senator Schumer is asking the federal government to update its guidelines on what fish is safe, the mayor has basically said pish posh to all this, that people should "use common sense" when dealing with city waters. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is taking him to task for that, calling the mayor "out of touch" with the low-income fishermen, whom she says "we need to protect." A spokesman from the mayor shot back, "There are actually still a lot of people in government who work on solutions instead of just calling people names." more ›