COLUMBUS, Ohio - More needs to be done to protect those working Ohio's and the country's fields from exposure to hazardous pesticides: That's the message Congress members are hearing today and Tuesday from farm workers from around the nation.

Each year, over 5 billion pounds of pesticides are applied to crops in the U.S. and thousands of farm workers experience pesticide poisoning. According to Mario Vargas of Toledo, an organizer with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, during his 16 years working on farms, he saw and experienced the harmful effects.

"You're talking about 100 degrees out there. You start getting dizzy, you start getting thirsty, your mouth swells, you're tired, you go home, you still have a headache, and you blame it all on the work, and if you really think about it, it's some of the chemicals that they're spraying," Vargas declared.

According to the federal government, there are between 10,000 and 20,000 acute pesticide poisonings among workers in the agricultural industry each year. Vargas said that's likely an underestimate, because many farm workers affected by pesticides do not seek a doctor's care. He and others are asking leaders to strengthen the Worker Protection Standard regulations, which set the rules for pesticide use, but have not been updated or revised for over two decades.

Vargas said updated standards are needed that would ensure workers receive information about the specific pesticides used in their work, require medical monitoring of workers who handle neurotoxic pesticides, and require safety precautions and protective equipment limiting worker contact with chemicals.

He added that there also needs to be better pesticide training for farm workers, who often are uneducated about the dangers.

"They're just another worker just, like when I was a worker, and they just say, 'Look, I'm going to give you a 25-minute video, watch it, and then here you go. Start mixing those chemicals, put them in the sprayer and go out and spray,' and of course, it's a dollar extra and you'll go out there and do it," Vargas said. "That's all the training you have."

There are 1.2 million farm workers in the U.S., many of whom, Vargas said, are regularly exposed to pesticides.




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From conservation to sportsmen's groups, the U.S. Supreme Court is getting plenty of backlash over its most recent ruling, which weakens federal protections for wetlands.

The 5-4 decision in Sackett v. EPA means wetlands are only protected by the Clean Water Act if they have a "continuous surface connection" with a larger, navigable body of water.

Sam Sankar, senior vice president of programs for EarthJustice, warned the ruling puts millions of acres of wetlands at risk, including in Pennsylvania.

"According to the National Wetlands Inventory, there are just over half a million acres of wetlands in Pennsylvania, and all of those wetlands are threatened by the decision of the Supreme Court," Sankar asserted.

The ruling is a victory for an Idaho couple who sued the Environmental Protection Agency after being denied a federal permit to build a home on land which included wetlands. Sankar noted some farmers, developers, and landowners may cheer the decision but might not understand the benefits of wetlands to the environment, in terms of flood control, water quality, and wildlife habitat.

Sankar added the ruling imperils the safety of drinking water for millions of Pennsylvanians whose drinking water sources are downstream of wetlands no longer protected from pollution or development following the court's decision.

"If wetlands aren't protected, there's going to be more pollution, more flooding, more drought,"
Sankar projected. "And that means that surface waters that are inextricably intertwined with the wetlands are going to be degraded as well. Those surface waters are often the place where our communities get their water from, and so, eliminating protection for wetlands threatens drinking water."

Sankar stressed Earthjustice is among the groups asking Congress to use its power to negate the ruling. Some states also have said they will enforce their own, state-level protections.

Environmental groups in Tennessee have an urgent call to action for the Tennessee Valley Authority to cut fossil-fuel emissions and replace their coal plants with renewable energy.

The TVA provides electricity for 153 local power companies and serves 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states.

Gabriella Sarri-Tobar, energy justice campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, which is a member of the Clean Up TVA Coalition, wants to see the Kingston and Cumberland power plants replaced with renewable energy alternatives.

She explained local environmental groups including The Clean Up TVA Coalition are working daily to encourage fossil-fuel-free energy production by 2030.

"One of our key demands is that the new board should take back and should reclaim the decision-making authority that was previously delegated to the CEO Jeff Lyash," Sarri-Tobar pointed out. "The TVA board did take back that authority."

Sarri-Tobar emphasized the importance of TVA being a leader in the transition to clean and renewable energy and the coalition is working to ensure workers and communities most impacted by TVA's decisions are represented in the energy discussions.

Sarri-Tobar noted a recent Appalachian Voices report looking at the job market specifically focused on the Cumberland coal plant retirement plan, and what the shift from coal to gas would do in terms of jobs versus clean power and energy efficiency.

"They found that shifting to gas would actually result in fewer jobs than renewable energy and energy efficiency," Sarri-Tobar stressed. "There is a transition, that's gonna happen because those coal jobs will no longer exist, but they can become clean energy jobs."

The Cumberland plant is set to retire one unit by the end of 2026 and the second unit by the end of 2028. The Kingston plant is currently undergoing an environmental review process.


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Four months after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, residents say they continue to struggle with ongoing health problems, and face an uncertain future without federal help in the form of an emergency disaster declaration.

Cindy Walter, a resident of East Palestine, said she has been staying in hotels after developing health problems in her home. She explained since the derailment, she has had a series of doctors' visits, and now has to use an inhaler.

"Because I'm having a hard time breathing," Walter noted. "She also gave me a nasal spray because of the cough and the hoarseness, the burning eyes and the hard time breathing."

Walter added she wants Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the chemical spill, to pay for home air purifiers. According to the Ohio EPA, nearly 7,000 tons of excavated contaminated soil sits in piles waiting to be removed from the site.

Amanda Kiger, co-executive director of River Valley Organizing, a local advocacy group, is hosting a community meeting next month on air quality in the region. She said without FEMA assistance, families will struggle to find alternative places to stay, or be forced to go back into potentially unsafe housing.

"We would get things like FEMA trailers, FEMA housing," Kiger emphasized. "We would be able to fast-track that federal help, to be able to get that cleaned up."

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he has been told by FEMA the chemical spill does not qualify because it was not a natural disaster, like a tornado or flood. However, the federal agency has given DeWine an extension to request a major disaster declaration for damages. The deadline is July 3.