Environment

The regional branch of the EPA has lost more than 150 employees since the start of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the agency’s workforce, according to union leaders.

The governor announced Monday she would not re-nominate the current chair, Daniel Goldner.

Lawyer colleagues and other GOP lawmakers spoke fondly of Gould at Friday’s hearing. But environmental advocates opposed his nomination because of his long history of work for Casella Waste Systems, a company proposing a new landfill in Dalton.

Some parts of the state need as much as a foot of rain to restore soil health ahead of this winter. But experts say not all precipitation events are created equal.

Lifeguards rescued 144 people last week, and the state’s beach patrol says there has been an increase in rip currents lately. Risk is also high later this week as Hurricane Erin moves north.

Phoenix Tailings says they plan to have all operating permits by this fall. They aim to produce more heavy rare earth metals than originally planned, to make up for limited exports from China.

Just about half of the hudsonia-silverling plant community sites along the Saco River have disappeared in the last several decades, likely because of climate change, say two state botanists.

Since 2023, the state has focused on increasing awareness and funding mitigation projects through its cyanobacteria mitigation fund. But the money is now running dry, and the future of other water bodies in the state threatened by blooms remains uncertain.

The amicus brief, filed by the Conservation Law Foundation on behalf of almost 20 community organizations and local governments, including one in New Hampshire, urges the Environmental Protection Agency to release grant money that was abruptly terminated this spring.

The company is proposing remediation options that include monitoring pollution and limiting the use of the site moving forward, instead of actively cleaning up the PFAS chemicals present at high levels. State regulators are pushing for different options.