Author: Jakob Rodgers, The Gazette
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Report: Pentagon lobbying for more lenient cleanup standard for toxic chemicals in Colorado aquifer
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COLORADO SPRINGS – The Pentagon is reportedly lobbying for a more lenient standard for cleaning up toxic chemicals used for decades in firefighting foam that have been found in drinking water in southern El Paso County and around the country. Even if the Pentagon is successful, the Air Force appears unlikely to get off the hook…
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Colorado water district, foundation sue US government for costs of water contamination crisis
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The Security Water District and Venetucci Farm’s owner are suing the federal government for at least $18.3 million amid allegations that the Air Force ignored its policies on hazardous waste disposal for decades, tainting a key aquifer and leaving the fabled farm dry and contaminated. The lawsuit by the water district and the Pikes Peak…
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Bennet, Gardner join forces to hasten clean up of water contaminated by firefighting foam toxins
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Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner introduced legislation Friday that could speed the cleanup of toxic chemicals contaminating the drinking water of millions of Americans, while helping force polluters to pay up. The senators’ PFAS Action Plan for 2019 comes after the Environmental Protection Agency was criticized by environmental groups and affected residents…
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Colorado hospitals reject report claiming profits soared by passing on more costs to insurers’ customers
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Hospital executives this week helped block approval of a Colorado agency’s draft report that claimed hospitals across the state mismanaged their finances and reaped skyrocketing revenues while shifting more of their costs to insurers. Executives of four hospitals, as well as a Colorado Hospital Association official, voted Tuesday not to accept the findings of a…
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Colorado country included in national health study on toxic chemicals in drinking water
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Residents living downstream of Peterson Air Force Base were among eight communities selected for a national study examining the levels of toxic chemicals in their blood from contaminants in millions of Americans’ drinking water. Security, Widefield and Fountain residents were chosen to participate in the long-awaited, $10 million study by the Centers for Disease Control…
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EPA under fire for plan to deal with toxic chemicals in Colorado county’s drinking water
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited plan for tackling the toxic chemicals contaminating the Widefield aquifer, immediately coming under fire from environmental groups and some El Paso County residents for not going far enough. The agency said it would begin the yearslong process of setting a safe drinking water limit for two…
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Colorado agency targets redundant hospital projects amid higher costs, profits
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Hospitals across Colorado took in billions of dollars while saddling insurers with more costs, likely causing insurance prices to rise ever higher, a draft report by state health policy officials says. The findings, prepared for the Colorado Healthcare Affordability & Sustainability Enterprise (CHASE), raise new questions about hospitals’ spending practices amid a boom in hospital…
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Health insurance enrollments in Colorado up slightly for 2019
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Health insurance enrollments through Colorado’s exchange ended slightly up compared with last year, led by a rush of people seeking federal tax credits to ease their monthly insurance premiums. Across Colorado, 169,672 people signed up for health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado during the most recent 2½-month open enrollment period, which ended Tuesday. That…
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Salvadoran granted sanctuary in Colorado church pleads for end to shutdown
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COLORADO SPRINGS – Miguel Ramirez Valiente thought he avoided deportation to El Salvador in 2017, when U.S. immigration officials closed his case and he appeared on track for a green card. But he said a mailing error and the federal government’s partial closure have upended those plans – leaving him cloistered in a church and unsure…
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Camping banned at Colorado Springs-area libraries
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The Pikes Peak Library District plans to ban camping around its buildings as more and more homeless people have been sleeping outside the Penrose Library downtown, leaving trash and human waste in their wake. Beginning Monday, anyone caught from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. at one of the library district’s four campuses – the Penrose,…