Pollution

A Senate bill has proposed a study group of Vermont officials to evaluate state water quality. 

The seasonal shift adds a whiff to the air that signals the start of spring.

A state official talks about Vermont’s waste management strategies

Students and professors from two Vermont State University schools went to Canadian Arctic last spring to collect ice and snow samples for studies – including a search for microplastics.

Scientists say the fish are a reliable measure of lake and basin ecological health.

Swimming in natural waters, also known as open water swimming, has taken over the world recreationally and competitively. These Vermont swimmers talk about the serenity it brings them, but also how it empowers their connection to nature.

A St. Albans food digester that opened in May transforms organic waste into energy, fertilizer, and water. 

But there are ways to improve those roads that reduce pollution and strengthen against floods. 

Many residents are familiar with recycling and composting — but one Vermont initiative focuses on making it easier to reuse.

Community members share their concerns about water quality through state grants that could clean up waterways

Lawmakers earlier this month listened to the report.

A company with Rutland ties has developed a way to transform human urine into useable fertilizer in a process they refer to as “pee-cycling.”

Around 100 of the 700 3-acre sites in Vermont are subdivisions, but the state doesn’t know exactly how many people live on those parcels.

The biochar project is designed to help curb methane emissions from cow manure at the sprawling property along Lake Champlain.

Legislators in both chambers have been in talks about chloride’s impact on waterways.

The July 2024 flooding was more destructive downstream while the December 2023 flooding resulted in higher flow because it involved snow and rain, said one scientist.

With their own kits, groups measure E.coli bacteria levels, the marker used by the EPA to measure how safe water is to swim in.

The Climate Action Collective includes students from St. Michael’s College, the University of Vermont and Champlain College.

“We’re not on the level of having gigantic fires in Vermont yet,” Dillner said. But officials believe Vermonters should pay attention and prepare to protect their homes and health.

It has become increasingly more expensive to keep and repopulate his hives, the vetoed bill’s sponsor said, because colonies are dying at faster rates in recent years.

The bill says companies that distribute PCBs must pay for the testing and removal of the chemicals in Vermont’s schools.

Montalban asked neighbors within a 3-mile radius to not use seeds treated with the pesticide, and he said many have been receptive to the request.

That money would make up what lawmakers are calling a climate superfund to help pay for natural disaster recovery in Vermont. 

U-32 Middle and High School in East Montpelier has joined dozens of schools in the state testing positive for the toxins, also called polychlorinated biphenyls.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Green Mountain Transit rides have been free.

Last month, Freak Folk Bier brewery received a grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s wastewater management program that would pay for upgrades to keep its sludge out of the waste stream.

Adelman and fellow PFAS activists believe that preventing further damage from the chemicals requires public education.

“We rely on that water for training, and if those beaches are closed because of the quality of the water, that really impacts us,” said the Burlington diving center’s co-owner.

More than 50 years, a slew of roadblocks and $45 million later, the controversial Champlain Parkway is set to push forward along Burlington’s southern edge.

Even with these losses, and 10 of the 45 acres of pasture taking significant water damage, Sanford-Long considered herself one of the luckier farms last week.

A novel experiment at Shelburne Farms aims to enhance that process along Lake Champlain by using fungi.

As the state pushes toward its solar goals, what environmental questions must be examined?

South Burlington officials want to eliminate 60 percent of the city’s carbon footprint by 2030, and with transportation accounting for two-thirds of that figure, the city’s climate action plan finalized last October is pushing for more electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

South Burlington officials want to eliminate 60% of the city’s carbon footprint by 2030, and with transportation accounting for two-thirds of that figure, the city’s climate action plan finalized last October is pushing for more electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. 

The Lewis Creek Association is a local environmental group that has been working to protect and restore Vermont waterways since 1990.

An oil spill of at least 200 gallons occurred 100 feet away from Lake Champlain in late February, and while state officials say they can’t yet be sure, they’re optimistic the spill won’t reach the lake. 

A power outage Monday caused up to 500,000 gallons of partially treated liquids to flood out of the city’s wastewater treatment plant and into an outflow area near Stevens Brook, a waterbody that’s connected to Lake Champlain and flows downstream into St. Albans. 

Chemicals are discharged into the Winooski River

More than a dozen House Republicans are looking to repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act and scrap the Vermont Climate Council — but even Gov. Phil Scott doesn’t think their bill will go anywhere.  The bill, H.74, would move away from the expansive 2020 law and toward the state’s Comprehensive Energy Plan, which is renewed […]

Communities statewide are set to start a series of wastewater projects funded by federal Covid-19 relief money.

Winooski River’s Salmon Hole is part of Vermont’s list of impaired and threatened waters.

One in every five taps tested was at or above the level requiring that it be removed, because it has a higher chance of harming children. Thousands of lead-tainted taps have been replaced or are no longer in use. Photo illustration by Natalie Williams; photo by Skitterphoto via Pexels State officials have been making the […]

The Montpelier Roxbury Public School Board is considering a proposal to replace the high school’s aging cinder track with rubber and add an artificial turf field.

Anti-fossil fuel activists say officials have done too little to let people know about what’s going on.