New England regulators are taking months — and sometimes years — to sanction factories the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls HPVs or high priority violators of the Clean Air Act. These are facilities that repeatedly exceed air emission limits or violate state and federal environmental orders.
New England has nine of these facilities which are recorded on a closely guarded U.S. Environmental Protection watch list. And late last year, the list was made public for the first time following a joint Freedom of Information Act request from the Center for Public Integrity and NPR.
The following story is a result of that FOIA result.
Poisoned Places: Slow state action against New England polluters
Check out the entire Poisoned Places series on the Center for Public Integrity’s website:
Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities
or on NPR.
Alexandria Burris 