Problems & Solutions

Since 1987, Toxics Action Center organizers have worked side by side with over 625 communities across New England to clean up hazardous waste sites, reduce industrial pollution, curb pesticide use, ensure healthy land use, replace dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives, and oppose dangerous waste, energy, and industrial facilities. We work on issues where environmental pollution threats are endangering our health. Below is some more detail on a few of the more common issues we are currently working on.

  • Energy

    Dirty and dangerous energy sources like coal, oil and nuclear, continue to pollute our air and water and risk our safety.  That's why we work with communities to stop the most egregious power plants, prevent new dirty energy plants and help communities bring renewable energy to their town.

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  • Solid Waste – Landfills, Incinerators, Gasification, and Zero Waste

    Approximately 60% of our waste is burned in incinerators or buried in landfills – both disposal methods have serious consequences for health and the environment. Zero Waste aims for the elimination, rather than simply the management, of waste.

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  • Pesticides

    Pesticides are used almost everywhere -- not only in agricultural fields, but also in homes, parks, schools, buildings, forests, and roads. Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of human health hazards, ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea to chronic impacts like cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption.

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  • Hazardous Waste Sites

    More than 10,000 hazardous waste sites dot New England’s landscape. The most common public health threat hazardous waste poses is the contamination of our drinking water supplies. Current hazardous waste sites should be cleaned up to the strictest possible level and in the long run, chemicals need to be phased out in favor of safer alternatives to prevent future hazardous waste sites.

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  • Illegal Junkyards

    Until recently, most junkyards operated with little regulation and oversight.  Now new laws give more power to citizens to stop illegal, polluting junkyards.

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