EnviroPolitics Blog

Important safety news if you own a VIVI electric bike

VIVI has issued the recall for about 24,000 lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Thursday, July 17. The batteries can overheat, increasing the risk of injury or death.

By Chris Spiker, Daily Voice

At least 14 incidents have been reported, including three fires. No injuries have been reported, according to the CPSC.

The recall affects 36-volt lithium-ion batteries sold with more than a dozen VIVI e-bike models. Buyers can find the e-bike model number on their original sales order or stamped on the bike frame, while battery model numbers are printed on the battery casing.

The e-bikes were sold online between December 2020 and November 2023 for $365 to $950. All bikes in the recall were sold through major websites, including Amazon, Walmart, eBay, VIVI’s website, Wish, Sears, Wayfair, and AliExpress.

Consumers should stop using the recalled batteries immediately and contact VIVI for a free replacement battery and charger. To qualify, users must properly dispose of the recalled battery at a local household hazardous waste site and email proof to vivirecall@163.com.

The CPSC also asked people not to put lithium-ion batteries in the trash or regular recycling bins. These batteries must be taken to a household hazardous waste facility, and you should call your local site to confirm that it accepts recalled lithium-ion devices.

You can learn more about the recall by calling 800-375-6103.

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Ancient Manhattan stream below subway erupts in water gusher

By Stephen Nessen and Ramsey Khalifeh, Gothamist

Manhattan’s precolonial topography is to blame for the 28th Street Station subway geyser that bursts with bubbling water during heavy rain.

The manhole cover on the subway platform flooded in spectacular fashion, yet again, during Monday’s storm. MTA Chair Janno Lieber blamed the phenomenon on the city’s aging sewer system, which proved incapable of handling the more than 2 inches of rain that fell in a single hour that night.

A topographical map of New York City from 1865 shows that the station at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue was built on marshland, with water flowing in from multiple blocks.

But the same sewers also handled rainwater at every other station across the city, where flooding seldom reaches the same levels. That’s because Manhattan’s primordial terrain makes the 28th Street station uniquely vulnerable.

“Before there was 28th Street there was a forest and in that forest there was a wetland, and it turns out that the 1 train stop at 28th Street is right smack in the middle of that wetland,” said Eric Sanderson, the vice president for Urban Conservation Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology at the New York Botanic Garden.

Read the full story here

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For the first time in 85 years, Manayunk’s historic canal is moving again—like the neighborhood

Water Department scientists Will Whalon and Lance Butler, (right) remove trays of mussels from a floating cage in the Manayunk Canal beneath the Cotton Street Bridge, Philadelphia, Thursday, June 26, 2025. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

By Jadon George, Philadelphia Inquirer

Early in Lance Butler’s days at the Philadelphia Water Department, his boss pulled him aside and took him to the Manayunk Canal.

Once a key player in America’s industrial might, the canal had been closed for nearly 60 years. Its stagnant waters were full of mud, weeds, and algae. And the gatehouse had become a run-down graffiti canvas.

“I feel sorry for whoever has to take this project on,” Butler, now a senior scientist at PWD, remembered saying.

Turning to look at him, the boss replied: “Congratulations.”

That was in 1998. At an event last month, Butler recounted that first visit, and what a different place the area around the canal had become.

That was evident in the venue for his remarks: the stage of the Venice Beach Performing Arts and Recreation Center, which opened in 2014 as a theater and outdoor playground with athletic courts bathed in floodlights.

Now, PWD is hoping the canal itself can have a revival.

Roger Thomas, scientist with the Academy of Natural Sciences, Patrick Center, holding Yellow Lampmussel removed from the Manayunk Canal at Cotton Street bridge, Philadelphia, Thursday, June 26, 2025. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

Read the full story here

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NJ Outdoor Alliance backs federal ban on menhaden factory fishing

President Trump is considering banning factory fishing for menhaden in federal waters. The NJOA is requesting recreational anglers to let President Trump know that we want him to do this through a direct link to the White House.

Omega Protein reduction fleets owned by its parent company, Canadian–wned Cooke Inc., have been taking huge amounts of menhaden within New Jersey’s coastal zone for years and even use spotter planes to locate the schools of these fish. On June 23, 2025, a fleet of these reduction boats coming from Virginia spent three days fishing off New Jersey and New York waters.

Menhaden supports an abundant marine life and a healthy coastal ecosystem. Many ocean fish like striped bass and bluefish rely on menhaden for their food supply. Consequently, the lack of menhaden in our waters greatly reduces our ability to fish for them and negatively impacts the charter/party industry and related industries such as tackle shops and marinas.

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, which represents saltwater fishing clubs, diving groups, and conservation advocates across New Jersey, is calling for action to close federal waters to the industrial menhaden reduction fleet and is asking NJOA members to support this effort.

The special link to the White House to convey your comments takes only a few minutes to complete.
Use this link to send your comments to The White House:
https://tinyurl.com/53d5pp99

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Congressional hearing aims to leverage chemical recycling

Megan Quinn, Senior Reporter, Waste Dive

Plastics industry groups and recycling organizations underscored the role of recycling as an economic driver during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

During a meeting of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s environment subcommittee, lawmakers highlighted chemical recycling and e-scrap recycling as two sectors with the potential to ramp up domestic supply chains for critical materials and create jobs. Speakers also urged action on a range of federal legislation meant to make recycling easier or more accessible.

Subcommittee chair Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., acknowledged the implications of the federal government’s role in supporting recycling. He noted that President Donald Trump has specifically called for policies meant to secure critical mineral and rare earth supply chains as a national security measure meant to decrease the country’s reliance on recycled goods from other countries.

“E-waste is so important for our future” for this reason, he said, adding that the rise of data centers and ever-growing use of technology generates a high volume of end-of-life electronics that can be recycled for critical minerals. “E-waste is a commodity that can be repurposed in our fight to not only be energy independent, but energy dominant,” he said.

Speakers also noted that plastics recycling will play a major role in the future of the country’s economy, but that plastic recycling innovations must also be balanced with investments in current recycling infrastructure.

Read the full story here

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Zachary Hirschfeld joins Phillips Lytle’s NY environmental practice

Zachary Hirschfeld,
Associate
New York City Office
**Land, Environment and Energy Practice**

Zack joins Phillips Lytle as an associate focusing on environmental law and energy, and renewables.

With significant experience across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Zack advises clients who seek clarity on how policy and law affect a range of energy and environmental matters.

A former New York State Excelsior Fellow, Zack has focused on regulatory law at the New York Power Authority and litigated enforcement actions at the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.

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