EPA News

Arkansas Private Railroad Fined $910K Over Hazardous Waste Violations

The EPA recently finalized a settlement with the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company over alleged hazardous waste violations at a private rail track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The company illegally stored more than 750,000 gallons of highly flammable hazardous waste in …

Ten Texas Counties Have Soot Levels Above EPA Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a long-anticipated rule aimed at reducing the level of air pollution known as particulate matter — microscopic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and harm people’s health. Reducing air pollution …

EPA Blocks Access to Louisiana Apartment Complex Due to Cancer-Causing Chemicals

BENTON, La. (AP) — After cancer-causing chemicals were found in the soil at a north Louisiana apartment complex, the Environmental Protection Agency has blocked access to part of the property and will move to abate the situation. The EPA will …

EPA Assessment Reveals Persistent Nutrient Pollution in US Rivers and Streams

The nation’s rivers and streams remain stubbornly polluted with nutrients that contaminate drinking water and fuel a gigantic dead zone for aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a recently released Environmental Protection Agency assessment. It’s a difficult …

Biden Administration Launches Formal Evaluation of Vinyl Chloride Risks After Ohio Train Derailment

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration has initiated a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic black smoke following a fiery train derailment earlier this year in eastern …

Louisiana Was Open to Cancer Alley Concessions. Then EPA Dropped its Investigation

For more than a year, the Environmental Protection Agency investigated whether Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by putting them at increased cancer risk. Federal officials said they had found evidence of discrimination and were pressuring the state to strengthen …

Shuttered EPA Civil Rights Investigation Could’ve Brought `Meaningful Reform` in Cancer Alley, Documents Show

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – As industrial plants have overtaken historic Black communities and burdened neighborhoods with toxic air pollution, environmental advocates and residents of Louisiana’s chemical corridor have spent decades calling for change. So when the country’s top environmental regulator …

PFAS Contamination at Former Air Force Base in Michigan Prompts Deployment of Groundwater Treatment Systems

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Groundwater treatment systems will be installed near a military base in northern Michigan to address contamination from high levels of toxic, widely used “forever chemicals,” the U.S. Department of Defense announced Thursday. Two systems will be …

Texas Policy Protects Big Polluters From Citizen Complaints

PORT LAVACA — On a rugged stretch of the Gulf Coast in Texas, environmental groups called foul in 2020 when an oil company sought pollution permits to expand its export terminal beside Lavaca Bay. Led by a coalition of local …

Ohio’s Largest Rivers Show Great Improvement Since 1980s, Officials Say

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio officials say a first-ever comprehensive study of the state`s largest rivers indicates great improvement in water quality over the past few decades. Gov. Mike DeWine and state environmental protection officials said Tuesday that the study …