Latest Chemicals Headlines
All the headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Chemical Spill Claims Against West Virginia Company Top $160M
Aug 12 2014 // When coal-cleaning chemicals seeped into West Virginia’s biggest water supply in January, the city of Cincinnati had a decision to make 200 miles downstream. As the city feared, a sheet of contaminants cruised down...
Texas Bill Would Delay New Rules on Storing Hazardous Chemicals
Aug 7 2014 // The massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people last year is unlikely to meaningfully change regulatory or safety rules in Texas until at least 2016 under the latest bill offered Aug.5 by lawmakers tasked with...
Taiwan Probes Potential Pipeline Leak after Gas Explosions Kill 28 People
Aug 4 2014 // Taiwan authorities are preparing to inspect thousands of miles of pipeline after the government blamed the island’s deadliest industrial accident on a chemicals company. Shares of petrochemicals declined. Preliminary...
General Star Upgrades Chemical Product Manufacturers, Distributors Coverage
Aug 1 2014 // General Star Management Co. has unveiled underwriting enhancements for chemical product manufacturers and distributors. For the first time, General Star will offer occurrence form coverage for manufacturers and...
Today Is Court Deadline for West Virginia Chemical Spill Claims
Aug 1 2014 // Time is running out for residents and businesses affected by a January chemical spill in Charleston to file claims in federal bankruptcy court. Claims must be filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston by today, Aug.1...
Chemcial Plants with Terrroism Risk ‘Effectively Unregulated,’ Says Senate Report
Jul 31 2014 // The government has failed to inspect virtually all of the chemical facilities that it considers to be at a higher risk for a terror attack and has underestimated the threat to densely populated cities, congressional...
Freedom Industries Pays $11,000 Fine in West Virginia Chemical Spill
Jul 30 2014 // The company that spilled chemicals into West Virginia’s largest water supply has paid an $11,000 fine for a pair of violations. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Freedom...
Cause of Blaze at North Dakota Oil Supply Company Unknown
Jul 23 2014 // More than half a day after an industrial fire broke out in the North Dakota oil patch town of Williston, N.D., authorities still were unable to say what caused the massive blaze. The fire, which started around midnight...
Freedom Industries, West Virginia Businesses Seek $2.9M Insurance Payout for Chemical Spill
Jul 21 2014 // At least $2.9 million could fuel studies in a proposed settlement between West Virginia businesses and residents and the company that contaminated their water supply. The deal between lawyers for Freedom Industries and...
No Air Quality Testing During West Virginia Chemical Tank Demolition
Jul 14 2014 // State and federal environmental officials say they don’t have a way to monitor air quality as chemical storage tanks are taken down at the industrial site that fouled public drinking supplies for 300,000 West...
Washington Nuclear Site Workers Test Thousands Of Air Samples
Jul 11 2014 // About 12,000 air samples taken on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington this year after more than three dozen workers reported being sickened by chemical vapors have failed to find a cause for the problem, Hanford...
Chemical Spill Caused Health Effects for 1 in 5 West Virginians: Survey
Jul 9 2014 // One in five West Virginians who responded to a survey thought they had health issues after a chemical spill into the water supply in January. In the survey conducted in April by state and federal health officials, 36...
Lawsuit Blames West Virginia Airport for Role in Chemical Spill
Jun 26 2014 // A federal lawsuit blames a Charleston airport runway project for the January chemical spill that left 300,000 residents without clean water for days. The lawsuit says Yeager Airport’s completed runway extension never...
Central Texas Derailment Caused Chemical Leak
Jun 24 2014 // Eight Union Pacific cars overturned in Central Texas and at least one tanker leaked a hazardous chemical used in natural gas processing. The Grimes County Sheriff’s Office says nobody was hurt in the June 23...
Missteps Ongoing at West Virginia’s Freedom Industries
Jun 24 2014 // For the West Virginia company that sullied 300,000 people’s drinking water to start the year, slip-ups like not reading emails and leaving the company chemical headquarters unattended have produced problems for...
Deadline for Charleston Chemical Spill Claims Set
Jun 20 2014 // A federal bankruptcy judge has set an Aug. 1 deadline for financial claims by West Virginia residents and businesses affected by a January chemical spill in Charleston that contaminated the local water supply. Proof of...
West Virginia Chemical Firm Facing New Environmental Charges
Jun 16 2014 // A Charleston company faces state violations after a storm water collection trench overflowed at the same site where chemicals spilled into West Virginia’s largest water supply in January. The Department of...
Indiana Police Using Water-Based Chemical to Fight Theft
Jun 13 2014 // A northwestern Indiana police department is one of the first law enforcement agencies in the country to distribute a theft-deterring chemical that leaves DNA-like “signatures” on property and those who attempt...
Industries Want West Virginia to Delay Storage Tank Regulations
Jun 2 2014 // Months after state officials approved a law to safeguard against chemical spills, West Virginia industry groups want some requirements delayed and some of their storage tanks shielded from added oversight. Though the new...
OSHA Reviewing Alabama Car Parts Plant Use of Chemical
May 23 2014 // Federal regulators are investigating complaints about safety problems at an automotive parts plant in Selma. The Selma Times-Journal reported the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reviewing operations at...
