Latest Chemicals Headlines
All the headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Prosecutors Say No to Moving West Virginia Chemical Spill Criminal Case
Jun 1 2015 // Prosecutors oppose a motion by former executives asking a judge to move their criminal case over a chemical spill. In Charleston federal court May 29, prosecutors wrote that ex-Freedom Industries officials Gary Southern...
Bankruptcy Judge Rejects Freedom Industries’ Chemical Spill Settlement
May 18 2015 // A judge has rejected a $6.7 million bankruptcy plan by the company behind a January 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia. In a federal bankruptcy court filing last week, Judge Ronald Pearson said Freedom Industries and...
DuPont’s Teflon Spin-Off Plan Worries Neighbors of West Virginia Chemical Plant
May 8 2015 // DuPont Co.’s plan to spin off its Teflon unit is spurring concern on the West Virginia-Ohio border that the new company won’t cover medical payments for residents sickened by a chemical long-used at the...
Court Fight over Dow Chemical Herbicide Widens to 15 States
Apr 30 2015 // A court fight over use of a new Dow Chemical herbicide on genetically engineered U.S. corn and soybean crops is growing to encompass 15 Midwestern states after the company recently won federal approval for more widespread...
Florida Houses Passes Bill to Study, Regulate Fracking in State
Apr 29 2015 // The Florida House passed a bill Monday to study and regulate fracking, as well as prevent local governments from banning the oil and gas drilling practice. Democrats strongly opposed the bill, saying hydraulic fracturing...
West Virginia Governor Signs Scaled Back Version of 2014 Water Safety Law
Mar 30 2015 // Less than a year after signing legislation with new safeguards in response to a 2014 chemical spill that prompted a tap-water ban for 300,000 people, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill Friday to trim...
Obama Gets Chemical Safety Board Chief to Resign
Mar 29 2015 // The head of a U.S. industrial oversight agency who was dogged by congressional criticism has resigned at President Barack Obama’s request, the White House said. U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso...
West Virginia Chemical Spill Settlement for Community Projects Dropped
Mar 27 2015 // Lawyers for businesses and people affected by a massive chemical spill last year say a settlement to fund community projects is no longer being considered. In June 2014, lawyers for the groups affected by the Freedom...
Oil Industry Sues to Block U.S. Fracking Regulations
Mar 23 2015 // U.S. drillers already reeling from a six- month drop in oil prices denounced new U.S. fracking regulations as costly and unnecessary, and quickly met them with a lawsuit. After three years of debate, the U.S. Interior...
Obama Administration Releases Regulations on Fracking on Federal Lands
Mar 22 2015 // The Obama administration issued the first federal regulations for fracking since the drilling technique fueled a domestic energy boom, requiring extensive disclosures of the chemicals used on public land. After years of...
Former Freedom Owners Plead Guilty in West Virginia Chemical Spill Case
Mar 18 2015 // Two former owners of Freedom Industries pleaded guilty on Monday to environmental violations stemming from last year’s Charleston chemical spill that prompted a temporary tap water ban for 300,000 residents. At...
West Virginia Lawmakers Send Rollback of Chemical Spill Law to House Floor
Mar 12 2015 // A West Virginia House panel narrowly approved a bill to scale back protections to prevent chemical spills from sullying water supplies. The January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents...
Increase in Kentucky Fracking Prompts Lawmakers to Update Rules
Feb 26 2015 // As Kentucky mines less coal and produces more natural gas, state lawmakers want to update the environmental protection rules that drilling companies are required to follow. But some landowners worry the state’s rush...
Former West Virginia Chemical Company Execs. Request Delay of Trials
Feb 12 2015 // Four former executives of a West Virginia chemical company are asking a judge to delay their trials on charges stemming from the January 2014 chemical spill. Attorneys for former Freedom Industries President Gary Southern...
Ex-Owner of West Virginia Chemical Co. Responsible for Spill Requests Trial Delay
Feb 6 2015 // The former owner of a chemical company that fouled drinking water used by hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents wants his trial delayed. Attorneys for Charles Herzing cite the heft of documents they must review...
New Charge Filed for Ex-President of Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill
Jan 26 2015 // A former Freedom Industries executive charged in a West Virginia chemical spill is facing a new federal fraud charge stemming from the company’s bankruptcy. A federal grand jury in Beckley handed up a superseding...
Texas Plant with Fatal Gas Leak Had Been Cited for Infractions
Jan 14 2015 // A DuPont and Co pesticide plant where four people died in a gas leak in November had been cited for emissions violations by a state agency on several occasions before the accident, the Houston Chronicle reported. The...
3 Executives Charged in West Virginia Chemical Spill Plead Not Guilty
Jan 14 2015 // Three executives charged in last January’s West Virginia chemical spill have pleaded not guilty in federal court. The pleas came a day after an FBI affidavit was unsealed, saying Freedom Industries knew about...
Report: West Virginia Chemical Spill Company Aware of Defects
Jan 12 2015 // A West Virginia attorney general report says the company behind last January’s chemical spill knew of its facility’s defects for years. The report by Attorney General Patrick Morrisey office says that a 2010...
West Virginia Chemical Spill Posed Inhalation Risk: Study
Jan 9 2015 // Federal health officials overlooked risks of inhaling the licorice-scented fumes of a chemical that spilled into West Virginia’s biggest water supply last January, according to a study. The research by a Purdue...
