Latest Pollution Headlines

All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Illinois EPA Shuts Medical Instrument Sterilization Facility Due to Pollution

Feb 22 2019 // A suburban Chicago plant that sterilizes medical instruments with a chemical believed to be cancer causing has been shut by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The state EPA issued a seal order for Sterigenics...

Baltimore Sues Chemical Company Monsanto over PCB Pollution

Feb 22 2019 // Baltimore has filed a lawsuit against the agrochemical giant Monsanto and two other companies, accusing them of polluting city waterways and stormwater. The legal effort focuses on PCBs, the industrial chemicals that have...

Alabama Coal Firm to Pay $775K in Air Pollution Penalties

Feb 21 2019 // One of Alabama’s largest coal companies has agreed to pay $775,000 in penalties related to air pollution violations near Birmingham. Al.com reported Feb 12. that the proposed Drummond Company settlement comes nearly...

EPA Investigating GenX Production at Chemours’ North Carolina Plant

Feb 21 2019 // A chemical maker’s North Carolina plant may have broken federal law by failing to notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it started manufacturing and repurposing new industrial compounds, the agency...

One of Lawsuits by Kids Against Trump Climate Policies Dismissed

Feb 21 2019 // A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two Pennsylvania boys and an environmental group seeking to stop U.S. President Donald Trump from rolling back regulations addressing climate change, saying the court does not...

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case That Could Limit Clean Water Act

Feb 19 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider limiting the scope of a landmark law aimed at curbing water pollution in a dispute pitting environmentalists against local authorities in Hawaii over a wastewater...

EPA Readies ‘Forever Chemical’ PFA Safety Plan Amid Calls for Tougher Action

Feb 15 2019 // The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a plan for dealing with a class of long-lasting chemical contaminants amid complaints from members of Congress and environmentalists that it’s not moved...

New Beazley Environmental Liability Coverage Targets Banks, Lenders

Feb 11 2019 // Specialist insurer Beazley has launched site lender environmental asset protection (SLEAP) cover to protect banks and other lenders from pollution risks that could seriously impair the value of property used as collateral...

Grain Processing Corp. to Pay $45M in Iowa Pollution Settlement

Feb 8 2019 // A judge has approved a class-action settlement between Muscatine, Iowa, residents and a local factory that they blame for a noxious odor and haze and for causing health problems. District Judge John Telleen on approved the...

Ironshore Environmental Adds Storage Tank Pollution Liability Coverage to Online Portal

Feb 7 2019 // Ironshore Environmental has made its stand-alone Storage Tank Policy accessible to brokers through an online quote & bind portal. The coverage addresses first- and third-party liability in response to releases from...

Businesses View Cyber, Business Interruption as Bigger Risks Than Catastrophes

Feb 4 2019 // Cyber incidents join business interruption as the top risks facing global businesses, according to a survey conducted by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). The impact of business interruption (which includes...

The Polar Vortex And Climate Change

Jan 31 2019 // A new report outlines the numerous risks insurers face from climate change. The report from Sustainalytics, a provider of ESG (environmental, social and governance) and corporate governance products and services, shows...

California Wants Faster Forestry Approvals in Wildfire Fight

Jan 31 2019 // California wildland managers said this week that they want to speed up logging and prescribed burns designed to slow wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years. After the deadliest and most destructive...

Businesses View Cyber, Business Interruption as Bigger Risks Than Catastrophes

Jan 24 2019 // Cyber incidents join business interruption as the top risks facing global businesses, according to a survey conducted by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). The impact of business interruption (which includes...

California Insurance Commissioner Names Executive Team

Jan 18 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced new members of his executive team, including the first Latina chief deputy in the history of the California Department of Insurance. The new executive team members...

Enviro Risks, Climate Change Lead Concerns in World Economic Report

Jan 17 2019 // Environmental risks continue to dominate long-term concerns, a new report shows. World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2019 released on Wednesday included as collaborators Marsh & McLennan Cos. and Zurich...

Trump EPA Chief Tells Senators Climate Change ‘Not the Greatest Crisis’

Jan 17 2019 // U.S. President Donald Trump’s new pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency told lawmakers on Wednesday he does not believe climate change is a major crisis, and would continue to undo Obama-era emission limits...

Cyber Joins Business Interruption as Top Global Business Risks: Allianz Survey

Jan 16 2019 // Cyber incidents join business interruption as the top risks facing global businesses, according to a survey conducted by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). The impact of business interruption (which includes...

Cities Sue Companies over Sealant Pollution in Minnesota Ponds

Jan 16 2019 // Seven Minnesota cities are suing a group of companies that refine coal-tar sealants to help pay for cleanup after the product’s harmful chemicals ended up in stormwater ponds across the state. The cities filed...

Suit Targets Shell Over Oilfield Contamination in Louisiana’s Spanish Lake Basin

Jan 14 2019 // Wetland ecologist Scott Nesbit drove down a gravel oil field road in Louisiana in an all-terrain utility vehicle, zipping under a heavy forest canopy toward what he says is the source of it all. Nesbit’s target was a...