Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Transport Company Updates Public on West Virginia Oil Train Crash Cleanup
Jul 27 2015 // CSX is continuing to closely monitor the environmental impact of a fiery oil-train derailment in southern West Virginia, a spokeswoman said last week. The company held a public informational meeting that drew a sparse...
Prosecutors Request Guilty Plea Hearing for Executive in West Virginia Spill Case
Jul 24 2015 // Federal prosecutors want a judge to schedule a guilty plea hearing for the top executive charged in a massive chemical spill that contaminated West Virginia’s biggest drinking water supply last year. In federal court...
Environmental Groups Ask North Carolina Judge to Dismiss Part of Duke Energy Suit
Jul 24 2015 // A coalition of environmental groups is supporting Duke Energy’s effort to dismiss part of long-running lawsuit over pollution leaking from the company’s coal ash dumps. The Southern Environmental Law Center...
Crowdsourcing Pollutant Detection: A Look at the Promise & Perils of Citizen Science
Jul 20 2015 // Far from being a new idea of the 21st century, scientific research conducted by amateur or non-professional scientists has a long and distinguished history. (Think Benjamin Franklin or Charles Darwin, for example.) What is...
Investigation Underway in Fiery Tennessee Train Crash
Jul 6 2015 // About 5,000 residents evacuated after the derailment of a freight train carrying flammable and toxic gas in eastern Tennessee were allowed home on Friday as investigators looked into the cause of the fiery...
Spate of Climate Change Reports Ahead of Global Summit
Jul 2 2015 // Ahead of December’s big and much-talked about United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 or CMP11, it seems there’s been an information ramp up of sorts. I’m not just talking about Pope...
DuPont Transfers Pollution Liabilities for 171 Sites to New Company Chemours
Jul 2 2015 // When DuPont Co. announced plans to spin off its major chemical operations in October 2013, it said the move would create a cash-generating dynamo with the leading market share in most of its businesses. The spinoff would...
N.Y. Officially Bans Fracking, Ending 7-Year Environmental, Health Review
Jul 1 2015 // New York formalized its ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on Monday, concluding a seven-year environmental and health review that drew a record number of public comments. “After years of...
Judge Won’t Recuse Prosecutors on West Virginia Chemical Spill Trial
Jun 30 2015 // A judge will let federal prosecutors keep working on a criminal case over a chemical spill last year in West Virginia, shooting down arguments that prosecutors should be recused from the case because they were among the...
Supreme Court Rejects BP, Anadarko Appeal of Gulf Spill Fines
Jun 29 2015 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected bids by BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. to avoid penalties under federal pollution law in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The high court left in place a June...
6 Decisions Coming from Supreme Court Over Next Few Days
Jun 25 2015 // The U.S. Supreme Court is saving the best for last. The nation’s top court will issue a series of major rulings over the next several days as it closes its nine-month term. In addition to landmark gay-marriage and...
U.S. Warns of Dire Consequences If No Global Action on Climate Change
Jun 23 2015 // Labor productivity would dwindle as workers wilt in the heat. Summers in Illinois would feel like a Louisiana swamp. Epic downpours and surging seas of the future would leave $5 trillion in losses. And worsening air...
Freedom Industries to Pay $2.5M in West Virginia Spill Cleanup
Jun 19 2015 // The company behind a massive chemical spill last year has reached a $2.5 million deal with West Virginia environmental regulators for cleaning up its contaminated site, according to new court filings. The Charleston...
7 Rules for Extending ‘Insured’ Status
Jun 16 2015 // True story: The agent convinced the owner of several apartment buildings to purchase a pollution liability policy – because of the age of the buildings and the presence of asbestos and lead. A tenant’s young child...
North Carolina High Court Rules Duke Energy Has ‘Years’ to Cleanup Coal Ash
Jun 16 2015 // North Carolina’s highest court ruled June 11 that Duke Energy has years to clean up leaking coal ash dumps as outlined by a new state law. The state Supreme Court overruled a lower court judge’s decision that...
$4M Fire-Prevention Grant Ignites Passions in Northern California
Jun 15 2015 // City officials accepted a $4 million federal grant to chop down trees in the ritzy Oakland hills, a decision that ignited debate over how best to prevent deadly wildfires in the affluent Northern California region. The...
North Carolina Regulators Order Duke to Stop Spreading Groundwater Pollution
Jun 12 2015 // North Carolina environmental regulators ordered Duke Energy this week to stop the spread of groundwater pollution from coal ash dumps outside Wilmington after tests showed contamination in nearby drinking water wells. The...
B Corp Status Gives California Agency Conscientious Bragging Rights
Jun 8 2015 // Already considering itself a socially and environmentally minded business, Burnham Benefits Insurance Services took the next logical step and went for an official designation that would help alert others to their...
$4M Fire-Prevention Grant Ignites Passions in Northern California
Jun 5 2015 // City officials accepted a $4 million federal grant to chop down trees in the ritzy Oakland hills, a decision that ignited debate over how best to prevent deadly wildfires in the affluent Northern California region. The...
EPA Finds Little Evidence Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water
Jun 5 2015 // Fracking for shale oil and gas has not led to widespread pollution of drinking water, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft report said on Thursday, although it warned some drilling activities could potentially...
