Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Carolina Fines Duke Energy $25M over Coal Ash Pollution
Mar 13 2015 // North Carolina environmental officials are fining Duke Energy $25 million over pollution that has been seeping into groundwater for years from a pair of coal ash pits at a retired power plant. The state Department of...
U.S. Dominates Climate Change Litigation
Mar 12 2015 // It’s almost counterintuitive if you think about it. There is far more litigation related to climate change in the U.S. compared with Europe, which is usually considered more progressive on the issue. For an example...
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...
Group Requests Investigation Into Whether Florida Banned Climate-Change Terms
Mar 12 2015 // Did Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration ban state environmental scientists from using the terms “climate change” and “global warming” in their work? Scott says no, but some former...
Part of Houston Ship Channel Closed After Tanker, Carrier Collide
Mar 11 2015 // A portion of the busy Houston Ship Channel was shut on March 9 after two ships collided in fog, causing a leak of flammable liquid. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, a gasoline additive aboard the Danish-flagged...
Proposed North Carolina Permit Rules Would Allow Duke Pollution to Continue
Mar 9 2015 // Duke Energy could legally leak pollutants from some of its coal ash dumps under new wastewater permits proposed Friday by North Carolina regulators. Just days after federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against Duke...
Transport Company Agrees to Restoration Plan After West Virginia Train Derailment
Mar 9 2015 // Federal regulators say CSX Transportation has agreed to a long-term plan for cleaning up and restoring the area around a fiery oil-train derailment in southern West Virginia. Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
UCPM Environmental Launches Program for Indoor Air Quality, Mold Liability
Mar 4 2015 // UCPM, Inc., an environmental insurance provider, has partnered with Great American Insurance Co. to offer the IAQ Advantage package for indoor air quality and mold liability coverage. This online program targets real...
West Virginia’s Coal Country Split as New Law Pits Owners, Workers: Commodities
Mar 4 2015 // Mike Caputo, one of the top Democrats in the West Virginia legislature, began working in the state’s coal mines at age 19. It helped put his kids through school, he said, and helped him pay for his family home. Now...
California Sues Glass Company Over Hazardous Waste in Wine Bottles
Mar 4 2015 // California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control says it is suing a glass company for violating recycling laws after it added hazardous waste dust to wine bottles made at its Modesto plant. The department said...
ACE Launches Pollution Liability Coverage for Agriculture Risks
Mar 2 2015 // ACE Group has introduced a new agriculture premises pollution liability coverage that provides limited pollution liability protection in conjunction with ACE’s Agribusiness Commercial general liability policy. The...
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...
Duke Energy Faces Federal Charges from Illegal Pollution at 5 North Carolina Plants
Feb 23 2015 // Federal prosecutors filed multiple criminal charges against Duke Energy on Friday over years of illegal pollution leaking from coal ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. The three U.S. Attorney’s Offices...
10 Things to Know About Boats & Marinas
Feb 23 2015 // Recreational boating in 2013 accounted for 4,062 accidents that involved 560 deaths; 2,620 injuries; and approximately $39 million dollars of property damage. —United States Coast Guard (USCG) Compared to 2012, the...
E&O Insights: How to Calm the E&O Waters When Insuring Marinas
Feb 23 2015 // As spring approaches, agencies may have some opportunities to secure commercial accounts dealing with watercraft business. These accounts, typically classified as marinas, boat yards or boat moorage, offer a multitude of...
SEC Filing: Duke Energy Expects to Settle Criminal Charges from Spill for $100M
Feb 20 2015 // Duke Energy expects to pay $100 million to settle an ongoing federal criminal investigation that began after a massive coal ash spill at a North Carolina plant. The details are contained in an earnings report filed with...
Navigators Launches Lloyd’s-Based International Casualty Unit
Feb 19 2015 // The Navigators Group, Inc. announced that Navigators Underwriting Agency Ltd., its wholly owned Lloyd’s managing agency subsidiary, has created an International Casualty unit, which will “offer a range of...
Court Rules BP Not Covered by Transocean’s $750M Insurance
Feb 17 2015 // BP Plc isn’t covered under Transocean Ltd.’s insurance policies for the undersea well blowout that caused the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the Texas Supreme Court said, blocking the oil company’s access...
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...
Regulators Determining Fines for Duke After Coal Ash Spill in North Carolina
Feb 4 2015 // A year after the sudden collapse of an old drainage pipe triggered the third largest coal ash spill in U.S. history, regulators say they are still working to determine how much to fine the nation’s largest...
