Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Worried Freedom Industries to Abandon Chemical Spill Cleanup
Sep 10 2014 // A bankruptcy judge is concerned that a chemical company may abandon the site of a massive January spill without cleaning it up. Judge Ronald Pearson expressed the concern in an order filed last Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy...
Communities at Risk in Wake of Failure to Address Rising Seas
Sep 8 2014 // Missions flown from the NASA base here have documented some of the most dramatic evidence of a warming planet over the past 20 years: the melting of polar ice, a force contributing to a global rise in ocean levels. The...
BP Gross Negligence Ruling a Warning to Big Oil and Partners
Sep 5 2014 // A U.S. judge’s watershed ruling means the final cost to BP Plc for the 2010 Gulf oil spill may eclipse $50 billion, wiping out years of profits and highlighting the risks of drilling as the industry pushes into more...
West Virginia Water Utility Balks at $2.9M Chemical Spill Proposal
Sep 4 2014 // A utility is opposing a $2.9 million bankruptcy settlement that would fund projects to benefit 300,000 people whose water was contaminated in January. West Virginia American Water says Freedom Industries shouldn’t...
DuPont Hit with $1.3 Million Penalty for Multiple West Virginia Chemical Leaks
Aug 29 2014 // DuPont will pay a fine of $1.275 million to settle a federal complaint over eight chemical releases from a Kanawha County production facility, one of which killed a worker. The Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental...
FEMA Reimburses West Virginia Entities for Chemical Spill Costs
Aug 27 2014 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has reimbursed $1.4 million to local and state governments, hospitals and some non-profit groups for costs related to January’s chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia. The...
A Fracking Compromise for Colorado
Aug 26 2014 // On the second day of his vacation, surrounded by science fiction and comic book fans at Comic Con, Alan Salazar looked around the San Diego Convention Center for a quiet place so he could take a phone call from his...
Court Asked to Dimiss Spill Claims Against West Virginia Airport, Chemical Producer
Aug 25 2014 // An airport and a chemical producer want claims dismissed in a lawsuit partly targeting them over a January chemical spill. In U.S. District Court in Charleston, Yeager Airport filed a motion last week to dismiss claims in...
North Carolina Lawmakers Approve Law Regulating Duke’s Coal Ash Dumps
Aug 21 2014 // State House and Senate leaders said this week that they have reached a compromise on legislation to make Duke Energy curb pollution from its 33 coal ash dumps across North Carolina. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate...
Mine Owner to Pay $1.5B Penalty to Kentucky for Environmental Violations
Aug 21 2014 // West Virginia billionaire Jim Justice has reached a $1.5 million settlement with Kentucky officials over dozens of violations at several of his coal mines in eastern Kentucky. The agreement between Justice and the...
West Virginia Chemical Spill Claims Mount
Aug 18 2014 // Charleston, West Virginia-based Freedom Industries can expect about 5,000 groups to ask for money in bankruptcy claims over the January chemical spill that seeped into West Virginia’s biggest water supply. The...
West Virginia Chemical Spill Spawns Health Effects Studies
Aug 13 2014 // Federal health officials are outlining new studies on the chemicals that spilled into West Virginia’s largest drinking water supply. The National Toxicology Program said in a memo that potential pregnancy and liver...
Vermont Family in Bed Bug Case Sues Homeowners Insurer
Aug 12 2014 // A Vermont couple who reached a $450,000 settlement with the state after saying their home was made uninhabitable when it was sprayed for bed bugs with a banned pesticide is now suing their insurance company. Neil and...
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...
Tennessee Valley Authority to Pay $28M to Coal Ash Victims
Aug 5 2014 // The nation’s largest public utility has agreed to pay $27.8 million to settle claims from Tennessee property owners who suffered damages from a huge spill of toxin-laden coal ash sludge. The 2008 spill happened when...
Climate Change Considered by Idaho Leaders
Aug 4 2014 // Despite the uncertainty over the scale and the speed of climate change, Idaho leaders are working on how to adapt and how to reduce its impacts. Boise law firm Holland & Hart held a workshop for its Idaho clients and...
Hartford’s McGee Discusses Company’s Turnaround, Transformation
Aug 1 2014 // The Hartford Financial Services Group’s Liam McGee, who stepped down as president and CEO on July 1 but will remain executive chairman until next year’s shareholder meeting, spoke about the company’s...
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...
Troubled California Refinery Slated for Overhaul
Jul 31 2014 // Leaders of a San Francisco Bay Area city approved a $1 billion upgrade of Chevron’s troubled 1960s-era oil refinery, the largest in Northern California, after the company agreed to safety and piping upgrades and...
Hartford’s Q2 Core Earnings Decline 38% to $144M; Net Loss Widens
Jul 31 2014 // The Hartford Financial Services Group said Wednesday its 2014 second quarter net loss widened to $467 million, compared to a net loss of $190 million during last year’s second quarter. The results were hit by $617...
