Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York Senators Seek Fracking Delay to Await Key Study
Mar 7 2013 // A critical bloc in New York’s Senate is calling for up to a two-year delay in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas until an independent health review known as the Geisinger study is completed. The Independent...
Report Questions Insurer Readiness, Attitudes on Climate Change
Mar 7 2013 // A report out Thursday that details responses to a climate change survey from insurers doing business in California, Washington and New York shows many insurers are prepared to deal with today’s extreme weather...
Ex-DEP Boss: Buy Out Flood-Prone New Jersey Homes
Mar 6 2013 // As New Jersey lawmakers consider a package of bills to help the state recover from Superstorm Sandy, a former New Jersey environmental protection commissioner says the storm provided a golden opportunity to buy out...
Hawaii Landfill Operator Fined $1.1M Under EPA Settlement
Mar 4 2013 // Honolulu and the operator of the city’s only landfill have agreed to make changes that will reduce the risk of a fire breaking out at the Waianae coast site, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Environmental...
EPA Assessing Possible Cancer Cluster In Oregon
Feb 28 2013 // The Environmental Protection Agency held a meeting in Salem, Ore. to update the public on a preliminary assessment of four sites in west Salem connected to five cases of rare bone cancer. The four are West Salem High...
Allied World Launches U.S. Surety Unit
Feb 27 2013 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG’s Allied World U.S. has expanded its casualty operations with the launch of a new surety line of business, available for clients in the United States. Robert Staples has...
Attorneys In Montana Asbestos Settlement Seek $4M In Fees
Feb 25 2013 // Attorneys for asbestos victims in a Montana mining town are seeking more than $4 million in fees and expenses out of a legal settlement with chemical company W.R. Grace that was intended to cover the victims’ ongoing...
Yacht Fires Pose Challenge to Firefighters and Insurers
Feb 25 2013 // Difficult to access and usually within confined spaces, yacht fires can grow into big losses quickly, posing challenges to both firefighters and insurers. Severity, a concern for high-end watercraft insurers led to the...
Barring Last Minute Deal, Gulf Oil Spill Trial to Get Underway Monday
Feb 21 2013 // Nearly three years after a deepwater well rupture killed 11 men, sank a rig and spewed 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP and the other companies involved are scheduled to face their judge in court. The...
EPA Fines 6 Arizona School Districts For Asbestos
Feb 21 2013 // Six school districts in Arizona have done compliance work to avoid hefty federal fines for asbestos violations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined the school districts a combined total of nearly $95,000. More...
Submerged Superstorm Debris Raising Pollution, Boater Safety Concerns
Feb 20 2013 // On the surface, things look calm and placid. Just beneath the waterline, however, it’s a different story. Cars and sunken boats. Patio furniture. Pieces of docks. Entire houses. A grandfather clock, deposited in a...
Scientists Back EPA on Montana Asbestos Risks
Feb 11 2013 // Federal officials anticipate finishing by late 2014 a risk study to guide the cleanup of an asbestos-contaminated Montana mining town, after a panel of scientists backed draft results that say even a minuscule amount of...
BP, States May Still Be Far Apart Over Oil Spill Deal
Feb 4 2013 // It is a question that has lawyers and many others on the U.S. Gulf coast buzzing: Will BP strike a massive deal to settle the remaining claims over the Gulf of Mexico well blowout? BP could be nearing a settlement of...
Barnes & Thornburg Adds Insurance Recovery Group in Minneapolis
Jan 31 2013 // Three insurance recovery attorneys have joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Minneapolis office as partners in the firm’s Policyholder Insurance Recovery and Counseling Group. The attorneys joining the firm...
Judge Approves BP Gulf Oil Spill Settlement
Jan 29 2013 // A U.S. judge has accepted an agreement by BP Plc to plead guilty for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and pay $4.0 billion in penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a court official said on...
Foodborne Illness Cases Present Complex Coverage Questions
Jan 28 2013 // One of the most heavily litigated insurance issues in coverage liability cases related to outbreaks of widespread foodborne illnesses is the determination of occurrence where multiple people in multiple states are affected...
Want to Grow Your Agency, But Just Can’t Quite Make It Happen?
Jan 28 2013 // Almost every agency owner I’ve ever met, and I’ve met maybe thousands, has wanted to grow his or her agency. Many, maybe most, have been stuck. Whether they are stuck at $300,000 revenue, $500,000, $6 million...
Beazley Launches Environmental Cleanup Costs Insurance
Jan 23 2013 // Beazley plc has expanded its environmental products offering with the launch of an environmental cleanup costs insurance policy that provides coverage for cost overruns for remediation of known conditions at covered...
In Inaugural Address, Obama Vows to Tackle Climate Change
Jan 22 2013 // President Barack Obama said on Monday he will confront climate change in his second term in office, an unexpected vow that puts the politically charged issue among his domestic priorities alongside gun control and...
Foodborne Illness Cases Present Complex Coverage Questions
Jan 14 2013 // One of the most heavily litigated insurance issues in coverage liability cases related to outbreaks of widespread foodborne illnesses is the determination of occurrence where multiple people in multiple states are affected...
