Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Governments Struggle with Financial Crisis as the Planet Warms up
Jan 11 2013 // The global economy has been through economic recessions before, and has eventually recovered from them. This time around, however, it must do so while coping with the ever increasing menace of climate change – that makes...
Philadelphia Launches Coverage for Restoration Contractors
Jan 3 2013 // Philadelphia Insurance Cos. (PHLY) a property/casualty and professional liability insurance company for niche markets, has launched insurance coverage specifically designed to protect restoration contractors. These...
Long-Awaited New Hampshire Pollution Trial Ready to Start
Dec 31 2012 // Nearly a decade after it was first brought, a lawsuit accusing two oil giants of widespread groundwater contamination in New Hampshire is expected to present jurors with the most complex and time-consuming trial in state...
Company Fined For Alaska Asbestos Release
Dec 26 2012 // An Alaska company has been fined $70,000 and placed on three years of probation for releasing asbestos into the air in Anchorage. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline (BISTE’-line) last week also...
Conocophillips Reaches Deals Over Alaska Spills
Dec 20 2012 // ConocoPhillips has agreed to federal and state civil penalties of about $200,000 for spills of crude oil and contaminated water from corroded pipe in Alaska’s Kuparuk Oil Field in 2006 and 2007. ConocoPhillips Alaska...
Berger Named President of Berkley Specialty Underwriting Managers
Dec 20 2012 // Kenneth J. Berger has been named president of Berkley Specialty Underwriting Managers LLC. The appointment is effective immediately. Berger succeeds Steven S. Zeitman, who has been appointed chairman and will remain chief...
Food Borne Illness Cases Present Complex Coverage Questions
Dec 19 2012 // One of the most heavily litigated insurance issues in coverage liability cases related to outbreaks of widespread food borne illnesses is the determination of occurrence where multiple people in multiple states are...
After Sandy, New York City Eyes Moving Power Gear Higher
Dec 14 2012 // A major push is on to move New York City’s electrical infrastructure to higher ground or upper floors after Superstorm Sandy sent seawater pouring into low-lying substations and skyscraper basements and plunged half...
States Plan to Sue EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Regulations
Dec 12 2012 // A coalition of seven eastern states led by New York plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to issue new guidelines to curb methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that may be linked to climate...
$100K Deal Reached in Montana Over Lead-Contaminated Waste
Dec 10 2012 // The owner of a central Montana landfill has agreed to pay the U.S. government $100,000 to settle a civil action over 1,600 tons of earth containing unsafe levels of lead that sat untreated and unprotected for about four...
Missoula County Wants Montana Mill Site On Superfund List
Dec 3 2012 // Missoula County commissioners have sent a letter to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer asking him to support putting the former Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. mill site in Frenchtown on the Superfund National Priorities...
FERMA Opposes EU Fund for Industrial Accident Environmental Liabilities, Losses
Dec 3 2012 // The Federation of European Risk Management Associations [FERMA), which represents risk managers in 20 European countries, has told the European Commission that it is opposed to the creation of a fund to cover environmental...
California Sells Out of First Pollution Permits
Dec 3 2012 // California has sold out of the first pollution permits issued as part of a landmark offensive against greenhouse gases at an inaugural auction in late November that regulators said went smoothly. The effort to curtail...
Cold, Mold Loom as Hazards in Sandy Disaster Zones
Dec 2 2012 // A month after Sandy’s floodwaters swept up his block, punched a hole in his foundation and drowned his furnace, John Frawley still has no electricity or heat in his dilapidated home on the Rockaway seashore in...
California Sells Out Of First Pollution Permits
Nov 21 2012 // California has sold out of the first pollution permits issued as part of a landmark offensive against greenhouse gases at an inaugural auction that regulators said Monday went smoothly. The effort to curtail carbon...
Oregon Developer Told to Pay $1.6M in Asbestos Case
Nov 19 2012 // Adeveloper whose plans to redevelop a sawmill in Sweet Home, Ore., has pleaded guilty to accusations that he allowed an unlicensed contractor to demolish a building, releasing asbestos near residential neighborhoods. After...
Extreme Weather Hits Poor, Middle Class in U.S. the Hardest
Nov 16 2012 // U.S. droughts, floods and heat waves likely fueled by climate change in the last two years hit the people who can afford it the least – the poor and middle class, a report published on Friday said. In affected areas...
Iran Oil Liability Fears Grow as Insurance Ban Bites
Nov 15 2012 // A ban on European Union insurers covering Iranian oil exports has forced ship owners to fall back on new, untested insurance providers, raising fears that governments may have to pay in the event of an oil spill. The July...
Post-Election Congress Expected to Target Crop Insurance
Nov 8 2012 // Federally subsidized crop insurance will be a big target for lawmakers looking to cut the budget deficit in the lame-duck session of Congress opening next week, agricultural policy experts agreed the morning after a...
Election Gamble Backfires for Financial, Energy Firms: Commentary
Nov 7 2012 // “Elections have consequences, and Eric, I won,” President Barack Obama famously told House Republican Whip Eric Cantor shortly after his first inauguration in January 2009. Four years later, Wall Street as well...
