Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Complex Trial Over Blame for Gulf Oil Spill Set to Open
Feb 24 2012 // It could be the ultimate case for passing the buck. A massive trial over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill heads for a New Orleans federal courtroom on Monday, to determine how much BP Plc and others should cough up for...
Judge: BP, Anadarko, Transocean May Be Liable for Oil Pollution Claims
Feb 23 2012 // BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are liable and Transocean Ltd. may be liable for civil damages under federal pollution laws over the catastrophic 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. judge ruled. Wednesday’s...
Wells Will Determine Groundwater Contamination in Southern California
Feb 22 2012 // Thirty wells are being installed in Burbank and Glendale in an effort to determine the extent of groundwater contamination. Small amounts of cancer-causing chromium 6 left behind by the San Fernando Valley aircraft...
State Investigates Cause of Washington’s Refinery Blaze
Feb 21 2012 // State safety inspectors are investigating the cause of a dramatic blaze at Washington’s largest oil refinery Friday near Blaine, as BP launched its own review into why it happened. The fire broke out in the sole...
Virginia High Court to Rehear Global Warming Coverage Case
Feb 20 2012 // The Virginia Supreme Court has granted rehearing of a closely followed legal case involving climate change coverage, The AES Corp. vs. Steadfast Insurance Company. The court said on Jan. 17 that its previous decision on...
New York Leads 11 States in Suing EPA Over Soot Rules
Feb 14 2012 // New York and 10 other states filed a lawsuit last Friday designed to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on soot pollution. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the lawsuit...
Union Pacific to Pay $1.5 Million in Fines
Feb 14 2012 // Union Pacific Railroad will pay $1.5 million in fines for environmental damage in Provo and other areas of the Intermountain West. The Daily Herald of Provo reported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the...
ACE Enhances Tank Coverage
Feb 9 2012 // The ACE Group has improved its tank coverage by streamlining environmental coverage for owners and operators of aboveground and underground tanks. The insurer has combined aboveground and underground coverage in a single...
People
Feb 6 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Companies has appointed AIG executive Julio Portalatin as CEO of Mercer, MMC’s human resource consulting unit. Portalatin succeeds M. Michele Burns who left the firm last October. Portalatin...
XL Enhances Real Estate Portfolio Protection
Feb 3 2012 // XL Group’s insurance segment has launched enhanced pollution protection for real estate portfolios. The product will be available through the segment’s environmental team. The new product is aimed toward...
California Salami Plant to Pay $700K For Ammonia Leak
Feb 1 2012 // The owners of a South San Francisco salami plant will pay nearly $700,000 and overhaul its refrigeration system as part of a federal judgment stemming from an ammonia leak that sickened almost four dozen people. The U.S....
Two Vermont Towns to Decide on Abandoned Asbestos Mine
Jan 31 2012 // Voters in Lowell and Eden are going to vote on whether to request that an abandoned asbestos mine be declared a federal Superfund hazardous waste site so it can be cleaned up and eventually redeveloped as a biomass power...
Ex-BP Worker Files Whistleblower Suit Over Cleanup
Jan 30 2012 // A former BP employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company, claiming he was fired for airing concerns about the cleanup of Mississippi’s shoreline after the Gulf oil spill. In a federal suit filed...
Scientists Urge More Study of Nanotechnology Risks
Jan 26 2012 // Studying the potential health hazards of nanotechnology will require an additional $24 million a year to close the knowledge gap about the tiny particles used in a fast-growing array of consumer products, the National...
Group Urges Obama to Address Flood Insurance in State of Union Address
Jan 19 2012 // A coalition of business and environmental groups is calling on President Obama to use his upcoming State of the Union address to urge Congress to reform the nation’s debt-ridden flood insurance program. The U.S....
Cancer Village Lawsuit Tests China’s Pollution Lawsuit Climate
Jan 17 2012 // Nothing in Wu Wenyong’s rural childhood hinted he would end up on a hospital bed aged 15, battling two kinds of cancer. Born to poor farmers in Xiaoxin, a dusty village of low brick houses in southwestern Yunnan...
Willis N. America Appoints Penn.-based Environmental Practice Leader
Jan 13 2012 // Willis North America, a unit of insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, appointed Richard Sheldon as environmental practice leader. Sheldon has been serving as national placement leader for the environmental practice since...
Internet Begins New Chapter with .yournamehere Domains
Jan 12 2012 // A quiet Internet revolution begins on Thursday. Organizations can begin applying to name and run their own domains instead of entrusting them to the operators of .com, .org, .gov and others. Up to 2,000 applications are...
Ironshore Expands Environmental Products to Europe
Jan 9 2012 // Ironshore Environmental products are now available in Europe through Ironshore Europe Limited. The products cover a broad spectrum of issues for many industries, including manufacturing, engineering, construction, energy,...
Utah Pollution Fighters Sue Kennecott Over Mining Dust
Jan 9 2012 // Clean air groups are making good on a promise to sue Kennecott Utah Copper over air pollution. The groups say Kennecott is kicking up too much dust at its Bingham copper mine and should curtail operations. They say...
