environmental liabilities News

EU Lawmakers Approve Tougher Penalties for Environmental Crimes

The European Parliament on Tuesday approved tougher penalties for environmental crimes such as illegal timber trade, with offenses punishable by up to 10 years in prison and company directors prosecuted for corporate wrongdoing. “It is about time we fought cross-border …

7 Firms Settle With EPA Over Alleged Underground Storage Tank Violations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken action against several companies including gas station operators in New Jersey, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands to address alleged violations of federal laws regarding the maintenance and operation of underground petroleum …

90 Vermont Schools Sue Monsanto Over Toxic PCB Contamination of Buildings

Dozens of Vermont school districts have sued chemical giant Monsanto over toxic contamination in educational buildings from now-banned industrial chemicals known as PCBs. Last year, Vermont became the first state in the country to require older schools to test their …

Rhode Island AG Sues Manufacturers of Forever Chemicals

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha yesterday filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, for allegedly causing significant harm to the residents and natural resources of Rhode Island. The suit …

3M Faces Claim in Netherlands Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ Pollution

The Netherlands’s government is exploring its legal options against chemical giant 3M over pollution in the Dutch part of the Scheldt River. For years, the company’s Antwerp, Belgium-based factory seeped contaminated groundwater into the Scheldt, a 350-kilometer (217-mile) river that …

Call to Phase Out ‘Forever Chemicals’ Gains Investor Momentum

Investors managing $8 trillion in assets have written to the world’s biggest chemicals companies urging them to phase out the use of so-called forever chemicals that can accumulate in the environment and remain hazardous for generations. Known as PFAS, which …

150 Years of Spills: Philadelphia Refinery Cleanup Reveals Toxic Legacy of Fossil Fuels

Wearing blue hard hats, white hazmat suits and respirator masks, workers carted away bags of debris on a recent morning from a sprawling and now-defunct oil refinery once operated by Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES). Other laborers ripped asbestos from the …

Bees Endangered by Neonicotinoid Pesticides: EU Food Safety Regulator

Wild bees and honeybees are put at risk by three pesticides from a group known as neonicotinoids, Europe’s food safety watchdog said on Wednesday, confirming previous concerns that prompted an EU-wide ban on use of the chemicals. The European Food …

University of Georgia Settles Hazardous Waste Violations with EPA for $400K

The University of Georgia will spend more than $400,000 after federal inspectors found dozens of safety violations in the way it handles hazardous waste. Under a “consent agreement and final order” with the Environmental Protection Agency, the university will pay …

Massachusetts Firm to Pay EPA $199K Over Hazardous Waste Claims

A Massachusetts company that manufactures materials used in laboratory analysis has agreed to pay $199,500 to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it violated state and federal hazardous waste laws. Waters Technologies Corp., based in Taunton, …