Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Russia’s Nornickel Denies Allegations of Cover-Up over Arctic Oil Spill
Jul 13 2020 // Pressure is mounting on Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel over an Arctic oil spill that has wiped about 17% off its share price, left it with a hefty compensation bill and exposed it to accusations of covering up the...
It Took Coronavirus Pandemic to Settle Bayer’s Roundup Suits: Viewpoint
Jul 10 2020 // In late June, Bayer AG agreed to pay $9.5 billion to settle about 100,000 lawsuits that accused Roundup, the popular herbicide it acquired when it bought Monsanto in 2018, of causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The settlement...
Nebraska Egg Processor to Pay $827K Fine, Make $2M in Upgrades
Jul 9 2020 // A Nebraska egg processing company has agreed to invest $2 million in upgrades to its facility to limit pollution and pay an $827,500 fine as part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency and the state. The...
Specialty Program Group Acquires Assets of Beacon Hill Associates
Jul 8 2020 // Specialty Program Group LLC (SPG), an operator of specialty insurance brokerages and underwriting facilities, has acquired the assets of Beacon Hill Associates Inc. (BHA), an environmental wholesale brokerage firm,...
Judge ‘Inclined to Deny’ Part of Bayer Roundup Settlement on Future Claims
Jul 7 2020 // Bayer shares fell more 6% on Tuesday after a U.S. judge questioned part of the German company’s proposed settlement to deal with future claims relating to allegations that its widely used weedkiller Roundup caused...
Care for Montana Towns Polluted with Asbestos Transferred to State
Jul 6 2020 // State regulators are taking over maintenance of a decades-long environmental cleanup in two northwestern Montana towns where lung-damaging asbestos contamination has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The U.S....
Judge Sanctions Mountaire in Delaware Wastewater Lawsuit
Jul 6 2020 // A Superior Court judge has ordered an Arkansas poultry processing company and two Delaware subsidiaries to pay more than $28,000 in sanctions for repeatedly refusing to provide information to plaintiffs suing the company...
Congressional Action Plan on Climate Change Applauded by Zurich, IBHS
Jul 2 2020 // A Congressional action plan for a clean energy economy is garnering a bit of praise from a few important names in the insurance industry. The House of Representatives in 2019 established the House Select Committee on the...
California Commissioner Launches Diversity Initiative, Names COIN Board Members
Jul 1 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Wednesday announced the launched an “Invest in Our Diverse Communities” initiative to identify diverse woman-, veteran-, LGBTQ, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander,...
Mining Groups Should Be Required to Buy Insurance for Tailings Dams: Report
Jun 30 2020 // Mining companies should be required to buy private insurance for tailings dams and their board of directors should be held legally responsible for any disasters, a coalition of 140 environmental groups said in a report...
RT Specialty Promotes Slaugenhoup to Vice President in Its New Jersey Office
Jun 29 2020 // RT Specialty LLC has promoted David M. Slaugenhoup to vice president within its Environmental and Construction Professional (RT ECP) practice. Since joining the team in 2013, Slaugenhoup has diligently worked with RT ECP...
Chile’s Environment Regulator Files Charges Against Codelco for Mining Waste Pollution
Jun 29 2020 // Chile’s environmental regulator on Thursday said it had filed charges against state mining company Codelco over a 2016 tailings spill and river and estuary contamination at its Andina mine in a mountainous region...
California Approves First-in-U.S. Electric Truck Sales Rule
Jun 26 2020 // California regulators approved new rules on June 25 that would force automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans, a first-of-its-kind rule aimed at helping the nation’s most populous state clean up...
Even With $11 Billion Settlement, Bayer Still Has 30,000 Claims to Roundup
Jun 26 2020 // While Bayer AG said it took a major step toward wrapping up litigation over its Roundup weedkiller with a settlement of almost $11 billion, the company still faces about 30,000 unresolved cancer claims that could cost...
Bayer Gambles on Science to Let It Keep Selling Roundup, Mitigate Future Claims
Jun 25 2020 // FRANKFURT/NEW YORK— Seeking to forestall further claims, Bayer AG is taking a risky bet that an independent scientific review will ultimately show that its widely used weed killer Roundup does not cause cancer, legal...
Georgia County Hires Independent Firm to Test Water Wells for Coal Ash
Jun 25 2020 // county in Georgia has announced it’s hiring an independent firm to investigate possible coal ash contamination of residential water wells. An environmental consulting group will test wells of residents near Georgia...
Michigan Requests Closure of Enbridge Pipeline; EPA Fines Company $6.7M
Jun 24 2020 // Michigan’s attorney general has asked a judge to shut down a pipeline in the Great Lakes after an energy company discovered that an anchor support had shifted deep below the surface. Enbridge Inc. insists the Line 5...
Global Institutional Investors, Including Insurers, Urge Brazil to Control Deforestation
Jun 24 2020 // A group of 29 global investment firms that manage $3.7 trillion are demanding meetings with Brazilian diplomats around the world to call on right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s government to stop soaring...
Millions of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Pose Environmental, Health Risks
Jun 23 2020 // In May 2012, Hanson and Michael Rowe noticed an overpowering smell, like rotten eggs, seeping from an abandoned gas well on their land in Kentucky. The fumes made the retired couple feel nauseous, dizzy, and short of...
Global Risk Solutions Hires Wiswell, Daneman as Executive General Adjusters
Jun 23 2020 // Global Risk Solutions Inc., a provider of claims adjusting and environmental risk management solutions, has expanded its marine claims capabilities with the addition of two claims executives. Peter Wiswell and Joe Daneman...
