Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Carolina Regulators Say Chemours Lied About Chemical Discharge ‘For Years’
Apr 12 2018 // North Carolina should tackle an emerging problem of water and air pollution from little-studied industrial chemicals by beefing up the state’s health and environmental agencies, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday. Cooper...
Court Rules Employers Cannot Use Salary History to Justify Gender Wage Gap
Apr 11 2018 // A U.S. appeals court on Monday ruled employers cannot use workers’ salary histories to justify gender-based pay disparities, saying that would perpetuate a wage gap that is “an embarrassing reality of our...
U.S. Steel to Pay More than $1.2M in Lake Michigan Chemical Spill Case
Apr 5 2018 // U.S. Steel will pay a $600,000 civil penalty and $630,000 to reimburse various federal agencies for costs and damages after one of its plants discharged wastewater containing a potentially carcinogenic chemical into a...
Oil Platform Worker Pleads Guilty to Pollution Violation in Gulf Blast
Apr 4 2018 // A contract worker has pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Water Act in connection with a deadly oil platform explosion off Louisiana’s coast. Prosecutors said in court documents that Don Moss, of Groves....
Lawsuits over Arkema Chemical Disaster in Texas Add Up
Apr 3 2018 // Note: This story originally ran in The Texas Tribune. Most of the houses along Crosby Eastgate Road in Southeast Texas and its neighboring streets are one-story outfits on sprawling green lots. In their driveways are spare...
3 Petrochemical Companies to Pay $11M for Waste Violations in Louisiana
Apr 2 2018 // Three petrochemical companies have agreed to pay $11 million to settle charges of illegally disposing hazardous waste that damaged natural resources in part of a Louisiana river’s estuary. The Environmental...
Marathon to Pay $335K for 2016 Diesel Spill in Indiana
Apr 2 2018 // Marathon Petroleum Corp. has agreed to pay $335,000 for a 2016 spill where nearly 36,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into the Wabash River near the Indiana-Illinois border. The company’s settlement with the U.S....
Youths’ Climate Change Suit Has Potential Impact on a Historic Scale for Insurance
Mar 29 2018 // A three-year-old lawsuit by a group of youths against the U.S. over climate change, which looks to now get a new trial date at some point this year, has the potential to open up lawsuits on a historic scale, according to...
New York Court Affirms Gas Company on the Hook for Environmental Cleanup Costs
Mar 29 2018 // The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that KeySpan Gas East Corporation is responsible for costs to clean up environmental contamination caused by manufactured gas plants owned by its predecessor during years when there...
Schinnerer Launches PL Coverage for Materials Transparency Consultants
Mar 29 2018 // Underwriting manager Victor O. Schinnerer & Company has launched a dedicated professional liability policy for materials transparency consultants. Born out of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)...
Texas Oil Field Service Company Settles Oklahoma Pollution Lawsuit
Mar 27 2018 // A Texas-based oil field service company has settled a lawsuit with more than 100 southern Oklahoma residents who allege their homes and businesses were damaged by groundwater contamination caused by the...
More than 50,000 British Drivers Initiate ‘Dieselgate’ Suit Against VW
Mar 27 2018 // Lawyers for more than 50,000 British car owners kicked off a lawsuit against Volkswagen in London’s High Court on Tuesday in a battle for compensation over a diesel emissions scandal that has engulfed Europe’s...
Toxic Impact of Hurricane Harvey Deeper than Public Told
Mar 26 2018 // A toxic onslaught from the nation’s petrochemical hub was largely overshadowed by the record-shattering deluge of Hurricane Harvey as residents and first responders struggled to save lives and property. More than a...
Study Links Severe Winter Weather in Northeastern U.S. to Arctic Temps
Mar 15 2018 // The frequency of extreme winter weather in the U.S. is sensitive to Arctic temperatures, and that’s something those paying weather-related losses may want to take note of. After all, you can’t spell polar...
Work Begins to Reopen Idaho Mine Following Settlement
Mar 14 2018 // A northern Idaho mine could be put back into operation following the settlement of a federal lawsuit against the mine’s owner. The Spokesman-Review reported a settlement agreement was filed Monday in federal court in...
Judge to Decide on Evidence to Allow in Monsanto Product Liability Litigation
Mar 14 2018 // Picture Iowa farmers bathing in Roundup weed killer. That was a federal judge’s takeaway after seeing slides that “sort of seared into my brain” that the main chemical in Monsanto Co.’s Roundup is...
Anglo American’s Ruptured Pipeline Is 2nd Mine Incident in Brazil in 2018
Mar 13 2018 // Anglo American Plc’s Brazilian iron-ore mine suffered operational delays after a pipeline ruptured Monday morning, the company confirmed by email. The good news is that no one was hurt, the company said. The...
Company Wants Appeals Court to Lift Halt in Louisiana Oil Pipeline Work
Mar 5 2018 // A company building a crude oil pipeline in Louisiana has asked a federal appeals court to lift a judge’s order that temporarily halts pipeline construction work in a swamp. Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC asked the 5th...
Massive Pennsylvania Gas Pipeline Project to Resume; Sunoco Fined $12M
Mar 5 2018 // Sunoco has agreed to a $12.6 million fine over problems with a massive natural gas pipeline project, but work will resume under a consent agreement, Pennsylvania regulators said. The Department of Environmental Protection...
Californians Bash Trump for Bid to End Emissions-Slashing Climate Change Plan
Mar 2 2018 // California stands in “complete opposition” to a Trump administration plan to scrap a policy slashing climate-changing emissions from power plants, its top air official said Wednesday at a U.S. hearing in a...
