Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge OKs Duke Energy Environmental Compliance Plan in North Carolina
Jan 14 2016 // A federal judge is approving two Duke Energy plans describing how the country’s largest electricity company says it will comply with environmental laws. The statewide and nationwide environmental compliance plans...
Liberty International Underwriters Appoints 3 Senior VPs
Jan 12 2016 // Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has hired William Bell as senior vice president of U.S. Environmental. LIU also announced two promotions: Mike Nukk to senior vice president of...
Mississippi Town Sued by Environmental Group for Sewage Overflow
Jan 8 2016 // Sewage overflows during heavy rains have fouled a poor neighborhood in Centreville, Miss., for years because the city has failed to fix its sewage system, a lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit was filed against Centreville on...
Its Own Scientists Question EPA Claim Fracking Is Safe for Drinking Water
Jan 7 2016 // A landmark study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that concluded fracking causes no widespread harm to drinking water is coming under fire — this time, from the agency’s own science advisers. The...
U.S. Sues Volkswagen, Seeks Up to $80 Billion in Penalties
Jan 5 2016 // The U.S. Justice Department sued Volkswagen AG for installing illegal devices meant to defeat emissions testing, and laid out claims that could push penalties into the tens of billions of dollars — an opening salvo...
ACE Offers Renewable Energy Environmental Protection Policy in U.K. & Ireland
Dec 31 2015 // ACE Group has launched ACE Renewable Energy Environmental Protection, a dedicated environmental policy for companies in the renewable energy industry in the U.K. and Ireland. ACE Renewable Energy Environmental Protection...
Louisiana Whistleblower to Receive $750K
Dec 22 2015 // A whistleblower who lost his state contract after reporting his concerns that a state-funded dredging project violated environmental laws is set to receive $750,000 after a Baton Rouge jury ruled in his favor. Dan Collins...
Fitch: Overall P/C Reserves Adequate; Prior Years’ Favorable Trend Continues
Dec 18 2015 // Property/casualty insurers continued to take down loss reserves for prior years in 2014, which marked the ninth straight calendar year of favorable development for the industry in aggregate, according to a new report from...
VW Owners Nominate Feinberg to Manage Potential Emissions Settlement
Dec 14 2015 // Consumer lawyers suing Volkswagen AG over economic losses tied to vehicles rigged to cheat emissions tests have nominated Kenneth Feinberg as a special settlement master. Feinberg handled General Motors Co.’ ignition...
Allianz Global Names AIG’s Williams Environmental Liability Manager for North America
Dec 11 2015 // Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) reported that Thomas Williams has been named regional practice leader, Environmental Impairment Liability (EIL), for North America. Based in Atlanta, he will report to Dieter...
Kentucky Mining Company Fined for Clean Water Act Violations
Dec 10 2015 // Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet has agreed to levy a stiff fine against a coal mining company that acknowledged thousands of Clean Water Act violations, effectively barring the company from operating in...
Saving Shore Communities a Risky, Expensive Proposition
Dec 9 2015 // The sea is rising. The land is sinking. Entire mid-Atlantic communities are anchored in between, bookended by certain disaster unless a way is found to turn back the tide and save the shore. No one knows how to fix the fix...
California Judge Breyer Expected to Combine, Expedite VW Diesel Claims
Dec 9 2015 // A San Francisco judge who is the brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will oversee more than 500 consumer lawsuits against Volkswagen AG over claims of economic losses connected to rigged emissions-testing...
Southern California Spill Spewing Gases of a Half-Million Cars
Dec 7 2015 // Call it the invisible spill. You can’t see it, but it’s there – a steady stream of natural gas seeping out of the pipe casing in a well in Southern California that may spew as much greenhouse gas into the air...
$1.3M Settlement in Suit Against Tulsa Appraisal Firm Approved
Dec 7 2015 // Former residents of the old mining town of Picher, Okla., have reached a settlement with a Tulsa-based appraisal firm they say intentionally undervalued their property for a federal buyout. The Joplin Globe reports that a...
How a King of Coal Conspired Against Mine Safety
Dec 4 2015 // To hear Donald L. Blankenship tell it, the U.S. coal industry has been undone by inept regulators, evil unions, the media and “global warming hoaxers.” But for jurors at his criminal trial in Charleston, West...
North Carolina Judge Rejects 13-Year-Old’s Climate Change Challenge
Dec 3 2015 // A judge has ruled against a 13-year-old girl who took North Carolina to court over climate change, but the eighth-grader says she’ll continue to fight for environmental protections. The News & Observer of Raleigh...
PartnerOne Launches Contractors Pollution & Professional Product
Dec 1 2015 // PartnerOne Environmental is working in partnership with Berkley Environmental, a Division of Berkley Specialty Underwriting Managers, to offer PartnerOne Contractors Pollution & Professional. This product is a combined...
Anadarko’s $160 Million Fine for 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Falls Well Below What U.S. Sought
Nov 30 2015 // Anadarko Petroleum Corp. was ordered to pay almost $160 million for its role as part-owner of the doomed Gulf of Mexico well that in 2010 caused the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The fine was the last big...
Brazil to Sue BHP and Vale for $5.24B in Damages Caused by Burst Dam Disaster
Nov 30 2015 // Brazil’s federal and state governments plan to sue the owners of the Samarco iron ore miner for 20 billion reais ($5.24 billion) in damages caused by the burst of a tailings dam, Environment Minister Izabella...
