Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Why Science Can’t Prove Roundup Weed Killer Causes Cancer: Viewpoint
Mar 22 2019 // Scientists can’t, for the most part, prove that a given product caused a particular person to get cancer – not the way you can prove, say, that a car with faulty brakes caused a fatal crash. And so when a federal...
Climate Activists Petition for Carriers in California to Reveal Fossil Fuel Insureds
Mar 21 2019 // More than 60 environmental, consumer and social justice organizations on Thursday delivered a petition to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara seeking what is believed would be the first regulations in the nation...
Benzene Levels Rise near Petrochemical Fire Site; Residents Told to Shelter-in-Place
Mar 21 2019 // Tens of thousands of people east of Houston are being told to stay indoors after benzene and other volatile organic compounds were found in the air within the city limits of Deer Park, one day after a fire that broke out...
Houston-Area Petrochemical Blaze Probe Weighed by Federal Investigators
Mar 21 2019 // Federal and local investigators are weighing a probe of the Houston chemical blaze as hazardous compounds waft near the burned-out site. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board “is following up on the incident and should be...
Washington High Court Hears Case on Carbon Pollution
Mar 21 2019 // The Washington Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether the state Department of Ecology has the authority to cap carbon pollution from major industrial emitters, something business groups and utilities have...
Houston-Area Petrochemical Blaze Extinguished, Company Says
Mar 20 2019 // Firefighters on Wednesday extinguished a fire at a Mitsui & Co. petrochemical storage site outside Houston that has been billowing acrid smoke for days, the company said. The blaze at Mitsui unit Intercontinental...
Another Jury Finds Roundup Weed Killer Causes Cancer in First Phase of Trial
Mar 20 2019 // A U.S. jury on Tuesday found Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused cancer, a blow to the company eight months after another jury issued a $289 million verdict over similar claims in a different...
Regulators Wonder If One Farm’s Tainted Milk Is Isolated Case or Broader Problem
Mar 20 2019 // For Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone, the discovery in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk has since brought financial ruin and threatened to shut down a century-old family business. Now state regulators and health...
Houston-Area Chemical Blaze Intensifies After Loss of Water Pressure
Mar 19 2019 // A fire at a petrochemical storage facility that’s covered Houston in a thick pall of smoke for the past two days intensified overnight after firefighters briefly lost water pressure. Two additional storage tanks are...
Harmful Dry Cleaning Chemical Detected in W. Virginia Town’s Drinking Water
Mar 19 2019 // Officials say the drinking water in a West Virginia community along the Ohio River contains a harmful chemical widely used by dry cleaners. State Bureau for Public Health spokeswoman Allison Adler said in an email...
Nuclear Power Industry Pushes for Fewer Inspections
Mar 18 2019 // The nuclear power industry is pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut back on inspections at nuclear power plants and throttle back what it tells the public about plant problems. The agency, whose board is...
Groundwater Near Most Coal Plants Polluted by Coal Ash
Mar 18 2019 // More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, posing potential harm to drinking water, according to a study...
SEC Sues VW, Ex-CEO over Diesel Emissions Scandal, Alleging Massive Investor Fraud
Mar 15 2019 // The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Volkswagen (VW) and its former chief executive Martin Winterkorn over the German automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, alleging a “massive fraud”...
Pennsylvania Opens Investigation into Gas Liquids Pipeline
Mar 14 2019 // Pennsylvania’s attorney general said Tuesday that his office has opened an investigation into construction on a 350-mile natural gas liquids pipeline project across southern Pennsylvania that has been blamed for...
Slaugenhoup Promoted to Assistant Vice President at RT Specialty
Mar 13 2019 // David M. Slaugenhoup has been promoted to assistant vice president within RT Specialty’s National Environmental and Construction Professional Liability practice. Since joining the New Day team in 2013, he has worked...
Work Stopped at Michigan Plant Amid Air Pollution Concerns
Mar 8 2019 // A medical-device manufacturer says it will stop sterilizing equipment at a Michigan facility as state regulators investigate the company for air pollution, including for the release of a known carcinogen. Viant Medical...
Exxon Mobil, U.S. Reach Settlement Over 2013 Texas Refinery Fire
Mar 8 2019 // The U.S. Justice Department and Exxon Mobil Corp have reached a settlement resolving Clean Air Act violations stemming from a 2013 fire at the company’s Beaumont, Texas, refinery that killed two employees and injured...
Minnesota Company to Pay $7M in Environmental Pollution Settlement
Mar 5 2019 // A Twin Cities manufacturer has agreed to pay $7 million for its releases of an air pollutant linked to birth defects and certain types of cancer. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop announced the...
New Jersey’s RT New Day Promotes Nawa to Vice President
Mar 4 2019 // Joseph Nawa has been promoted to vice president within RT Specialty’s National Environmental and Construction Professional Liability Practice. For the past five years, Nawa has been integral to the company’s...
Groundwater Near Most Coal Plants Polluted by Coal Ash: Environmental Groups
Mar 4 2019 // More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, according to a study released on Monday by environmental groups,...
