Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Spending Deal Keeping Government Open Undermines Trump’s Wish List
May 1 2017 // U.S. House and Senate negotiators reached a bipartisan deal on a $1.1 trillion spending bill that largely tracks with Democratic priorities and rejects most of President Donald Trump’s wish list, including money to...
Chubb Forms ‘Custom Industry Solutions’ Product, Creates London Region
May 1 2017 // Chubb announced it has created a “Custom Industry Solutions” product cluster in UK and Ireland, which will bring together its life science, info tech, package and entertainment industry segments. This new...
Pipeline Company Investigating 19,000-Gallon Oil Spill in Oklahoma
Apr 27 2017 // A Houston-based pipeline company continued cleanup at the site of a nearly 19,000-gallon oil spill in northwest Oklahoma that threatened a local water supply over the weekend. Crews from Plains All American Pipeline were...
Biohazard Cleanups Not Pretty-and Neither Are the Costs to Insurers
Apr 27 2017 // If Peter Duncanson is on the scene, it’s probably not pretty. It could be a CSI-like crime scene with spattered blood and skin fragments on the sofa and wall. Or a trauma scene where an injured employee or animal...
EPA Says 3 Injection Wells Source of Contamination in Oklahoma Creek
Apr 25 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency says it has narrowed the source of salt contamination in an Osage County, Oklahoma, creek to three nearby oil and natural gas injection wells. The Tulsa World reports the contamination...
Large Claims Becoming More Expensive, Complex & Global: Allianz
Apr 25 2017 // Large liability claims are becoming more expensive, complex and international, with activity increasing outside the United States, according a report published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty...
Managers Made Errors in Handling California Dam Crisis
Apr 21 2017 // Late in the afternoon of Feb. 12, Sheriff Kory Honea was at the emergency operations center for the tallest dam in America when he overheard someone say something that stopped him in his tracks: “This is not...
Florida’s New Tactic to Fight Zika: Release of 20K Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes
Apr 20 2017 // Thousands of bacteria-infected mosquitoes were released in the wild Tuesday near Key West, testing a new way to kill mosquitoes that carry Zika and other viruses. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District released 20,000...
Feds Say Chemical Cloud in Kansas Caused by Human Error, Labeling
Apr 17 2017 // Human error and labeling and design problems led to the release of a large chemical cloud over a northeast Kansas city that sent more than 140 people to the hospital last year and caused others to stay indoors or evacuate...
Duke Energy Sues 30 Insurers Over Coal Ash Cleanup Costs in Carolinas
Apr 17 2017 // The largest U.S. electric company sued 30 international and domestic insurance companies last month, saying they should cover part of the utility’s multibillion-dollar cleanup costs in the Carolinas for toxic...
17 States Sue to Halt Trump Rollback of Climate Change Regulations
Apr 6 2017 // A coalition of 17 U.S. states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging...
Starr’s Caporelli Joins Rockhill Environmental Team in California
Apr 6 2017 // The Rockhill Insurance Group has named Steve Caporelli to its environmental unit. Caporelli will be based in the San Francisco, Calif. office. Caporelli more than 15 years of underwriting and risk assessment experience. He...
Top 3 Causes of Global Liability Claims = 60% of Value: Allianz Report
Apr 5 2017 // Defective product/work quality issues, crashes and human error are listed as the top causes of liability loss for businesses, according to a report published by Allianz Global Corporate Specialty (AGCS). Collectively,...
Proposed EPA Cuts Include Oil Spill, Lead Poisoning Prevention and Climate Research
Apr 5 2017 // The Trump administration is proposing to slash funding for grants to prevent lead poisoning, climate change research and criminal enforcement against polluters as part of its plan to reduce funding at the Environmental...
Losses from Colorado Mine Spill Could Be Far Less than Feared
Apr 4 2017 // Economic damage from a Colorado mine waste spill caused by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may be far less than originally feared after attorneys drastically reduced some of the larger claims, The Associated Press...
As Supreme Court Justice, Gorsuch Could Influence Trump Climate, Deregulation Agenda
Apr 3 2017 // Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee could help decide the fate of his moves to undo climate-related U.S. regulations, but legal experts said Neil Gorsuch’s judicial record makes it hard to predict whether as a...
USGS Lowers Seismic Hazard Forecast for Oklahoma in 2017
Mar 31 2017 // Oklahoma experienced fewer earthquakes last year compared with 2015 and a recent study of human-induced earthquakes predicts another year of reduced seismicity for the state in 2017. The U.S. Geological Survey warns,...
Duke Energy Sues 30 Insurers Over Carolinas Coal Ash Cleanup Costs
Mar 31 2017 // The largest U.S. electric company sued 30 international and domestic insurance companies Wednesday, saying they should cover part of the utility’s multibillion-dollar cleanup costs in the Carolinas for toxic...
What Could be Hotter than Phoenix? The Answer Might Just Be Phoenix
Mar 30 2017 // Can you imagine an even hotter, drier Phoenix? Certainly not if you’ve been to the sun-drenched Arizona capital in the summer. Such an inconceivable scenario is being proposed by the LA Times. “Today, Phoenix...
XL Catlin Adds Marlane to Its Environmental Business in California
Mar 30 2017 // XL Catlin’s environmental insurance business has appointed Denali Marlane as its Western regional underwriting manager in San Francisco. Marlane will manage XL Catlin’s environmental underwriting...