Latest Pollution Headlines
All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.
$14.7B VW Diesel Settlement Gets Preliminary Approval
Jul 27 2016 // Volkswagen AG’s $14.7 billion settlement of its U.S. diesel emissions cheating scandal cleared another legal hurdle on Tuesday, as a federal judge gave the automaker preliminary approval to buy back up to 475,000...
Philadelphia, UCPM to Offer Storage Tank Pollution Coverage
Jul 22 2016 // Philadelphia Insurance Companies has partnered with UCPM, Inc., an environmental insurance provider, to offer storage tank pollution liability coverage. The new Storage Tank Environmental Policy (STEP) protects...
Wal-Mart Says Move to Label, Reduce Unhealthy Chemicals Affects 700 Manufacturers
Jul 22 2016 // Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is asking suppliers to remove formaldehyde, triclosan and six other substances from their products, part of an effort to eliminate controversial chemicals from household goods. The chemicals on the...
Enbridge, U.S. Reach $177M Settlement Over Pipeline Spill
Jul 21 2016 // Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. has agreed to pay $177 million in penalties and improved safety measures in a settlement with the U.S. government tied to one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. The...
Can States Stop Man-Made Earthquakes?
Jul 21 2016 // Stopping an earthquake before it starts? It sounds like a feat possible only for a superhero. But in Kansas and Oklahoma state policymakers are showing that insofar as humans are causing earthquakes, they can stop them,...
3 States Sue Volkswagen, Charge Cover-Up of Diesel Fraud Went on for Years
Jul 20 2016 // Senior executives at Volkswagen AG including its former chief executive covered up evidence that the German automaker had cheated on U.S. diesel emissions tests for years, three U.S. states charged on Tuesday in civil...
States to Sue VW Over Diesel Scandal
Jul 19 2016 // New York and Maryland are among several states planning to sue Volkswagen AG over the environmental damage done by devices that were designed by the carmaker to cheat on pollution-control tests. Maryland Attorney General...
Groups Press Dow-DuPont to Reveal Teflon Liabilities Before Merger Vote
Jul 19 2016 // DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. must tell shareholders before next week’s merger vote that they may face exposure to costly potential damages from claims that a chemical used to make Teflon caused cancer and other...
North Carolina Governor Signs Duke Energy Coal Ash Cleanup Compromise
Jul 18 2016 // North Carolina will offer less expensive ways for Duke Energy to clean up coal ash pits at seven sites while ensuring drinking water is piped to residents near the ponds, a compromise that has appeased the General Assembly...
EPA, Forest Service Seek Permanent Firefighters Near Montana Asbestos Site
Jul 18 2016 // The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Forest Service want to station 10 firefighters near Libby this summer so crews are immediately available to fight any fire that night burn in or near a former vermiculite...
House GOP Wants Democratic AGs’ Records on Climate Change Suit Against Exxon
Jul 15 2016 // Escalating a political fight over global warming, a Republican House chairman issued subpoenas this week to two Democratic state attorneys general, seeking records about their investigation into whether Exxon Mobil misled...
Federal Scientists Issue Final Update of West Virginia Chemical Spill Study
Jul 15 2016 // Federal government scientists have released a final update of their study of the January 2014 chemical spill that temporarily fouled the drinking water supplies of 300,000 Charleston-area residents, reporting no...
Methane in Northern Colorado Water Not Always from Oil Wells: Study
Jul 13 2016 // The oil and gas industry may not be to blame if northeastern Colorado tap water is so full of methane it can be set on fire, researchers say. Fewer than 5 percent of the region’s water wells that were checked for...
California Governor Wants to Expand Efforts on Climate Change
Jul 13 2016 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has launched a campaign to extend some of the most ambitious climate-change programs in the country and ensure his environmental legacy when he leaves office in two years. The centerpiece of the...
Alpha Natural Resources Reaches Deal with U.S. to Exit Bankruptcy, Clean-Up Mines
Jul 8 2016 // The U.S. government agreed to a mine clean-up deal that allows coal producer Alpha Natural Resources to exit bankruptcy, despite concerns that Alpha will be unable to fund $400 million in commitments, a government lawyer...
BHP to Fight $6B Civil Claim over Brazil Mining Disaster
Jul 1 2016 // BHP Billiton on Friday said it would appeal against the decision by a Brazilian court to reinstate a $6 billion public civil claim over last year’s Samarco iron ore mine disaster. BHP and 50-50 joint-venture partner...
Brexit, Climate Change and Clean Air
Jun 30 2016 // What does the Brexit portend for all those collaborative efforts undertaken by the European Union to battle climate change? It’s a question a number of people were pondering – in Europe and in the U.S. – after...
Citing Health Risks, Oakland City Council Bans Coal Shipments
Jun 29 2016 // The Oakland City Council in California voted unanimously to kill a plan to use a proposed marine terminal to transport Utah coal to Asia, calling such shipments public health and safety hazards. Backers argued the project...
Senate Zika Funding Fails as Democrats Balk at Strings Attached
Jun 29 2016 // Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked Republicans’ plan to partially fund President Barack Obama’s request for funding to tackle the Zika virus and attach it to other items Democrats dismissed as partisan,...
Update: Volkswagen’s U.S. Diesel Settlement Tab to Top $15 Billion
Jun 27 2016 // German automaker Volkswagen AG will pay more than $15.3 billion to settle charges that it cheated on U.S. diesel emissions tests, an agreement that will fund buybacks for consumers and provide up to $4.7 billion that could...
