environmental liability News

Brazil Orders Vale, BHP and Samarco to Pay $9.7B in Damages for 2015 Dam Disaster

A Brazilian federal judge ruled that miners Vale and BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6 billion reais ($9.67 billion) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters. …

Looming Waste-Landslide Disaster Prompts Review of Environmental Laws in Denmark

A landslide of contaminated soil that threatens to pollute a water stream in Denmark has prompted the nation’s government to consider tightening environmental and corporate laws. Danish authorities have enlisted 100 workers and 80 trucks to avoid “a potential environmental …

Repsol Sued in Class Action for $1 Billion Over Peru’s Worst Oil Spill

Repsol SA is being sued for $1 billion by an English law firm representing around 35,000 alleged victims for its involvement in Peru’s largest oil spill in 2022. Tom Goodhead, chief executive officer of Pogust Goodhead, said the lawsuit was …

Truck Engine Maker Cummins to Pay Record $1.675 Billion US Environmental Fine

Truck engine maker Cummins Inc. has agreed in principle to pay a $1.675 billion fine for installing devices on hundreds of thousands of engines to allow them to emit excess pollution, the largest-ever civil penalty for a Clean Air Act …

Vale-BHP Talks With Brazil on Mine Disaster Compensation Delayed

Talks over a multibillion-dollar settlement for a 2015 mining disaster at an iron ore venture of Vale SA and BHP Group have been suspended by a Brazilian court until early 2024 after the companies and authorities in the country failed …

Communities Can’t Recycle or Trash E-Cigarettes. So What Happens to Them?

With the growing popularity of disposable e-cigarettes, communities across the U.S. are confronting a new vaping problem: how to safely get rid of millions of small, battery-powered devices that are considered hazardous waste. For years, the debate surrounding vaping largely …

Maryland Medical Waste Incinerator Fined $1.75M for Exposing Public to Biohazards

A medical waste processing company has pleaded guilty to dozens of environment-related charges and agreed to pay $1.75 million in fines after state prosecutors in Maryland accused a south Baltimore incineration plant owned by the firm of exposing the public …

Wetlands Permit Dispute Pauses Construction on $2B Scout Motors EV Plant in SC

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) — Construction work has been temporarily stopped on a $2 billion new electric vehicle plant in South Carolina being built by a Volkswagen Group-backed group trying to revive a brand that was a forerunner to today’s SUVs. …

Authorities Looking for Source of Oil Spill at Florida’s Port Manatee

The U.S. Coast Guard is continuing to investigate the source of an oil spill that contaminated more than 19,000 gallons of water at Port Manatee in Tampa Bay. The spill was reported last week and crews have worked since then …

Fast Fashion Firms Prepare for EU Crackdown on Waste Mountain

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Barcelona, women stand at conveyor belts, manually sorting T-shirts, jeans and dresses from large bales of used clothing – a small step towards tackling Europe’s towering problem of discarded fashion. Within a year, …