environmental pollution liability News

Southern Water Fined for Sewage Spill That Killed 2,000 Fish in England

Southern Water was fined £330,000 on Tuesday after admitting a raw sewage spill that killed thousands of fish on the edge of England’s South Downs National Park. Southern, which supplies more than 4.6 million people in England, acknowledged that sewage …

EU Lawmakers Approve Tougher Penalties for Environmental Crimes

The European Parliament on Tuesday approved tougher penalties for environmental crimes such as illegal timber trade, with offenses punishable by up to 10 years in prison and company directors prosecuted for corporate wrongdoing. “It is about time we fought cross-border …

Trinidad and Tobago’s Government Confirms Fuel Oil Is Leaking off Tobago’s Coast

Trinidad and Tobago’s government on Friday confirmed the refined product leaking from a barge that struck a reef and overturned off the coast of Tobago was tested and determined to be a type of fuel oil. The leak, which remains …

Turkey Plans Fine for SSR’s Local Unit Over Mine Spill

Turkey plans to fine a unit of SSR Mining Inc. after a landslide at its Copler gold mine and have the company cover the cost of removing millions of tons of waste, three government officials said. Anagold Madencilik, 80%-owned by …

Rio Tinto Faces Pressure From Investors Over Water Contamination Claims

Global mining giant Rio Tinto, which sparked outrage after destroying an ancient Indigenous site in Australia in 2020, faces new pressure from socially conscious investors and lenders, this time on water practices at two of its mines. A group representing …

Top European Leaders Test Positive for Cancerous ‘Forever Chemicals’

Chemicals linked to severe health issues including cancer, infertility, birth defects and immune system disruptions are everywhere and no one is safe from them — not even top politicians, according to a campaign advocating for a European Union-wide ban. Former …

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 …

Plastic Pellet Spill Unleashes Cleanup Nightmare on Spain’s Coast

Tiny white plastic pellets are washing ashore in Spain’s northwestern coast by the millions, with hundreds of volunteers leading the clean up as authorities struggle to coordinate and companies decline any responsibility. A tanker ship lost six containers off the …