All the headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jan 5 2010 // A chemical company committed seven serious violations and was fined more than $23,000 after a ruptured hose caused an ammonia leak that killed a passing motorist in July, South Carolina workplace safety officials...
Nov 12 2009 // Male factory workers in China who got very high doses of a chemical that’s been widely used in hard plastic bottles had high rates of sexual problems, researchers reported yesterday.Heavy exposure to BPA, or...
Nov 9 2009 // An Avella, Pennsylvania landowner is suing an energy company for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination.George Zimmermann, the owner of 480...
Aug 5 2009 // Investigators are still trying to determine the source of noxious fumes at a Massachusetts trash disposal facility that sent 119 people to hospitals, including two who were listed in critical condition.Police and fire...
Jul 31 2009 // The EPA project manager overseeing cleanup at the abandoned Metachem site near Delaware City says toxic chemicals will remain there for at least 100 years. Hilary Thornton spoke Tuesday night about the Environmental...
Jun 29 2009 // Although two juries have sided with BNSF Railway Co. in separate lawsuits claiming chemicals in a railroad tie plant in Central Texas caused cancer, dozens of similar lawsuits will go forward, an attorney said.Jurors...
May 27 2009 // The former owner of a St. Joseph, Mo., tannery that is being sued over health concerns acknowledged that the plant used a cancer-causing chemical, but he said the tanning process posed no danger to the public.The former...
May 13 2009 // A chemical plant fire continued to burn May 12 in the south-central Wisconsin community of Columbus where dozens of neighbors were forced to evacuate their homes.A series of explosions was heard May 11 about 8 p.m. at...
Apr 24 2009 // A large explosion and fire that took the lives of two workers at the Bayer CropScience plant in West Virginia last August was caused by a thermal runaway reaction during the production of an insecticide. The event likely...
Apr 24 2009 // Farmers in four northwest Missouri counties may have unwittingly dumped millions of pounds of carcinogen-laced sludge on their fields, which may be linked to a rash of brain tumors in the area, environmental activist Erin...
Feb 6 2009 // A Baltimore woman says when she ordered an iced tea at a local McDonald’s restaurant last year, employees gave her a cup containing a cleaning chemical.Caryl Jones has filed a $100,000 lawsuit in Baltimore City...
Dec 5 2008 // Marsh’s London office has issued a warning that companies that use chemical substances in the European Union (EU) could risk insurance implications “associated with their failure to adhere to the EU’s...
Dec 4 2008 // A new survey finds that about a third of popular toys on sale this holiday season have significant levels of toxic chemicals.Researchers for the JustGreen Partnership — a coalition of children’s safety, public...
Nov 30 2008 // The changing character of environmental regulation fits any definition of a moving target. Since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was launched on a wave of environmental consciousness in the early 1970s, the...
Nov 24 2008 // As the price of fuel increased in recent months, Arizona authorities are wondering about hte potential toxicity of homemade biodiesel.Phoenix fire officials say it’s part of a trend of area residents using chemicals...
Oct 7 2008 // Hurricane Ike’s winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil...
Sep 2 2008 // Major chemical makers in the U.S. said Tuesday that initial inspections indicate only slight damage to those facilities that were affected by Hurricane Gustav, but companies are still uncertain about when production is...
Aug 27 2008 // Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced the resolution of the state’s environmental enforcement action against two Lyondell Chemical Company subsidiaries that operated seven petrochemical plants in Houston and...
Aug 25 2008 // The co-owners of a Danvers, Massachusetts, paint factory that exploded and caused extensive damage to the surrounding neighborhood have proposed a $6.6 million settlement.According to a settlement proposal, factory...
Aug 15 2008 // Gov. Joe Manchin’s office acknowledged that he conferred twice with chemical giant DuPont as it planned to appeal a $196 million punitive damage award in a West Virginia pollution case.His office also reviewed a...