Latest Pollution Headlines

All the headlines from our Pollution Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Nuclear Power Industry Pushes for Fewer Inspections

Mar 18 2019 // The nuclear power industry is pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut back on inspections at nuclear power plants and throttle back what it tells the public about plant problems. The agency, whose board is...

Groundwater Near Most Coal Plants Polluted by Coal Ash

Mar 18 2019 // More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, posing potential harm to drinking water, according to a study...

SEC Sues VW, Ex-CEO over Diesel Emissions Scandal, Alleging Massive Investor Fraud

Mar 15 2019 // The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Volkswagen (VW) and its former chief executive Martin Winterkorn over the German automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, alleging a “massive fraud”...

Pennsylvania Opens Investigation into Gas Liquids Pipeline

Mar 14 2019 // Pennsylvania’s attorney general said Tuesday that his office has opened an investigation into construction on a 350-mile natural gas liquids pipeline project across southern Pennsylvania that has been blamed for...

Slaugenhoup Promoted to Assistant Vice President at RT Specialty

Mar 13 2019 // David M. Slaugenhoup has been promoted to assistant vice president within RT Specialty’s National Environmental and Construction Professional Liability practice.Since joining the New Day team in 2013, he has worked...

Work Stopped at Michigan Plant Amid Air Pollution Concerns

Mar 8 2019 // A medical-device manufacturer says it will stop sterilizing equipment at a Michigan facility as state regulators investigate the company for air pollution, including for the release of a known carcinogen. Viant Medical...

Exxon Mobil, U.S. Reach Settlement Over 2013 Texas Refinery Fire

Mar 8 2019 // The U.S. Justice Department and Exxon Mobil Corp have reached a settlement resolving Clean Air Act violations stemming from a 2013 fire at the company’s Beaumont, Texas, refinery that killed two employees and injured...

Minnesota Company to Pay $7M in Environmental Pollution Settlement

Mar 5 2019 // A Twin Cities manufacturer has agreed to pay $7 million for its releases of an air pollutant linked to birth defects and certain types of cancer. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Laura Bishop announced the...

New Jersey’s RT New Day Promotes Nawa to Vice President

Mar 4 2019 // Joseph Nawa has been promoted to vice president within RT Specialty’s National Environmental and Construction Professional Liability Practice.For the past five years, Nawa has been integral to the company’s new...

Groundwater Near Most Coal Plants Polluted by Coal Ash: Environmental Groups

Mar 4 2019 // More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, according to a study released on Monday by environmental groups,...

Environmental Disaster Unfolds in Pacific, Near Solomon Islands, as Ship Leaks Oil

Mar 4 2019 // An environmental disaster is unfolding in the Pacific after a large ship ran aground and began leaking oil next to a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Solomon Islands, Australian officials said Friday [March 1].Footage...

Alabama Water Treatment Center Chemical Spill Sends Dozens to Hospitals

Mar 4 2019 // More than 50 people were sent to hospitals around Birmingham, Alabama, following a chemical spill at a water treatment plant.Authorities tell news outlets that irritating gas caused by a mixture of ferric sulfate and...

Company Says Risk for Environmental Disaster From Pile in Louisiana Falling

Mar 1 2019 // Officials with a company that owns an unstable phosphogypsum pile and a lake of acidic water atop it say they’re encouraged by recent efforts to halt a potential environmental disaster in a Louisiana...

California Charter School Settles Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

Mar 1 2019 // Guidance Charter School, of Palmdale, Calif. will pay $8,000 and provide other injunctive relief to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency...

Judge Finalizes Chemours, North Carolina Water Pollution Settlement

Feb 27 2019 // North Carolina’s environmental agency says a finalized settlement agreement allows it to make sure a Fortune 500 chemical company follows through on promises to clean up industrial chemicals in the water or face...

Southern California Gas Leak Settlement Raises Stink

Feb 26 2019 // A stink is being raised over a $120 million court settlement from the nation’s largest-known natural gas leak and it’s not about money, but cow manure.Environmental groups have criticized a plan to put more...

Illinois EPA Shuts Medical Instrument Sterilization Facility Due to Pollution

Feb 22 2019 // A suburban Chicago plant that sterilizes medical instruments with a chemical believed to be cancer causing has been shut by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.The state EPA issued a seal order for Sterigenics...

Baltimore Sues Chemical Company Monsanto over PCB Pollution

Feb 22 2019 // Baltimore has filed a lawsuit against the agrochemical giant Monsanto and two other companies, accusing them of polluting city waterways and stormwater.The legal effort focuses on PCBs, the industrial chemicals that have...

Alabama Coal Firm to Pay $775K in Air Pollution Penalties

Feb 21 2019 // One of Alabama’s largest coal companies has agreed to pay $775,000 in penalties related to air pollution violations near Birmingham.Al.com reported Feb 12. that the proposed Drummond Company settlement comes nearly...

EPA Investigating GenX Production at Chemours’ North Carolina Plant

Feb 21 2019 // A chemical maker’s North Carolina plant may have broken federal law by failing to notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it started manufacturing and repurposing new industrial compounds, the agency...