Latest Pollution Headlines

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

EPA Appears to Ease Nuke Radiation Safeguards for First Responders

Oct 18 2017 // In the event of a dirty bomb or a nuclear meltdown, emergency responders can safely tolerate radiation levels equivalent to thousands of chest X-rays, the Environmental Protection Agency said in new guidelines that ease...

Residents Begin Filing Claims for West Virginia Chemical Spill

Oct 17 2017 // Residents and businesses in nine West Virginia counties left without tap water during a 2014 chemical spill can start filing claims.According to a website set up to handle claims, forms were being accepted both online and...

Developers Built Homes Inside Houston’s Reservoirs. But No One Warned Buyers.

Oct 12 2017 // Note: This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica.When Jeremy Boutor moved to a master-planned community in Houston’s booming energy corridor, he saw it as idyllic. Lakes on Eldridge...

Trump Administration Begins Repeal of Obama Clean Power Plan

Oct 11 2017 // When President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to pare emissions from U.S. power plants two years ago, he stressed the long-term health benefits: 3,600 fewer premature deaths, 90,000 fewer asthma attacks in children and a...

MGA Pen Underwriting Signs £150M Motor Capacity Deal with Zurich Insurance

Oct 9 2017 // Pen Underwriting, the UK managing general agent, has announced a new long-term capacity deal with Zurich in the specialist area of hazardous and tanker transportation, building on a successful partnership that extends back...

New Jersey’s New Day Underwriting Managers Promotes Torres

Oct 9 2017 // New Day Underwriting Managers LLC, a specialty intermediary of environmental and construction-related professional liability insurance coverages based in Bordentown, N.J., has promoted Maydelis Torres to vice president of...

Houston-Area Residents: Toxic Chemicals Found in Soil, Water After Plant Fire

Oct 4 2017 // Tests detected toxic substances in soil, water and ash samples taken miles from a chemical plant that flooded during Hurricane Harvey, caught fire and partially exploded, nearly 20 Houston-area residents said.The findings...

Maryland Suing EPA on Power Plant Pollution in Other States

Oct 3 2017 // Maryland is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to act on a petition requiring power plants in five upwind states to reduce pollution, the state’s attorney general and an official in Gov. Larry...

Legislators Struggle Over How to Handle Chemicals in North Carolina Water

Oct 3 2017 // North Carolina legislators are grappling with the growing knowledge that industries have discharged unstudied chemicals into the state’s waters for years, and that a recent upsurge in concern carries the risk of...

FEMA Statement on Texas Toxic Sites Clarified by EPA

Sep 26 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency said on Sept. 24 it has recovered 517 containers filled with unidentified, potentially hazardous material found floating in or washed up along Texas waterways after the devastating...

Montana Will Take Over Deadly Asbestos Cleanup Site

Sep 25 2017 // The cleanup of a northwest Montana community where health professionals say hundreds of people have been killed by asbestos exposure has entered a new phase as officials turn their focus to keeping residents safe over the...

Chubb’s Launches Business Pack Insurance for Australian SMEs

Sep 25 2017 // Chubb has launched a package insurance solution called Chubb Business Pack Insurance for small and medium enterprises in Australia.This solution aims to provide broad coverage for property and liability exposures to help...

Federal Judge Tentatively Approves West Virginia Chemical Spill Settlement

Sep 25 2017 // A federal judge has tentatively approved a revised settlement to a class-action lawsuit over a West Virginia chemical spill that left up to 300,000 people without tap water for up to nine days.U.S. District Judge John...

EPA Won’t Say Which Texas Sites Toxic Waste Has Been Removed From After Harvey

Sep 24 2017 // The Environmental Protection Agency says it has recovered 517 containers of “unidentified, potentially hazardous material” from highly contaminated toxic waste sites in Texas that flooded last month during...

Ohio Increases Fines Against Pipeline Developer to $2.3M

Sep 22 2017 // Ohio’s environmental regulators have more than doubled the proposed fines against a company building a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Michigan, saying the two sides are at an impasse.The fines now stand...

SEC Hacking Latest in Series of Government Agency Cyber Breaches

Sep 22 2017 // A major computer hack at America’s top stock market regulator is the latest sign that data stored in the highest reaches of the U.S. government remains vulnerable to cyber attacks, despite efforts across multiple...

Air Monitoring Company Added to Texas Chemical Plant Negligence Lawsuit

Sep 21 2017 // Air monitoring company Bureau Veritas SA has been added to a negligence suit alleging first responders inhaled dangerous fumes during a fire at a chemical plant, lawyers for Texas police and emergency workers said.The...

Hurricane Harvey-Caused Oil, Chemical Spills Dwarfed by Katrina’s

Sep 18 2017 // More than 22,000 barrels of oil, refined fuels and chemicals spilled at sites across Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, along with millions of cubic feet of natural gas and hundreds of tons of other toxic substances, a...

Obama Coal Ash Waste Regulation Getting New Look by Trump EPA

Sep 15 2017 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it will reconsider a rule regulating coal ash waste from power plants in a win for utility industry groups that petitioned for changes.The EPA, the lead...

U.S. Investigating Arkema’s Safety Practices After Texas Fires

Sep 13 2017 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether chemical maker Arkema SA followed safety rules at its Crosby, Texas, plant where chemical containers exploded and burned for days after flooding from...