Latest Pollution Headlines

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

Hurricane Irma May Push Island States to Seek Climate Change Aid

Sep 13 2017 // Devastation from Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean will sharpen the demands from small island nations that top fossil-fuel consumers help them cope with damage attributable to climate change, according to representatives of...

Texas GOP Leaders Push for Expensive, Long-Delayed Flood Infrastructure Projects

Sep 12 2017 // In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling for the construction of flood control infrastructure in the Houston area — things he said should have been built “decades and decades...

North Carolina Officials to Test Unregulated Chemical in Groundwater at Plant

Sep 12 2017 // Environmental officials say they’ll test groundwater for people living near a North Carolina chemical plant after finding worrying signs of an unregulated and little-studied compound.The state Department of...

Is Maryland Ready for the Next Big Storm?

Sep 11 2017 // In Maryland, which historically has ducked many of the worst storms of the last 50 years, the question is increasingly not if, but when the next big one will strike. And while some believe the state has often been spared...

Chemical Fallout from Hurricane Irma Could Be Worse than Harvey’s

Sep 8 2017 // Before flames and smoke leaped into the sky over the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, last week, Jolyn Masters was hunkered down at home on a Hurricane Harvey-flooded street a mile away. Then came a knock. A...

Harvey Leaves Texans to Clean Up Amid Health and Environmental Dangers

Sep 4 2017 // Harvey has moved on from the U.S. Gulf Coast, leaving behind a toxic stew of human sewage, dead cattle, leaking chemical plants, spilled gasoline storage tanks and abandoned pickup trucks.The cleanup will take patience,...

Arkema Plant Fires Underscore Chemical Industry Risk Management Challenge

Sep 1 2017 // In its devastatingly slow crawl up the industrial Gulf Coast, Hurricane Harvey is proving to be the biggest test yet of the safety and vulnerabilities of the U.S. chemicals industry.A Houston-area chemical plant was hit by...

Massachusetts Man Arrested for Allegedly Running Motor Vehicle Theft Scheme

Aug 31 2017 // An Avon, Mass., man has been arrested and arraigned in connection with allegedly running a major motor vehicle theft scheme.Authorities arrested Jose Sostre on Tuesday in Avon. Following his arrest, Sostre was arraigned in...

Arkansas Task Force: State Should Bar Dicamba Herbicide Next Year

Aug 27 2017 // An Arkansas task force has advised the state to bar sprayings after April 15 next year of agricultural herbicides containing the chemical dicamba, which has been linked to crop damage across the U.S. farm belt, a state...

Harvey Hits Texas With Massive Winds, Torrential Rain

Aug 26 2017 // Harvey became the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, making landfall in the heart of the U.S. energy sector and bringing the danger of a life-threatening storm surge.Harvey came ashore as a Category 4...

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Files $1B Suit Against Greenpeace, Other Groups

Aug 24 2017 // The company building the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace and other groups on Aug. 22, alleging that they disseminated false and misleading information about the project and interfered...

Storm-Prone Cities Vie for Environmental Impact Bonds

Aug 17 2017 // As climate change pushes U.S. cities to build protections against stronger storms and more frequent floods, the Rockefeller Foundation is helping cities with a novel kind of financing, one that transfers some of the risk...

Pioneer Special Risk to Offer CPL Coverage Expansion For Specialty Contractors

Aug 17 2017 // Pioneer Special Risk has launched a new optional coverage expansion for specialty contractors that offers them the option of including incidental contractors pollution coverage, traditionally required as part of their...

North Carolina Study Shows Coal Plants Might Be Even More Toxic Than First Thought

Aug 16 2017 // Scientists studying the aftermath of a massive coal-ash spill in North Carolina have discovered a byproduct of the fossil fuel that may pose human health risks.Duke Energy Corp. announced in early February 2014 that...

European Egg Scandal Widens

Aug 14 2017 // The European Union said Friday [July 11] that it plans to hold an extraordinary meeting late next month over a growing tainted egg scandal as it revealed that products contaminated with an insecticide have now spread to 17...

Wisconsin Dairy Group Sues State Over Pollution Discharge Rules

Aug 10 2017 // Wisconsin environmental officials are over-regulating large livestock operations, imposing pollution requirements that are tougher than federal law and arbitrarily changing runoff standards without going through the...

Swing Voters in California Climate Deal Among Top Oil Money Recipients

Aug 9 2017 // California Assembly members considered swing votes on legislation to reduce carbon emissions by charging polluters were among the top recipients of donations from oil companies, an analysis of campaign finance filings...

European Egg Contamination Is ‘Criminal’: German Agricultural Minister

Aug 9 2017 // Germany’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday that the contamination of millions of eggs with a potentially harmful insecticide was “criminal,” as authorities in several European countries continued to...

How Herbicide Dicamba Was Approved Without Independent Testing: Reuters

Aug 9 2017 // As the U.S. growing season entered its peak this summer, farmers began posting startling pictures on social media: fields of beans, peach orchards and vegetable gardens withering away.The photographs served as early...

Judge Orders Tennessee Valley Authority to Remove Coal Ash at Power Plant

Aug 7 2017 // A federal judge on Friday ordered the nation’s largest public utility to dig up its coal ash at a Tennessee power plant and move it to a lined waste site where it doesn’t risk further polluting the Cumberland...