EnvironmentalRSS

  • March 26, 2010

    Chesapeake, Schlumberger Settle La. Toxic Spill Claims

    Chesapeake Energy Corp. and oilfield services company Schlumberger Technology Corp. have agreed to shell out $22,000 apiece to settle Louisiana regulators’ claims over a toxic spill at a natural gas well site that allegedly killed numerous cattle.

  • March 25, 2010

    EPA Opens Up Scientific Research Database

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a new database that provides access to the scientific studies it uses in making key regulatory decisions, a move the agency called a “milestone in transparency.”

  • March 25, 2010

    Foreclosures Can Pose Hidden Enviro Risks For Banks

    As banks foreclose in record numbers on unfinished construction projects, they could find themselves liable for stormwater and other environmental violations not covered by their secured creditor exemptions.

  • March 25, 2010

    El Paso Natural Gas To Appeal Uranium Cleanup Loss

    El Paso Natural Gas Co. has decided to appeal a federal judge's dismissal of its suit seeking to force the U.S. government to clean up uranium waste linked to Cold War nuclear weapons development on land controlled by two American Indian tribes in Arizona.

  • March 25, 2010

    White House Sets Sights On Sustainable Hydropower

    The Obama administration has announced plans to increase generation at federally owned hydropower facilities and to explore opportunities for new development of environmentally sustainable hydropower.

  • March 25, 2010

    New Bill Puts Superfund Cleanup Onus On Polluters

    Polluting oil and chemical companies could soon be forced to pay fees to fund the cleanup of Superfund sites, a move proponents of a bill introduced Thursday by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., say would shift the financial burden of cleanup activities from the taxpayers back to the polluters.

  • March 24, 2010

    Weiss Serota Nabs Greenberg Enviro Atty

    Former Greenberg Traurig LLP environmental lawyer Clifford Schulman has jumped to Florida-based Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske PL, where he will focus on land use and environmental law.

  • March 24, 2010

    NY Factory Owner's CERCLA Suit Found Time-Barred

    A federal judge has dismissed a Long Island factory owner's Superfund suit against Vanderbilt Associates and others seeking contribution to a settlement he reached with New York state in 1998 over cleanup at his factory, finding that the settlement triggered a three-year statute of limitations.

  • March 24, 2010

    Legislators Fight To Revive Yucca Nuclear Waste Plan

    A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., has launched a battle against the Obama administration's recent move to pull the plug on a controversial but long-standing proposal to open a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

  • March 24, 2010

    Mining Cos. Appeal Invalidation Of Army Corps Permit

    Loadout LLC and Coal River Mining LLC have asked a federal appellate court to review a lower court ruling that deemed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit for two West Virginia mines invalid because a public comment period requirement had been largely ignored.

  • March 24, 2010

    Chevron Evades Sanctions In Suit Over Ohio Refinery

    Plaintiffs in a suit against Chevron USA Inc. over property damage and illness linked with an Ohio refinery have lost a bid to sanction the oil giant for withholding documents relevant to the case.

  • March 24, 2010

    EPA Tightens Water Standards For 4 Carcinogens

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to overhaul its strategy to protect the public from contaminants in drinking water systems, starting with tougher restrictions on four cancer-causing compounds as the agency eyes more than a dozen other areas for tighter regulation down the road.

  • March 23, 2010

    EPA Seeks GHG Emissions Data From Oil, Gas Sector

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed expanding new greenhouse gas reporting rules to include additional sources, chiefly the oil and gas industry, signaling future regulation in those sectors.

  • March 23, 2010

    K&L Gates Picks Up Morgan Lewis Litigator

    K&L Gates has bolstered its insurance coverage practice with a Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP litigator who successfully defended a client accused of groundwater contamination in one of California's largest class actions ever.

  • March 23, 2010

    Baton Rouge Hit With Suit Over Wastewater Discharge

    An environmental group has accused the city of Baton Rouge and parish of East Baton Rouge of violating environmental permits at three sewage treatment plants, but a parish attorney said Tuesday he was confident the lawsuit would be dismissed.

  • March 23, 2010

    $8M Enviro Negligence Suit Against Law Firm Revived

    A New York state appellate court has reversed the dismissal of International Electron Devices (USA) LLC's lawsuit against Menter Rudin & Trivelpiece PC that alleges the firm failed to conduct an environmental probe of property and ultimately cost the cathode ray tube component maker $8 million in remediation costs.

  • March 23, 2010

    Senate Dems Demand Climate Bill Vote By End Of 2010

    A group of 22 U.S. Senate Democrats is calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to bring comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation to the Senate floor for a final vote by the year's end, saying that companies are clamoring for regulatory certainty as they look ahead to 2011.

  • March 23, 2010

    Utilities, Green Groups Back Robust Forest Offsets

    A coalition of 31 power companies and environmental advocacy organizations has urged Congress to include strong incentives for promoting the use of farmland and forests to sequester carbon emissions as the U.S. Senate prepares to take up work on climate change legislation.

  • March 23, 2010

    Colo. Ups Renewable Energy Goal To 30% By 2020

    Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has ushered in landmark legislation requiring the state to generate 30 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, marking the second-highest renewable energy standard in the nation.

  • March 23, 2010

    Trade Protections Denied For Tuna, Shark, Coral Species

    The international community has rejected U.S.-backed proposals to ban or limit international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna, polar bears, and a number of coral and shark species, but added protections for certain reptiles and amphibians and maintained a moratorium on further ivory sales.