EnvironmentalRSS

  • November 4, 2009

    Chemtura Seeks Escape From Millions In Enviro Claims

    Claiming that environmental liabilities across the country may inhibit its emergence from Chapter 11, Chemtura Corp. has filed suit against the federal government and more than a dozen states in an attempt to kick tens of millions of dollars' worth of such costs to the curb.

  • November 4, 2009

    Chevron Ordered To Prep For Cleanup At Superfund Site

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Texaco Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., to assess soil and groundwater contamination and evaluate additional cleanup options at a Superfund site in Filmore, Calif.

  • November 4, 2009

    Outlook For Copenhagen Deal Is Cloudy: US Envoy

    With only 32 days until countries convene in Copenhagen to begin work on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. climate change envoy expressed frustration on Wednesday with the pace of preliminary talks, saying a rift between developed and developing nations threatened hopes for a deal.

  • November 4, 2009

    EPA Proposes Pesticide Spray Drift Labeling

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed new labeling for pesticides that it says will prohibit spray drift that can cause adverse health and environmental effects.

  • November 4, 2009

    US Fights Nu-West Bid For $10M Over Cleanup

    In a suit brought by Nu-West Industries Inc. over the federal government's alleged “incompetence” in its oversight of the mining company's efforts to clean up four historic phosphate mines in Idaho, the U.S. has denied that it should be required to hand over $10 million in relation to the cleanup.

  • November 4, 2009

    EU, US Launch Council To Tackle Energy Problems

    The U.S. and European Union have launched a new energy council comprised of top government officials that is slated to meet regularly on strategic energy issues, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

  • November 4, 2009

    EU Committee Backs Emission Trading Exception List

    A European Parliament committee on Wednesday threw its support behind a proposal that would allow industries — such as mining and manufacturing — that might leave the European Union to escape recently tightened carbon dioxide emission trading rules to continue to receive their allowances for free until 2020.

  • November 3, 2009

    Calif. Court Strikes Down Air Pollution Offset Rule

    A California appeals court has struck down a rule by a state air quality agency that allowed for the paving of dirt roads to offset other forms of air pollution, saying the agency did not conduct the necessary environmental review before approving the new rule.

  • November 3, 2009

    GOP Boycott Stalls Senate Work On Climate Bill

    Partisan rifts marred the first day of markup on landmark climate change legislation before a key U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday, with Democrats trying to push ahead despite Republican threats to continue delaying work until they receive a more thorough economic rundown on the bill.

  • November 3, 2009

    Magistrate Denies Chevron Guilty Plea In Pelican Deaths

    Chevron USA Inc. cannot plead guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in a case over brown pelicans that were discovered to have died in a structure it built to protect an oil wellhead in Louisiana, a federal judge has ruled.

  • November 2, 2009

    EPA Targets San Francisco MTA Over Fuel Spill

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has accused the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency of violating the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in the release of 940 barrels of diesel fuel from a servicing facility in late 2005.

  • November 2, 2009

    Sunoco Can't Sue US Over Pa. Oil Plume Costs: Feds

    Sunoco Inc., in a bid to get money it says it spent investigating whether its refinery caused an oil plume under Philadelphia, has no right to a waiver of federal sovereign immunity, government lawyers have told a judge in the latest salvo in a long-running contamination case.

  • November 2, 2009

    Power Cos. Face Biggest Cap-And-Trade Losses: Report

    Southern Co. and American Electric Power Co. Inc. will likely be among the biggest losers under a U.S. cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, even though their emissions are well below that of oil giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., according to a newly released report.

  • November 2, 2009

    NRC Cites Wal-Mart For Disposal Violations

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has handed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. a citation for improperly transferring and disposing of thousands of tritium exit signs at stores throughout the country, in violation of four NRC requirements.

  • November 2, 2009

    EPA Settles Oil Waste CERCLA Suit For $1.7M

    Several defendants including cities in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have agreed to pay a total of $1.7 million to reimburse the U.S. government for cleanup related to a 41-acre oil waste Superfund site in New Hampshire.

  • October 30, 2009

    WildEarth Seeks To Halt Opening Of Xcel Energy Plant

    WildEarth Guardians has asked a federal judge to enjoin Xcel Energy Inc. from opening a new coal-fired electric generation unit at its Colorado Comanche plant because the unit allegedly exceeds pollutant emission limitations imposed by the Clean Air Act.

  • October 30, 2009

    GHG Appellate Rulings Could Incite Insurance Brawls

    Two federal appeals court decisions that revived public nuisance suits aimed at greenhouse gas emitters could spur a flood of global warming suits, which in turn could spark fights with insurers over coverage for mounting legal costs, according to insurance lawyers.

  • October 30, 2009

    Enviro Groups Appeal Ga. Nuclear Plant Permit

    Five environmental groups are suing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission after the body granted Southern Nuclear Operating Co. approval to begin preliminary construction of two new nuclear reactors at the company's Vogtle nuclear facility in Burke County, Ga.

  • October 30, 2009

    AEP Asked To Conduct Safety Tests At Coal Ash Site

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has raised questions about the safety of a coal ash impoundment at American Electric Power Co.’s Philip Sporn power plant in West Virginia, calling on the energy company to perform further testing at the site.

  • October 30, 2009

    No Coverage For Cinergy Clean Air Act Woes

    An Indiana appeals court has upheld a summary judgment ruling for several insurers in a dispute with Cinergy Corp. and Duke Energy Corp. over coverage for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.