Environmental Controls
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Regs Report: Complying with Lighting Standards
May 17, 2013 9:24 am | by Kimberley Schmitt, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsChem.Info's recurring Regs Report feature presents new and emerging regulations and enables readers to better achieve compliance. In this installment, we explore new lighting regulations released as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Wind Farms Get Pass on Eagle Deaths
May 14, 2013 10:26 am | by DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press | News | CommentsMore than 573,000 birds are killed by the country's wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in March in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin. The large death toll at wind farms shows how the renewable energy rush comes with its own environmental consequences, trade-offs the Obama administration is willing to make in the name of cleaner energy.
Exxon Challenges $1.7M Yellowstone Spill Penalty
May 14, 2013 10:09 am | by MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press | News | CommentsExxon Mobil Corp. is challenging $1.7 million in penalties proposed by federal safety regulators who faulted the oil company over a 63,000-gallon crude oil spill into the Yellowstone River, according to documents released Monday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Wyoming Energy Policy Preserves Landscapes
May 14, 2013 9:52 am | by MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press | News | CommentsGov. Matt Mead on Monday unveiled a state energy policy two years in the making that calls for maintaining Wyoming's position as the top energy-exporting state while preserving its wild, scenic and pristine landscapes. Mead's report outlines four priorities: Economic competitiveness, efficient regulation, natural resource conservation and developing new technologies.
Power Plant Operator Objects Navajo Nation's Changes to Lease
May 10, 2013 10:26 am | News | CommentsThe owners of a northern Arizona coal plant that sends water to the state's biggest cities has objected to changes made by the Navajo Nation in approving a lease extension. The plant's operator, Salt River Project, told tribal officials this week that amendments dealing with water rights, hiring preferences and having the federal government sign on as a lessee are unacceptable.
Oil, Gas Lease Auctions in Calif. Postponed
May 8, 2013 8:26 am | by GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently announced it was postponing all oil and gas lease auctions in California. The decision came after a federal judge ruled last month that BLM had violated a key environmental law when the agency auctioned the drilling rights for other parcels near the lush Salinas River Valley before performing a sweeping review of the impacts on water, wildlife and air quality.
Anti-Fracking Amendment Rejected in NE Ohio
May 8, 2013 8:17 am | by JULIE CARR SMYTH, AP Statehouse Correspondent | News | CommentsVoters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing in a northeast Ohio city where disposal of wastewater from the drilling method led to earthquakes and alleged groundwater contamination. The Community Bill of Rights on Youngstown's ballot would have prohibited the controversial high-pressure oil and gas drilling technique, also called fracking, inside city limits.
Finger Lakes Gas-Storage Plans Draw Outcry
May 6, 2013 10:01 am | by MARY ESCH, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe plans call for six new rail spurs to handle 24 propane tanker cars every 12 hours. A round-the-clock cycle of trains and tanker trucks seven days a week would bring propane in and out of the facility. Four 700-horsepower compressors would be built, and two open brine ponds would be placed on a hillside above Seneca Lake.
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Chevron
May 2, 2013 11:08 am | News | CommentsAn attempt by Ecuadorian villagers to have a Canadian court enforce a $19 billion judgment against multinational oil giant Chevron Corp was dismissed Wednesday by Ontario Superior Court Justice David Brown who ruled Canadian courts have no jurisdiction in the case.
Appeals Court Rules on Ethanol Refinery Pollutants
May 1, 2013 10:23 am | News | CommentsState environmental regulators improperly changed state rules to allow Indiana ethanol refineries to release an extra 150 tons of air pollutants per year, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to reclassify ethanol refineries.
GE Sues Utility As Dredging Restarts on Hudson
April 30, 2013 10:26 am | News | CommentsGeneral Electric Co. said it sued a utility for a share of costs associated with the $1 billion-plus Superfund cleanup of the upper Hudson River on Monday, the day the fourth season of dredging began to remove contaminated sediment from the river.
Gas Drilling Didn't Foul Northeast Pa. Wells
April 30, 2013 10:23 am | by MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press | News | CommentsGas drilling isn't to blame for a high-profile case of methane contamination in northeastern Pennsylvania, state environmental regulators declared Monday, but a homeowner with fouled water vowed to press on and said she doesn't trust the agency.
PSC Opposes Proposed Rules On Greenhouse Gases for Power Plants
April 30, 2013 9:53 am | News | CommentsMontana's Public Service Commission says it opposes proposed federal rules to restrict greenhouse gas emissions for new power plants. The PSC said in a statement Monday that it sent the Environmental Protection Agency a letter urging the agency to withdraw its proposed rules for New Source Performance Standards.
Company Aims to Move Lawsuit Over Chemical Cloud Release
April 29, 2013 11:05 am | News | CommentsA defendant in a class-action lawsuit over the release of chemicals at a plant in El Dorado wants the lawsuit moved to federal court. The suit relates to the December chemical cloud that forced up to 500 people from their homes and the evacuation of the Union County Sheriff's Office and jail.
EPA Lowers Fracking Methane Estimates
April 29, 2013 10:55 am | by KEVIN BEGOS, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered its estimate of how much of a potent heat-trapping gas leaks during natural gas production, in a shift with major implications for a debate that has divided environmentalists.
UN Chemicals Summit Likely to Adopt New Controls
April 29, 2013 10:46 am | by JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press | News | CommentsAt the start of a major conference to regulate chemical and hazardous waste safety, top officials voiced optimism Saturday that delegates will approve new international controls on several industrial compounds and agree to clamp down on some cross-border pollution.
Cassville Mine Plan Heads to W.Va. Supreme Court
April 26, 2013 10:37 am | News | CommentsThe battle to stop the expansion of a northern West Virginia surface mine is headed for the state Supreme Court. The Sierra Club is appealing a circuit court ruling that favored the state Department of Environmental Protection and Arch Coal subsidiary Patriot Mining.
NW Pa. $350M Tires-to-Energy Plant Breaks Ground
April 25, 2013 10:29 am | News | CommentsConstruction has begun on a $350 million tires-to-energy plant in northwestern Pennsylvania despite residents' appeals of the air-quality permit over concerns the plant will produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, mercury and arsenic.
California Shuts Down Hazardous Battery Recycler
April 25, 2013 10:15 am | by TRACIE CONE, Associated Press | News | CommentsAfter years of complaints from the surrounding community, state environmental officials on Wednesday ordered a Southern California battery recycling company to suspend operations after saying hazardous metal sludge was being discharged into leaking pipelines.
Appeals Court Upholds EPA Block on W.Va. Mine
April 24, 2013 10:40 am | by VICKI SMITH, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had the legal authority to retroactively veto a water pollution permit for one of West Virginia's largest mountaintop removal coal mines years after it was issued, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
NM Issues $838K Civil Penalty in Emissions Case
April 24, 2013 10:35 am | News | CommentsEnterprise Products Operating LLC will have to pay a civil penalty of more than $838,000 as part of a settlement with the New Mexico Environment Department over numerous alleged emissions violations at 31 different sites operated by the company and its subsidiaries.
Fla. AG: BP Should Pay $5 Billion for Spill
April 24, 2013 10:32 am | News | CommentsFlorida Attorney General Pam Bondi has disclosed that she's seeking more than $5.4 billion in damages from BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Bondi told reporters on Tuesday that she offered to settle the state's claim but never got a response from BP.
BPI Fined $450K for 2007 Waterloo Accident
April 24, 2013 10:30 am | News | CommentsBeef Products Inc. has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle alleged violations of Clean Air Act regulations from a 2007 incident at a Waterloo packing plant during which more than 1,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia was released, killing one worker and injuring another.
Wis. Utilities Reach $1.2B Settlement with EPA
April 23, 2013 10:55 am | News | CommentsWisconsin utilities will spend $1.2 billion to add pollution controls to some aging coal-fired plants and shut down others under a settlement with federal regulators and will pay $2.45 million for violating air pollution laws over the years.
Halliburton Seeks Settlement over Gulf Spill
April 23, 2013 10:44 am | by MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press | News | CommentsHalliburton, BP's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, announced Monday that it is trying to negotiate a settlement over its role in the disaster, a focus of trial testimony that ended last week.
