Environment | WPN World People News

The nearly-empty Uvas Reservoir in California's Santa Clara County on February 1, 2014.

In the past few decades, an area the size of Delaware has been flattened.
Coal companies first raze an entire mountainside, ripping trees from the ground and clearing brush with huge tractors. This debris is then set ablaze as deep holes are dug for explosives.
Explosive is poured into these holes and mountaintops are literally blown apart. As much as 800 to 1,000 feet are blasted off the tops of mountains order to reach thin coal seams buried deep below.

Double rainbows over NREL's National Wind Technology Center in Colorado.

The Government of India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the World Bank Thursday signed a $250 million credit agreement for the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project to restore, improve and enhance the resilience of public services and livelihoods of communities affected by cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh. The Project will also increase the capacity of the state to respond promptly and effectively to an emergency.

The expansion of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Refinery in Texas is one of the cases where the EPA failed to investigate civil rights complaints filed more than a decade ago.

As air pollution is responsible for around 400,000 premature deaths in the EU yearly, Environment MEPs on Wednesday tightened up Commission plans and called for more ambitious national caps on emissions of six main pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides in order to cut emissions by 70% across the EU and save €40bn in air pollution costs by 2030. MEPs also want to include emissions reduction ceilings on mercury, and a midpoint target for most caps of 2025.

A recent settlement ensures that a Beverly, Mass. company that imports and sells pet care products will comply with federal pesticide regulations designed to protect the health of the public, pets and the environment. In an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency, PetEdge Inc. also agreed to pay $75,900 to resolve EPA allegations that it violated federal pesticide regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday announced a settlement with Enid, Oklahoma-based Cottonwood Creek, Inc. in which the company has agreed to pay a $170,000 penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act related to oil pollution at the Bonanza Station in Big Horn County, Wyoming.

MEPs have another busy week ahead of them.

Four Washington companies have signed settlements for violations of federal chemical storage laws, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s investigations found that the companies failed to properly report storage of significant amounts of hazardous chemicals at their facilities to the local and state response authorities as required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.