Environment | WPN World People News

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a EURO227.5 million loan (US$300 million equivalent) for the Floods Emergency Recovery Project for Serbia. The loan will support Serbia in meeting critical needs in the power and agriculture sectors, repairing damaged flood control infrastructure, and helping the country better respond to natural disasters. The project was prepared following flooding in mid-May, which was the worst to hit the country in documented history

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its plan to clean up contaminated soil and sediment at the Lower Ley Creek area of the Onondaga Lake Superfund Site located in the City of Syracuse and Town of Salina, Onondaga County, New York. Discharges from nearby industries and a landfill have contaminated the soil and sediment with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances. PCBs are probable human carcinogens that build up in the fat of fish and mammals, increasing in concentration as they move up the food chain.

An underground storage tank (UST) at the Lake Moomaw Marina Store in Warm Springs, Va., will now be regularly monitored and inspected under a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to resolve alleged violations of UST regulations. The Lake Moomaw Marina Store is owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency will begin operating a new air quality monitor to measure fine particulate matter in the Sunnyside region of the Yakima Valley. The monitor, which will gather data on particulate matter for a year, will allow regulatory agencies to develop effective strategies to protect air quality in the Yakima Valley and inform burn ban decisions. The monitor is located at Harrison Middle School.

Pacific Air Research, Inc. (PAR) a pesticide applicator based in White City, OR, has been issued a civil administrative complaint by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The complaint seeks a $1,500 penalty, the statutory maximum for such violations under FIFRA.

The Colorado River snakes through the Grand Canyon.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising estimates for two 2013/2014 Mercedes C300 4-matic vehicles, the FFV and PZEV, to ensure consumers are given accurate fuel economy values.

A fisherman unloads Chinook salmon from fishing boats in Ft. Bragg, California.

Two coal companies in Eastern Kentucky have agreed to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) according to settlements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Appolo Fuels, Inc. (Appolo), a coal company based in Middlesboro, Kentucky will pay a total civil penalty of $135,000 for filling in streams, a violation of Section 404 of the CWA.

A former FBI special agent and a conspirator pleaded guilty in the District of Utah to participating in a bribery scheme to obstruct a grand jury investigation in exchange for the promise of cash and multimillion dollar business contracts offered by a businessman under investigation.