Environment | WPN World People News

On 11 October, Fairbanks residents filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for missing a third deadline in three years for addressing Fairbanks’s air pollution problem. The groups seek court enforcement of EPA’s obligations under the Clean Air Act to require the Fairbanks North Star Borough to address its pollution controls because it has failed to meet basic clean air standards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced fines against the Finger Lakes LPG Storage LLC in Savona, N.Y. and Twin Lakes Chemical Inc. in Lockport, N.Y. for Clean Air Act violations or rules governing chemical safety and risk management. Among the violations, the companies failed hazard identification and equipment safety requirements. Finger Lakes LPG agreed to pay a $154,000 penalty and Twin Lakes Chemical agreed to pay a $40,000 penalty for the violations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement in a case against Pace International LLC, (Pace) of Wapato, WA, for federal Clean Air Act violations that occurred within the Yakama Indian Reservation.

In another sign that crude-by-rail is a losing proposition, Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes on October 7 announced that it is dropping its plans to construct a crude-by-rail facility. Originally proposed in 2014, community opposition and legal challenges forced Shell and Skagit County to undertake a full environmental and public health review under the State Environmental Policy Act. That delay, growing local and regional opposition, and uncertain economics contributed to Shell’s decision.
 

On 7 October, the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape launched the nation's first conservation trust fund for a national protected area, a sustainable financing mechanism that will ensure the key biodiversity area is protected in perpetuity.

Drawing attention to the melting of the Arctic ice cap, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 8 October underlined the urgency of implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change and the need to help developing countries in their efforts to combat climate change.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced an agreement with High Plains Motors, Inc. resolving alleged hazardous waste violations related to the improper management of used oil, paint solvents, lacquer thinner, and other materials at an automobile dealership and service center at 331 Front Street in Wolf Point, Mont. As part of the settlement, High Plains Motors will pay a penalty of $5,758 and complete a junk vehicle recycling project on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

All Parties to the Paris Agreement on climate change will need to step up their emission reduction pledges if the deal is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees, and this includes the EU’s targets for 2030, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. Having ratified the Paris deal on Tuesday, the EU is now focusing on the tools needed to achieve its goals, ahead of the next round of talks to take place in Marrakesh next month.