Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia approved the settlement that requires Bayer CropScience LP to pay $5.6 million for a penalty and safety improvements to resolve violations of federal chemical accident prevention laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice announced on 12 August. The violations occurred at Bayer’s facility in Institute, W. Va., where a 2008 explosion killed two people.

In a settlement announced on 11 August by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), IESI MO Champ Landfill, LLC, has agreed to implement numerous measures at its Maryland Heights Landfill. The measures are designed to minimize odors and air emissions from the landfill and ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a legal order directing the Village of Tarrytown, New York to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Lead and Copper Rule. A recent investigation by the EPA revealed that Tarrytown had violated numerous provisions of the rule, including failing to properly evaluate the village’s water distribution system before establishing tap sampling locations and failing to meet requirements for properly identifying tap monitoring locations.

Eugene, OR — Wednesday, a coalition of conservation and fishing groups challenged in the U.S. District Court in Oregon a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forest management plan, finalized Friday, that would replace the scientifically sound, ecologically credible, and legally responsible 1994 Northwest Forest Plan on millions of acres in western Oregon.

Less than a month away from the kick-off of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, a team of scientists report in the journal Nature that three quarters of the world’s threatened species are imperiled because people are converting their habitat into agricultural lands and overharvesting their populations.

Climate finance totaling $81 billion was mobilized for projects funded by the world’s six largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) in 2015. This included $25 billion of MDBs’ direct climate finance, combined with a further $56 billion from other investors.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced separate agreements with the County of Hawaii, the County of Maui, and the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), to close illegal large capacity cesspools on Maui and the Big Island.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on 8 August unveiled a waste and materials tracking feature in its Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which is a free benchmarking and tracking tool for commercial building owners and managers. Reducing waste and reusing materials more productively through sustainable materials management over their entire lifecycles conserves resources, helps communities remain economically competitive and supports a healthy environment.

Preliminary findings of a comprehensive scientific survey examining the impact of the climate change-related 2016 mass bleaching in the Maldives indicate that all reefs surveyed were affected by the event. Approximately 60% of all coral colonies assessed – and up to 90% in some sites – were bleached.

The Brazilian environmental agency, on 5 August, IBAMA, announced the licensing process to build the São Luiz do Tapajós (SLT), a giant dam planned for one of the last major free flowing rivers in the Brazilian Amazon, has been cancelled. Without the license, the approval process for the megadam cannot move forward.