Environment | WPN World People News

In a meeting on July 22 at the White House, US President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto stepped up bilateral collaboration to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, of which fewer than 60 remain on the planet.

Wilted crops in Neno district, Malawi.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on 21 July that Sunshine Pride Dairy, Inc. will pay a $179,074 penalty to settle alleged federal environmental violations at its former cheese processing facility in Winchester, Va. The dairy shut down cheese processing operations in December 2011, but left anhydrous ammonia, a hazardous substance, stored in its refrigeration system with only a skeleton maintenance crew at the facility.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice on 20 July announced a settlement with Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership and several related Enbridge companies to resolve claims stemming from its 2010 oil spills in Marshall, Mich. and Romeoville, Ill. Enbridge has agreed to spend at least $110 million on a series of measures to prevent spills and improve operations across nearly 2,000 miles of its pipeline system in the Great Lakes region.

PNW Wind Down LLC, will pay an $89,000 penalty for repeatedly violating federal clean air rules while leasing and operating a tribally owned facility on the Colville Reservation in Omak, Washington. The facility is a lumber mill that produced plywood veneer from raw timber. The predecessor company was known as Omak Wood Products.

Radioactive contamination in the seabed off the Fukushima coast is hundreds of times above pre-2011 levels, while contamination in local rivers is up to 200 times higher than ocean sediment, according to results from Greenpeace Japan survey work released on 21 July.

A ranking of the world’s 30 largest personal care companies, published on 19 July by Greenpeace East Asia, shows that big brands are failing to remove microplastics from their products. The ranking shows that voluntary corporate commitments to end use of microbeads that pollute rivers and oceans are not working. Governments must legislate to ban microbeads in consumer products, say campaigners.

TOKYO – WWF and Toyota Motor Corporation have entered into a five-year agreement aimed at accelerating the globe’s transition to sustainability. Through this partnership, the organizations will work together to promote biodiversity conservation, raise environmental awareness and accelerate the move toward a “zero carbon” society.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice on 18 July announced a $425 million settlement with subsidiaries of Tesoro Corp., and Par Hawaii Refining that resolves alleged Clean Air Act violations and protects public health by reducing air pollution at six refineries.

EPA Region 7 has reached a proposed administrative settlement with Goodrum Farm CR314, LLC, in Butler County, Mo., to resolve violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). As part of the settlement, the company has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $15,000.