Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Navy and Guam Industrial Services (known as Guam Shipyard) for hazardous waste storage violations under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, at Apra Harbor, Guam. As part of the settlement, Guam Shipyard will remove an abandoned vessel grounded in the harbor.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement with the U.S. Army to close four illegal large capacity cesspools on Oahu and eight on the Big Island. The Army will pay a $100,000 fine, the first time EPA has imposed a civil penalty against a federal government facility for operating banned cesspools.

Italian pianist and composer, Ludovico Einaudi, Monday performed one of his own compositions, Elegy for the Arctic, on a floating platform in the Arctic Ocean, against the backdrop of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier (in Svalbard, Norway). Through his music Einaud has added his voice to those of eight million people from across the world demanding protection for the Arctic.

Delegates from the Pacific region came together to officially launch the Pacific Resilience Program (PREP) on 20 June – a series of projects to strengthen Pacific Island countries’ resilience to natural disasters and climate change.

Subject to court approval, a wholesale bakery and distribution company with facilities in Chelsea and Lawrence, Mass. will purchase equipment for emergency responders and pay a cash penalty, settling allegations by EPA that the company violated federal environmental laws relating to the use of anhydrous ammonia and sulfuric acid at the two facilities.

Baobab tree in a degraded, arid landscape in Kenya's Eastern province.

A briefing on anomalies and suspected falsifications by Areva based on findings at the group’s Creusot Forge site was published on 16 June by Greenpeace France. The briefing also presents a non-exhaustive list of nuclear power stations around the world which may be affected. The briefing highlights a pressing need for independent inspection procedures and safety tests for every suspected part. Greenpeace France demands the immediate suspension of affected nuclear operations until all these inspections are carried out.

Demand for food is set to rise by 70% due to the global population growing to 9.6 billion by 2050. Feeding them all will be a serious challenge. In reports adopted during last week's plenary, MEPs stressed the need to invest in agricultural technology, while still reducing agriculture's ecological impact. They also looked into how farmers in Africa could be helped.

Residents traveling up from Longview, WA, delivered public comments to the Washington Dept. of Ecology at the end of the 45 day public comment process. The agency should receive over 257,000 comments calling on the Dept. of Ecology and Cowlitz County to reject the proposed coal export terminal in Longview, WA.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will launch a federal investigation into possible violations of the Civil Rights Act by Maryland authorities that authorized the Mattawoman Energy fossil-fuel power plant in Brandywine, Md.