Environment | WPN World People News

In 2008, the massive coal ash spill from the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee destroyed homes, poisoned rivers and contaminated coves and residential drinking water.

UN Development Summit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday announced a settlement with Guardian Industries Corp. that will resolve a Clean Air Act enforcement action involving Guardian’s flat glass manufacturing facilities throughout the United States.

Buckeye Pipe Line Co., the owner of a more than 4 million gallon oil storage facility in Ludlow, Mass., has agreed to pay a penalty of $78,780 to resolve claims by the US Environmental Protection Agency that it violated federal oil spill prevention regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated air pollution standards to further control toxic air emissions from petroleum refineries. Exposure to toxic air pollutants, such as benzene, can cause respiratory problems and other serious health issues and can increase the risk of developing cancer. The rule requires first-of-its-kind fenceline monitoring to better protect and inform nearby communities, while also strengthening emission controls for flares, pressure relief devices, storage tanks, and delayed coker operations that will reduce thousands of tons of hazardous air pollutants.

A strong majority of Indiana residents support the Endangered Species Act and believe decisions about which imperiled species should or should not be protected under the act should be made by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, not by members of Congress, according to a new poll conducted by Tulchin Research. These poll results arrive even as this Congress has been flooded with more than 80 bills, amendments, and riders, including numerous provisions in the funding bills for the Department of the Interior and other agencies, designed to weaken the act or remove protections for specific species.

Responding to the news that Shell has abandoned its Arctic drilling programme after a disappointing season in Alaska, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said:
"This is a defining day for the Arctic. It's a huge victory for the millions of people who stood up against Shell and a disaster for other oil companies with interests in the region. Shell has gambled big and lost big, both in terms of financial cost and its public reputation. This has become the most controversial oil project in the world, and despite its bluster Shell has been forced to walk away with nothing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released new air standards on September 29, tightening restrictions on the pollution oil refineries can emit, reducing the health risks millions of Americans face from breathing toxic air.

A U.S. federal court on September 29 affirmed the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) denial of Georgia Aquarium’s application for a permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to import 18 beluga whales from Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk for public display at several facilities in the United States.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced the country’s climate plan in line with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) call for voluntary commitments from countries.