Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with the City and County of Honolulu to resolve air violations at its closed Kapaa Landfill in Kailua, Oahu by agreeing to pay nearly $17 million—$16.1 million solar power system and a penalty of $875,000. This environmental project involves the installation of photovoltaic arrays on more than 250,000 square feet of buildings and open space area at the city’s waste-to-energy H-POWER facility by 2020.

PCBs are chemicals that persist in the environment and can affect the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems and are potentially cancer-causing. PCBs had been widely used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications until they were banned in 1979.

Major internet companies including Apple, Facebook and Google continue to lead efforts to build an internet that is renewably powered, but an uncooperative fossil fuel sector and rapid energy demand growth for the internet places those ambitions under threat, according to a new report released Tuesday by Greenpeace.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a consent agreement and final order to Clean Harbors Deer Park, LLC, in La Porte, Texas. The company violated laws under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) related to the storage and handling of hazardous waste. The company will pay a $22,400 civil penalty and is required to take steps to protect the local community from health and environmental risks associated with hazardous waste.

A review of scientific literature shows clear evidence that exposure to certain pesticides, currently allowed in European fields, is associated with different forms of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and diseases of the newborn.

Walrus cows resting on sea ice in Alaska, while nursing their calves.

WWF and Apple commit to help protect China’s forests

EPA Region 7 conducted an inspection at Blue Springs Siding and Windows, LLC, in September 2014, which revealed violations of the Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule. As part of a settlement with EPA, the company has agreed to pay a $13,566 penalty to the United States.

A new World Bank Group report lays out three steps countries can follow to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero and stabilize climate change: Plan for the end goal, not just the short-term; get prices right as part of a broad policy package that triggers changes in investment and behavior; and smooth the transition for those most affected.