Spokane sues Monsanto over Spokane River contamination

The city of Spokane is suing the international agrochemical giant Monsanto, which it blames for pollution in the Spokane River.

Read the story here.

A little older - but still newsworthy: Tracks reopen after second Montana train derailment

By Amy Dalrymple on Jul 18, 2015 at 5:35 p.m.
CULBERTSON, Mont. – Railroad tracks have reopened in northeast Montana as crews continue removing wreckage from a crude oil train derailment.


Watch a video of the accident site and read the entire story here.

This went down quite lucky but it shows how unsafe oil transports are. The track records of trucks are not much better - and pipelines have their own risks and issues.

Again this all just shows that is time to phase out fossil fuels and intensify the use of clean renewable energy from wind, sun and hydro...

The Big-Ag-Fueled Algae Bloom That Won't Leave Toledo's Water Supply Alone

—By Tom Philpott

| Wed Aug. 5, 2015 6:05 AM EDT

A vast Lake Erie algae bloom returns, captured by a NASA satelite on July 28. NASA/Earth Observatory

The citizens of Toledo, Ohio, have embarked upon their new summer ritual: stocking up on bottled water. For the second straight year, an enormous algae bloom has settled upon Lake Erie, generating nasty toxins right where the city of 400,000 draws its tap water. Read the entire story here.

Group starts process to sue US agency over pipeline plans

By COREY WILLIAMS

 

Jul. 28, 2015 4:01 PM EDT 

AP News | © 2015 Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — The National Wildlife Federation accused the U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday of not enforcing a federal law that requires pipeline owners and operators to establish safety response plans for worst-case oil spills in lakes, rivers and other waterways.

Leaders of the conservation organization said it filed the required "intent to sue" notice through certified mail, giving officials 60 days to issue regulations or face a federal lawsuit.

Read the full story here.

More Details about the Procedures Involved in EPA vs. Savoy

Natalie M. Topinka
Environmental Scientist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 Air Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance Branch
77 West Jackson Boulevard (AE-17J)
Chicago, IL 60604
ph: (312) 886-3853
fax: (312) 692-2410
email: topinka.natalie@epa.gov

To clarify, enforcement settlements, including the full settlement documents which describe the terms of the settlement and amount of penalty assessed, are public records. There is not even a need to send a Freedom of Information Act request for these documents because they will be published on EPA's Region 5 enforcement website when they are finalized. However, it is the discussions which lead to the settlement that are confidential, as is the case with any legal dispute between two parties.

Regarding the penalty, EPA does not have the authority under the Clean Air Act to designate a recipient of the penalty dollars. However, in some cases, a company may voluntarily choose to mitigate a portion of the penalty by performing a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP), which EPA encourages to be performed in the community of the violating facility. In this way, the settlement of a Clean Air Act violation may be able to achieve additional environmental benefits (above and beyond correction of the original violation). A SEP must meet specific criteria according to the SEP policy approved by Congress, and EPA cannot require a company to perform a SEP as part of a settlement. See this link for more information about SEPs:  http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/supplemental-environmental-projects-seps

Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility.  Help EPA
fight pollution by reporting possible harmful environmental activity.
To do so, visit EPA's website at
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints/index.html

What's Killing the Babies of Vernal, Utah?

A fracking boomtown, a spike in stillborn deaths and a gusher of unanswered questions

BY PAUL SOLOTAROFF June 22, 2015 on 

Every night, Donna Young goes to bed with her pistol, a .45 Taurus Judge with laser attachment. Last fall, she says, someone stole onto her ranch to poison her livestock, or tried to; happily, her son found the d-CON wrapper and dumped all the feed from the troughs. Strangers phoned the house to wish her dead or run out of town on a rail. Local nurses and doctors went them one better, she says, warning pregnant women that Young's incompetence had killed babies and would surely kill theirs too, if given the chance.

SIDEBAR

Jeff Goodell: The Fracking Bubble »

"Before they started spreading their cheer about me, I usually had 18 to 25 clients a year, and a spotless reputation in the state," says Young, the primary midwife to service Vernal, Utah, a boom-and-bust town of 10,000 people in the heart of the fracked-gas gold rush of the Uintah Basin. A hundred and fifty miles of sparse blacktop east of Salt Lake City, Vernal has the feel of a slapdash suburb dropped randomly from outer space. Half of it is new and garishly built, the paint barely dry after a decade-long run of fresh-drilled wells and full employment. "Now, I'm down to four or five ladies, and don't know how I'll be able to feed my animals if things don't turn around quick."

Read the whole story here.

Nexen Energy pipeline spill prompts environmental protection order

Alberta oil pipeline cleanup covers area of 2 CFL football fields

CBC News Posted: Jul 18, 2015 8:48 AM MT Last Updated: Jul 18, 2015 4:53 PM MT

• 

• A spill was discovered Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at Nexen Energy's oilsands facility near Long Lake, south of Fort McMurray in Alberta. (Larry MacDougal/CP)

1 of 8

Alberta's energy regulator has issued an environmental protection order after a massive pipeline spill in the northern part of the province earlier this week. 

The order directs Nexen Energy to contain the spill, which saw five million litres of bitumen, sand and water released at the company's Long Lake oilsands facility near Fort McMurray. 

It also instructs Nexen to alert affected parties and develop a cleanup plan.

Read the entire story here