Pollution

"The Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of enforcement actions Wednesday to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a “Journey to Justice” tour by Administrator Michael Regan last fall."

"The EPA and others warned about potential contamination as far back as 2014. But Washington state law does not require schools or health departments to act on those findings."

"Funds allocated by the Canadian government to help clean up the country’s orphan oil and gas wells may fall short if the main oil-producing province of Alberta continues to allocate the money to financially viable companies, the parliamentary budgetary watchdog said on Tuesday."

"EPA referred just 152 criminal cases to DOJ last fiscal year — a third lower than the prior year, when the number had reached a new floor during the Trump administration, according to data obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility."

"The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday ordered state regulators to reconsider a wastewater permit that was granted to PolyMet Mining Corp (POM.TO) to build an open-pit copper mine, though judges rejected six other challenges to the permit from environmentalists."

"Around 30 oil and gas facilities across the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico spewed large amounts of methane for three years, emitting the equivalent annual climate pollution from half a million cars, according to a report released on Monday."

"With less than two weeks to go until the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese government said it is battling “extremely unfavorable” weather to clear the city’s skies of hazardous smog."

"The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to deal federal wetland and waterway safeguards a near-fatal blow by hearing arguments to limit the scope of the EPA’s power under the Clean Water Act, attorneys say."

"On an unusually cold winter morning in central Florida, Corleone the manatee was awakened before dawn by wetsuited workers who slipped into his pool at SeaWorld and wrapped him in a long vinyl sling."

"Colorado, the U.S. government and a gold mining company have agreed to resolve a longstanding dispute over who’s responsible for continuing cleanup at a Superfund site that was established after a massive 2015 spill of hazardous mine waste that fouled rivers with a sickly yellow sheen in three states and the Navajo Nation."