Pollution

"North Carolina officials say they have hit Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric utility, with the largest environmental fine in state history."

"The agencies charged with overseeing oil production and protecting California's ever-dwindling water sources from the industry's pollution all fell down on the job, one state official told a panel of peeved lawmakers Tuesday."

"New Jersey’s decision to settle a multibillion-dollar pollution lawsuit with Exxon Mobil Corporation has come under broad criticism, as lawmakers and environmentalists have questioned why the state would agree to accept only $225 million — a small fraction of the $8.9 billion in damages it was seeking in court."

"A Venezuela-bound tanker spilled an unknown amount of gasoline additive MTBE into the Houston Ship Channel after a crash with another vessel, shutting down a portion of the waterway and one container terminal."

"A train carrying oil derailed in Ontario, the company that owns the train said Saturday, which sparked a fire but no casualties."

"Cleaner air has for the first time been linked to bigger and stronger lungs among school-age children, according to findings released Wednesday from a two-decade study in Southern California."

"A train carrying crude oil along the banks of the Mississippi River derailed Thursday in a rural area of northwestern Illinois south of the town of Galena, starting a fire and leading the authorities to recommend that nearby residents leave their homes."

"Two hundred million and counting: That's how many times a documentary about China's massive air pollution problem has been viewed online since the weekend. Environmentalists are hailing it as an eye-opener for Chinese citizens."

"Don’t call Ted Schade a hero — definitely not an environmental one. Even though he’s largely responsible for the cleanup of cancer-causing dust from Southern California’s Owens Lake, something he accomplished by waging a decades-long David vs. Goliath battle against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power — Schade will tell you: He is not a hero."

"Unbeknown to California officials, oil producers in Kern County have been disposing of chemical-laden wastewater in hundreds of unlined trenches in the ground without proper permits, according to an inventory that regional water officials completed this week."