Pollution

"Congressional negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that would effectively exempt 13 ships that haul iron ore, coal and other freight on the Great Lakes from a proposed federal rule meant to reduce air pollution."

"More than 100 properties near the Doe Run Co.'s smelter have been recontaminated with dangerous levels of lead, a finding that comes less than a decade after regulators ordered the company to remove and replace polluted soil on the properties, the U.S. EPA said Monday."

"Nearly identical bills to prevent cruise ships from discharging raw, untreated sewage in U.S. coastal waters were introduced Wednesday in both Houses of Congress."

"Decades of industrial pollution in the Portland Harbor Superfund site have left high levels of contaminants in river sediment, an exhaustive survey concludes, posing risks to wildlife, fish and humans who eat fish from the nine-mile stretch of the Willamette River."

"A federal jury on Monday found Exxon Mobil liable for contaminating groundwater in New York City and awarded the city $104.7 million in compensatory damages."

"Thousands of people in the heart of Frisco [Texas] are exposed to toxic lead pollution from a battery recycling plant that wants to expand production." City officials are opposing the expansion.

Allegheny Energy's Hatfield's Ferry coal-burning electric power plant finally reduced its air pollution by installing scrubbers. But the scrubbers dump many tons of wastewater and pollutants into the Monongahela River, which provides drinking water for 350,000 people.

New York "is asking local government agencies to regulate key aspects of the natural gas industry, raising yet more questions about who will pay for manpower to oversee multinational energy companies setting up shop in Southern Tier's backyards."

"As U.S. Air Force officials marked the 50th anniversary of the deployment of nuclear missiles to sites in the rural United States this past week, residents in some of these communities are still grappling with another legacy — groundwater pollution from chemicals used to clean and maintain the weapons."