Pollution

"The state of Minnesota is suing 3M Co. over its disposal of chemicals previously used to make Scotchgard and other products."

"Environmentalists claim the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overestimated by more than 20 times the value of recycling coal burning wastes."

"The thousands of tons of salt that made roads passable this week have not reached their final destination, nor had their final effect. As the snow melts, the salt will be flowing into storm drains and beyond, adding to the steady salting of the region's waterways."

"Heavy storms ruptured mains and disabled pumps, spilling thousands of gallons of sewage into the ocean along Southern California's coast."

"The lawsuits being filed against the Environmental Protection Agency are piling up, and more are likely to come following the agency’s decision to set nutrient pollution limits for Florida’s waters."

"General Electric announced on Thursday that it had agreed to continue the cleanup of the Hudson River under new, tighter federal requirements, including a limit on how much contamination could be sealed on the riverbed rather than removed."
 

Alarm bells are being set off by a new study of the families of California farm workers exposed to pesticides. It finds much higher levels of pervasive developmental disorder among children of mothers exposed to higher levels of neurotoxicant organophosphate pesticides.

"HOUSTON — The feud between Texas and the Environmental Protection Agency reached a new level this week, with federal officials saying that they will take over the granting of permits for new power plants and refineries in the state because Texas refuses to regulate its emissions of greenhouse gases."

"The Environmental Protection Agency is suggesting that water utilities nationwide test their drinking water for hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen, after an independent survey released earlier this week found the chemical in tap water drawn from 31 cities."

Optimists think General Electric and the EPA may agree in January on the final phase of Superfund cleanup of PCBs that polluted the Hudson River.