Is the threat of lawsuits discouraging cleanup of abandoned mine drainage that impairs many U.S. waterways? That seems to be the case under an interpretation of existing water pollution law.
"Aging boomers pop more pills to keep fit. Farmers feed more antibiotics and hormones to fatten livestock. Adults and children use exotic shampoos and conditioners to make their hair shiny. Most of these drugs and personal-care chemicals wind up down the drain, into sewage, land-applied sludge, reclaimed water and ultimately the Indian River Lagoon, St. Johns River and other waters."
"A rugged stretch of coastline known as Japan's Nuclear Alley is dotted with 14 nuclear reactors and now there are warnings that several of these ageing nuclear plants sit near, or on, active faultlines."
"MIAMI -- The chief executive of the century-old company from America's heartland shifted nervously on the witness stand here as he tried to explain how a trusted senior vice president had been caught on a wiretap buying half a million dollars in smuggled merchandise, much of it from China."
"Canada and the United States have updated a decades-old agreement to protect the Great Lakes, adding new commitments to protect aquatic habitats, curb invasive species and help coastal communities adapt to climate change."
"ANCHORAGE -- More than four years after Royal Dutch Shell paid $2.8 billion to the federal government for petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea, a company vessel on Sunday morning sent a drill bit into the ocean floor, beginning preliminary work on an exploratory well 70 miles off the northwest coast of Alaska."
A former lawyer and scientist for flame retardant companies -- who often argued the substances were safer than EPA thought -- is now in charge of an EPA program studying the safety of such chemicals.
"California regulators have not been conducting the intensive workplace-safety inspections of Chevron's Richmond plant and the state's 14 other oil refineries that federal standards call for, a Chronicle investigation shows."
"The long legal battle over Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's controversial 2009 decision to cancel 77 leases near pristine federal lands in Utah may have finally reached its end."
"Long-awaited dredging will begin this month in Waukegan Harbor to remove soil contaminated with hazardous substances at a Superfund site once described as the 'world's worst PCB mess,' officials announced Thursday at the Waukegan Yacht Club."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/risk-lawsuits-preventing-cleanup-abandoned-mines-colorado
[2] http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_21499958/risk-suits-preventing-vital-cleanup-abandoned-mines-colorado
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/are-our-products-bad-medicine-lagoon
[4] http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20120909/NEWS01/309090031/Are-our-products-bad-medicine-lagoon-?nclick_check=1
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/ageing-japanese-nuclear-reactors-sitting-earthquake-fault-lines
[6] http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3585813.htm
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/coolant-phased-out-smugglers-reap-large-profits
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/science/earth/smugglers-sell-coolant-tied-to-global-warming.html
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/canada-and-us-update-protection-great-lakes
[10] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-and-us-update-protection-of-great-lakes/article4529083/
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/shell-begins-oil-gas-drilling-alaska-coast
[12] http://www.usatoday.com/money/business/story/2012/09/10/shell-begins-oil-gas-drilling-off-alaska-coast/57720768/1
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/chemical-firms-champion-now-epa-expert
[14] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/flames/ct-met-flame-retardants-epa-20120910,0,6187982.story
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/california-too-few-state-oil-refinery-safety-checks
[16] http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Too-few-state-oil-refinery-safety-checks-3846415.php
[17] https://www.sej.org/headlines/appeals-court-upholds-salazars-decision-cancel-77-utah-leases
[18] http://www.eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/09/06/1
[19] https://www.sej.org/headlines/waukegan-harbor-dredging-commence-month
[20] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-waukegan-harbor-cleanup-20120907,0,879676.story
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3887
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3884
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3885
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3886
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3889
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3890
[28] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3891
[29] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3892
[30] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=5004