Environment - Air
EPA: QEP Field Services Agrees to Pay $4 Million and Install Pollution Controls to Resolve Alleged Violations of the Clean Air Act
EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached a settlement with QEP Field Services Co., formerly Questar Gas Management Co., to settle claims that QEPFS's compressor stations – which remove water and compress natural gas for transportation through gas pipelines – are sources of air pollution. According to EPA, the compressor stations emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which can increase the risk of asthma attacks and are significant contributors to the formation of ozone. ...
San Francisco Food Processor Settles with EPA Involving Anhydrous Ammonia Releases
San Francisco food processor Columbus Manufacturing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Foods LLC, has agreed to $6 million in upgrades and a nearly $700,000 fine following two incidents that caused the release of two hazardous ammonia clouds that left 17 people hospitalized....
EPA Issues Historic National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants
EPA on Dec. 21 issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect Americans from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium and cyanide. The standards will slash emissions of these substances by relying on widely available, proven pollution controls that are already in use at more than half of the nation's coal-fired power plants. ...
Louisiana Oil Company Pleads Guilty to Clean Air Act Violations, Faces $10 Million Fine
A recent plea agreement reached by Pelican Refining Co. LLC, the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA will make the Louisiana coastline safer for people, wildlife, fish and yes, pelicans...
NRDC Reveals the 20 States that Face the Most Air Pollution from Power Plants
If you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida or Kentucky, your state has a dubious claim to fame: It contains some of the nation’s worst air pollution caused by power plants...
EPA Reaches Landmark Clean Air Act Settlement with TVA
EPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have reached a settlement that will require TVA to invest an estimated $3-$5 billion to modernize its coal-fired power plants and provide state-of-the-art pollution controls and clean energy technology...
California Man Convicted of Conspiracy and Violating the Clean Air Act by Improperly Handling Asbestos
A Santa Clarita, Calif., resident was convicted of five environmental charges related to the improper renovation of a San Fernando Valley, Calif., apartment complex – work that caused asbestos to be released into the complex and the surrounding community...
Relationship between Clean Air and Asthma Examined
A new report, analyzing detailed asthma incidence and cost data, concludes that the already staggering human and financial toll of asthma in the United States likely will increase if Congress acts to stop updates to the Clean Air Act (CAA)...
At-Home Safety: Air Pollutants from Fireplaces, Wood-Burning Stoves Raise Health Concerns
With millions of people warding off winter’s chill with blazing fireplaces and wood-burning stoves, scientists are raising red flags about the potential health effects of the smoke released from burning wood...
Refinery to Pay More Than $5.3 Million Penalty for Clean Air Act Violations
EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement in which Hovensa LLC, owner of the second largest petroleum refinery in the United States, to pay a civil penalty of more than $5.3 million and spend more than $700 million in new pollution controls that will help protect public health and resolve Clean Air Act violations at its St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands refinery...
Arsenic-Polluted Water Impacts Work Arrangements in Bangladesh
New research shows that the arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh – called the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history” by the World Health Organization and responsible for a host of slow-developing diseases – also impacts work arrangements, which creates an immediate and toxic effect on the struggling nation’s economy...
EPA Identifies Areas Violating Lead Standards
EPA has determined that 16 areas across the country are not meeting the agency’s national air quality standards for lead. These areas, located in 11 states, were designated as “nonattainment” because their 2007 to 2009 air quality monitoring data showed that they did not meet the agency’s health-based standards...
New York Air Monitoring Firm, Supervisors Found Guilty of Fraud and Conspiracy
EPA and the U.S. Justice Department announced today that a federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud and defraud the United States...
EPA’s Clean Air Act Turns 40
As part of the activities commemorating EPA’s 40th anniversary, the agency is highlighting progress made under the 40 years of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at a conference in Washington, D.C...
Minimizing Toxic Health Effects from the Gulf Oil Spill
While oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, experts are far from finished working to anticipate, outline and minimize the disaster’s potential health risks, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health researcher involved in helping the federal government deal with the spill’s repercussions...
Green Construction Helps Clear the Air in Lower Manhattan
As LMCCC coordinates the effort to rebuild Lower Manhattan, it also works to reduce exposures to noise, dust, vibration and other health hazards...
AIHce 2010: Investing in Our Future with Clean Energy
Inside a packed theater in the Colorado Convention Center, the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce) kicked off in Denver on May 24 with an opening session that featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who stressed that investing in clean energy is the key to protecting our communities and our future...
EPA Launches BP Oil Spill Web Site
As part of the ongoing federal response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, EPA established a Web site on April 30 to inform the public about the spill’s impact on the environment and the health of nearby residents...
EPA Releases Public Database on Risk Assessments
On March 24, EPA released the Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database to provide access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions, including EPA’s periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major pollutants...
Survey: Improved Chemical Security Makes Millions Safer
A new survey by the Center for American Progress identified 554 drinking water and wastewater plants in 47 states that have replaced extremely hazardous substances with safer and more secure chemicals or processes...
EPA Takes Action Against California Meat Processing Facility Following Hazardous Chemical Air Releases
EPA is ordering Columbus Mfg., a meat processing company in South San Francisco, Calif., to address safety concerns in the facility’s ammonia refrigeration systems following a recent hazardous chemical release into the environment. Columbus has agreed to comply with the order...
Chemical Safety Board Initiates Investigation of DuPont Facility in Belle, W.Va.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Accident Investigation Board (CSB) voted to initiate an investigation of recent accidents at the DuPont chemical complex in Belle, W.Va., following a release of highly toxic phosgene on Jan. 23 that fatally injured a veteran operator...
EPA Strengthens Air Quality Standard for Nitrogen Dioxide
The first new NO2 standard in 35 years will improve air quality for millions, according to EPA, protecting millions of Americans from peak, short-term exposures that primarily occur near major roads. Short-term exposures to NO2 have been linked to impaired lung function and increased respiratory infections, especially in people with asthma...
EPA Strengthens Smog Standard
EPA has proposed the strictest health standards to date for smog, rolling back limits set by the Bush administration and proposing to set the “primary” standard, which protects public health, at a level between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million (ppm) measured over 8 hours...
White Plains Office Building Computes its Carbon Footprint with Surprising Results
While the media constantly inundate us with articles about harmful greenhouse gas emissions, the owners of an office building in White Plains, N.Y., have decided to do something about them...
