EPA announces new limits on toxic air pollution from medical incinerators, ending legal battle

October 5th, 2009 EPA to brief Boxer on toxic school drinking waterFRESNO, Calif. — A California senator called on the head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to disclose how the agency plans to address the widespread problem of toxic drinking water in the nation's schools.

September 15th, 2009 EPA to place limits on power plant water pollutionWASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to limit the quantity of toxic metals that coal-fired power plants release into waterways. The agency said Tuesday that equipment required to reduce pollution in the air has increased harmful contaminants in water discharged by power plants, particularly heavy metals such as selenium, cadmium, mercury and lead.

August 26th, 2009 VA ends Gulf War illness research contractWASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs has canceled a $75 million, five-year research contract with a Texas medical center studying illnesses suffered by veterans of the first Gulf War. The VA says research on the illnesses, however, remains a priority.

August 21st, 2009 EPA sets legal limits for water pollution in Fla.CLEARWATER, Fla. — Environmental groups on Friday lauded long-awaited action by the U.S.

August 19th, 2009 Judge tosses chemical weapons incineration suitWASHINGTON — The Army on Wednesday won a court challenge to its plan to incinerate chemical weapons at storage sites around the country over objections from a watchdog group that says the practice releases toxic pollution. A federal judge threw out the suit aimed at stopping the plan to destroy the stockpiles dating back as far as World War II, required under an international treaty, the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

August 2nd, 2009 China suspends 2 environment bosses for pollutionBEIJING — Authorities in central China suspended two environment officials and detained a chemical plant boss after hundreds of residents protested, claiming the factory polluted a river and caused at least two deaths in the area, an official said Sunday. Nearly a thousand villagers gathered at government and police offices in Zhentou township in Hunan province on Thursday to highlight what they say is deadly pollution being discharged from the Xianghe Chemical Factory in nearby Liuyang city, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

June 23rd, 2009 Huntsman announces legal settlement with banksTHE WOODLANDS, Texas — Chemicals maker Huntsman Corp. says it has reached a $1.7 billion settlement with two banks over its accusation they schemed to scuttle a $6.5 billion buyout of the chemicals maker last year.

May 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists at the University of Lancaster, UK, have determined that urban trees use their leaves to measure microscopic particles of pollution. According to a report in ABC science, they are so precise in this task that Professor Barbara Maher and a group of scientists at the University of Lancaster are turning to them as reliable, street-level pollution monitors.

April 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in The Netherlands are reporting development of a new plastic with a "self-healing polymer" that has potential for use in the first easy-to-recycle computer circuit boards, electrical insulation, and other electronics products that now wind up on society's growing heaps of electronic waste. Antonius Broekhuis and colleagues note in the new study that so-called thermoset plastics are widely used in consumer electronics due to their hardness and heat resistance.

April 22nd, 2009 Cement industry: EPA pollution plan not achievableTRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A group representing the U.S.

April 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is looking for easier, more effective ways of finding and measuring the toxic pollutants that people actually breathe, especially in cities. The team is being led by William Vizuete, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has indicated that the Black Sea, the world's largest dead zone that has high concentrations of a poisonous gas, may be chock-full of life-sustaining energy. The Black Sea, an isolated inland sea in Eastern Europe, has been devoid of life for decades due to pollution carried by rivers.

March 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US will ask companies to report on their greenhouse-gas emissions that are blamed for global warming, setting the stage for government-imposed limits on climate pollution supported by President Barack Obama and long resisted by his predecessor. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday said it will ask most major polluting firms to submit annual reports on their emissions levels beginning with 2010.

March 6th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - In what could be termed an eye opener for other pollution control bodies across India, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has so far found four pharmaceutical units near here storing used syringes and needles in their warehouses. Board officials raided the factories Thursday afternoon after being told by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) about the possibility of the four pharma units in Naroda, Narol and Isanpur storing used syringes and needles.

February 12th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government has served notices to as many as 37 industrial units in the past two years, including the Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd.(Balco), for violating industrial pollution norms, the state assembly was informed Friday. 'The government has either moved court or issued notices to 37 industrial units for ignoring pollution norms in Raigarh and Korba districts, including Balco (based in Korba town),' Revenue Minister Amar Agrawal told the house in a written reply to a question by Leader of the Opposition Ravindra Choubey.