Pollution

"A mandatory evacuation order issued after a series of explosions at a Texas chemical plant has been lifted, a county official said Friday morning."

"Satellite technology detected a methane leak in Central Asia comparable to the total emissions from the Aliso Canyon disaster — the largest accidental release of greenhouse gases in U.S. history — according to a study released last week."

"The EPA’s determination that it “categorically” can’t regulate pollution-via-groundwater under the Clean Water Act is entitled to deference despite “opening a gaping regulatory loophole,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said Nov. 26."

"A New Hampshire judge ordered that the state suspend at year’s end enforcement of its new rules tightening allowable limits on fluorinated “forever” chemicals, as the 3M company had asked."

"Vermont is turning to its most abundant resource to help meet its renewable energy targets. But the bar for ‘carbon neutral’ may be higher than even skeptics think."

"3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., and Chemours Co. were hit with suits by two water authorities in Nassau County, N.Y., alleging the companies contaminated their water supplies with toxic substances."

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has long argued it shouldn't be required to limit the toxic metals that its coal-fired power plant dumps into the Cumberland River."

"A pollution-plagued oil refinery that shut down in 2012 is now on the verge of reopening in the U.S. Virgin Islands, thanks to the aid of EPA chief Andrew Wheeler."

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee forwarded on Wednesday major legislation that would target a cancer-linked chemical that is leaching into the water supply."

"A panel of three appellate judges grilled attorneys for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Defense Council in a suit about the exemptions to the agency’s mercury inventory reporting rule."