Pollution

"Scientists have found plastic pollution almost everywhere they have looked. In clouds. On Mount Everest. In Arctic snow. Now, for the first time, tiny plastic particles have been detected in the breath of dolphins."

"Residents of Imperial Beach in southern San Diego County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the operators of an international wastewater treatment plant — alleging that the site has failed to contain a cross-border crisis that has long contaminated their community."

"The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared prepared to force EPA to get more specific on how much pollution can be discharged into the nation’s waters — although at least one member of the conservative majority seemed open to allowing the agency to issue generic requirements under specific circumstances."

"The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a Biden administration regulation aimed at limiting planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants to remain in place as legal challenges play out."

"The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case with high stakes for the Clean Water Act as environmentalists warn the justices may be poised to weaken the law."

"State residents are voting for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has come under scrutiny for its continued support of fossil fuels and resistance to supporting more solar in the state."

"Alabama’s largest electric utility reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resolving two of three alleged violations stemming from one of its largest coal ash ponds. But the larger question—whether the 21.7 million cubic yards of coal ash in the pond will have to be excavated and moved to a lined landfill—remains unanswered."

"A coal-fired power plant in Alabama is again the nation’s top greenhouse gas emitter, according to new data released Tuesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted preliminary approval for the use of a material that contains radioactive radium in a Florida road project that’s being described as a “pilot.”"

"In 2023, Alabama settled a civil rights complaint alleging that the state was discriminating against Black residents by not providing adequate sewage treatment in a poor, rural county. A year later, slow progress is being made to close the gap."