"The Interior Department said it would fast-track the permitting process for a uranium mine in Utah as part of President Trump’s plan to shorten environmental reviews and speed the construction of certain types of energy projects." "An environmental review of the project, known as Velvet-Wood, would normally take roughly a year. The government says it will complete the process in two weeks."
"3M is set to pay New Jersey up to $450 million over the next quarter-century to settle claims it contaminated the state with harmful “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, affecting drinking water."
"Political leaders at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have told scientists there to apply to new jobs, implying that those who do not may be fired, according to an official with a union representing the agency’s employees."
"Reorganizations at the EPA may get rid of the agency’s fundamental program for research around the risks of toxic chemicals."
"The first bellwether personal injury trial in a nationwide proceeding over damages from PFAS in specialized firefighting foam will focus on kidney cancer, the court managing the multidistrict case litigation ordered Friday."
"The Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner."
The judiciary is looking to become a major environmental battleground for journalists to watch in the coming months and years, as activists confront the Trump administration over its deregulatory campaign. The new Issue Backgrounder maps out the action, explaining how key laws foster citizen suits, while numerous nonprofits are staffed up to sue. Plus, some ways to track the action.
"BILLINGS, Mont. — An asbestos screening clinic in a small Montana town where thousands have been sickened by toxic dust from a nearby mine has been abruptly shuttered by authorities following a court order to seize the clinic’s assets to pay off a judgment to the railroad BNSF."
"An area branch of the NAACP has joined the fight to keep Chemours and its predecessor company DuPont from shielding thousands of pages of documents from the public eye."
"Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have previously violated the pollution limits in their permits have recently applied for new federal operating permits or renewals."
