Pollution

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog said Monday it had opened an investigation into the agency’s weakening of Obama-era regulations that would have limited automobile emissions by significantly raising fuel economy standards."

"3M Co. will determine the health risks of Alabama’s current and potential future PFAS contamination in a new agreement the company has reached with the state, which could influence the EPA’s regulations for the chemicals."

"The destruction of critically-important wetlands by politically-connected developers in Cambodia threatens to flood more than one million Phnom Penh residents, ruin the city’s wastewater system, force hundreds of families from their homes, and trigger environmental devastation, a new report has warned."

"New Hampshire’s governor signed into law a bill Thursday that sets some of nation’s toughest drinking water standards for a group of toxic chemicals and provides tens of millions of dollars for cleanup cost."

"As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates King Coal’s decline, Virginia could be on the hook for millions in cleanup costs if an anticipated wave of bankruptcies destabilizes its bond pool system for managing the risks of company failures."

"The Trump administration, rejecting concerns over the risks to Alaska's fishery, cleared the way on Friday for the Pebble Mine."

"Texas beaches may be open during the pandemic, but that doesn't mean they're safe places to swim, according to a new study of levels of fecal bacteria along the Gulf Coast."

"Thursday a wide array of Alaska Native, commercial fishing, and sportfishing groups issued statements criticizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Pebble Mine after copies of the document were delivered to interested parties via USPS a day before its publication in the Federal Register."

"New standards limiting how much toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS can be in Michigan’s public drinking water will take effect after a legislative committee adjourned without taking action to block or change them."