Source: Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2014 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com Port of Los Angeles authorities are beginning an extensive harbor cleanup in the aftermath of a fire that burned through much of a wharf and released toxic gases and smoke into surrounding communities. The largest fire at the port in decades erupted Monday night, devouring […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 22, 2014 By: Amy B. Briggs, David B. Killalea , Stephen T. Raptis, Robert H. Shulman and Susan P. White, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters A federal district court in Texas strictly construed a pollution exclusion in finding that hazardous materials embedded in mud were not “dispersed” and thus […]

Source: http://www.nj.com, September 22, 2014 By: Louis C. Hochman Dozens of contaminated buildings at the 263-acre Radiation Technology Superfund site — once used for testing and developing rocket engines and propellant — will be knocked down under a plan announced Monday. In all, 34 buildings and structures at the Lake Denmark Road property — contaminated […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, September 18, 2014 By: Cynthia A.M. Stroman, King & Spalding LLP For the past several years, the rapid growth of oil and natural gas production from shale and other unconventional sources has prompted vocal and often sensationalized concerns regarding the potential for migration of gas from hydraulic fracturing operations into sources of drinking […]

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com, September 18, 2014 By: Don Hopey Range Resources will pay a $4.15 million penalty to settle violations related to six Marcellus Shale gas drilling and fracking wastewater impoundments in Washington County that contaminated soil and groundwater, state officials said. It’s the largest fine ever imposed against a Marcellus Shale gas drilling company, according […]

Source: http://trib.com, September 17, 2014 By: Benjamin Storrow A pair of national studies concluding fracking did not contaminate drinking water supplies in Pennsylvania and Texas have little bearing on an ongoing investigation into the dirty water found near Pavillion, according to industry experts. One study, done by the U.S. Department of Energy in western Pennsylvania, […]

Source: http://www.wbiw.com, September 18, 2014 A Walmart returns processing center in Indianapolis is contaminated with a toxic substance, and WTHR 13 Investigators learned hundreds of workers at the evacuated facility are now undergoing medical testing to see if they were exposed. Bob Segall and Sandra Chapman, of WTHR 13 reports, the contamination involves a massive […]

Source: http://www.pollutionengineering.com, September 18, 2014 The EPA has added the Delta Shipyard site in Terrebonne Parish, La., to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, a list of sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned […]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com, September 19, 2014 By: Laura Zuckerman A second container of plutonium-contaminated debris may have contributed to a radiation leak that has led to the indefinite suspension of operations at an underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico, a U.S. Energy Department official said on Thursday. Preliminary findings from an investigation of a Feb. […]

Source: http://www.theguardian.com, September 18, 2014 By: Peter Moskowitz Pennsylvanians are racing to find old wells that spread fumes in homes and bubble contaminants into drinking water, even as the fracking industry continues to fuel the state’s economy Laurie Barr spent a recent Saturday like she spends a lot of her weekends: trodding through the thorny […]

Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com, September 17, 2014 By: Gennady Sheyner City launches legal proceedings against Flintco Pacific after years of delays, errors Palo Alto is seeking more than $9 million from a contractor that the city deems primarily responsible for the botched reconstruction of the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center. The City Council on Monday authorized […]

Source: Dow Jones News Service, September 15, 2014 Posted on: http://fpn.advisen.com Natural gas is contaminating some aquifers not from hydraulic fracturing but from faulty well preparation, according to a new paper. Poorly built and cemented gas wells, rather than fracking itself, have allowed contaminants to flow into shallow drinking-water sources, according to a report published […]