Latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency News
Top California environment official leaving state government
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jared Blumenfeld, California's top environmental regulator and a key climate adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom, will leave the administration at the end of the month, Newsom announced Friday. Newsom, a Democrat, appointed Blumenfeld as secretary of the...
US launches process to set Idaho mercury pollution standards
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing proposed aquatic life water quality standards for mercury pollution in Idaho that could have statewide ramifications. The agency on Wednesday made public a proposed remedy resulting from a federal court’s...
Pressure mounts to fix water issues in Mississippi capital
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A business group and one of Mississippi's largest unions have issued separate statements urging renewed action to address Jackson's “water crisis.” In a Monday joint letter and news conference, 46 business owners in the capital city said back-to-back...
Meeting set to discuss Memphis medical sterilizing plant
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to host a community meeting to discuss a medical equipment sterilizing plant in Memphis that used a chemical whose emissions could cause health risks, health officials said. The EPA said Wednesday that 23...
EPA announces flights to look for methane in Permian Basin
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it will conduct helicopter overflights to look for methane “super emitters” in the nation's largest oil and gas producing region. EPA's Region 6 headquarters in Dallas, Texas, issued a news release about a new...
EPA: Chemical in medical-device cleanser poses cancer risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents who live near medical sterilizing plants in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used in their operations. Laredo, Texas; Ardmore,...
In towns plagued by raw sewage, EPA promises relief
HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — When there's heavy rain, human waste from the pond of sewage across the street from Charlie Mae Holcomb’s home covers her front yard in rural Alabama. She can’t remember how many times she’s had to rip the flooring out of her small brick house because raw sewage...
Hidden Menace: Massive methane leaks speed up climate change
LENORAH, Texas (AP) — To the naked eye, the Mako Compressor Station outside the dusty West Texas crossroads of Lenorah appears unremarkable, similar to tens of thousands of oil and gas operations scattered throughout the oil-rich Permian Basin. What’s not visible through the...
Union Pacific to spend $1B to upgrade 600 older locomotives
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific will spend more than $1 billion to upgrade 600 of its old diesel locomotives over the next three years and make them more efficient, but regulators still want it to do more to cut pollution from its engines. The move will accelerate the pace of...
EPA head to visit Puerto Rico on environmental justice tour
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Norma Quiñones spent four years without running water after Hurricane Maria destroyed the well that she and dozens of neighbors depend on in their community deep in the mountains of western Puerto Rico. Last Christmas, crews installed a new well, but...
