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EPA Levies Second Largest Civil Penalty for Alleged CWA Violations In a joint enforcement action announced in September 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) settled with a West Virginia-based oil and natural gas company for multiple violations of the CWA. […]
EPA’s Corrective Actions to Tighten Control of Unmonitored Chemical Releases In September 2014, the OIG released its report titled, More Action Is Needed to Protect Water Resources From Unmonitored Hazardous Chemicals, which provided a look at how, despite current regulations, hazardous chemicals continue to be discharged from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The OIG investigations […]
GreenChill Partnership Achievements—Industry Steps Up The GreenChill Partnership provides food retailers, as well as advanced refrigeration system manufacturers and retrofit chemical and secondary fluid manufacturers, with assistance with preventing costly refrigerant leaks and emissions and meeting strict performance criteria under the GreenChill Store Certification Program. During the first year in the program, Partners average an […]
Value-Added Benefits from Biogas As discussed yesterday, a fully developed biogas industry could provide both renewable energy and reduced emissions of the GHG methane, two valuable assets for combating climate change. But the recent report, Biogas Opportunities Roadmap, also makes the case for biogas as an economic driver that can generate capital investments, jobs, and […]
U.S. Biogas Energy Potential The process of creating energy through anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic materials (aka “biogas”) is not a new concept, but in light of climate change, it may be one with a lot of unrealized potential for both renewable energy and reducing emissions of the potent GHG methane. In the report titled […]
Curbing GHGs with Cap–and–Trade —How It’s Working The RGGI held its first CO2 allowance auction on September 25, 2008 and will hold its 26th auction on December 3, 2014. Along the way, the RGGI has evolved and in 2013, made changes to its Model Rule to further reduce CO2 emissions and help to ensure the […]
Curbing GHGs with Cap–and–Trade —How It Works The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI or “Reggie”) was first discussed in 2003 by the governors of nine states as a possible way to lower CO2 emissions from electric power plants on a regional scale. In late 2005, seven states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, […]
Nutrient Pollution—What It Is and What to Do About It According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the impacts of nutrient pollution are found in all types of our nation’s water bodies. In fact, “More than 100,000 miles of rivers and streams, close to 2.5 million acres of lakes, reservoirs and ponds, and more […]
Deadly Chemical Plant Releases Violate Multiple Regulations In a settlement with a multinational company that operates a chemical plant in Belle, West Virginia, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that between 2006 and 2010, eight releases of hazardous substances occurred, one of which resulted in the death of […]
Consumers Energy Will Update Equipment and Fund Projects Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of CMS Energy Corporation, provides electricity and natural gas to 6.5 million residents in all 68 counties of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Under EPA’s Power Plant Initiative, in 2007, the company was issued a notice of violation for opacity violations at five of its […]