Category Archives: environment

EPA Sets Strict Carbon Pollution Limits for New PowerPlants

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

The standards, which will be expensive to meet, will be fiercely opposed by big oil money in the courts and will continue a battle royal underway in the Congress between political factions in corrupt pay-to-play Washington and other special interest groups, notably coal companies. Continue reading →

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CITGO Fined for Pollution

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

CITGO Petroleum Corporation will pay a $737,000 civil penalty and start projects to reduce harmful air pollution in a deal cut by the Department of Justice and EPA with the Houston-based, Venezuelan-owned company. Continue reading →

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Total to Pay $8.75 Million for Continued Refinery Violations

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Ken Zino

Total Petrochemical USA will pay an $8.75 million fine for failing to comply with the terms of a 2007 settlement with the United States that resolved alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Claims 14 Electric and Hybrid models by 2014

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ken Zino

In the latest round of environmental press releases, the German Volkswagen Group said it will be “electrifying” all its vehicle classes,starting with 14 electric and hybrid models by 2014. Continue reading →

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EPA ChemView Web Site Expands Info on Toxic Chemicals

Posted on 9 September 2013 by Ken Zino

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a web-based tool, called ChemView, to improve access to chemical specific regulatory information developed by EPA and data submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Continue reading →

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Big West Oil Fined $18 Million for Clean Air Act Violations

Posted on 23 August 2013 by Ken Zino

Big West Oil agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and to spend $18 million to install emission controls at its refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. Big West Oil will also invest $253,000 to improve the monitoring and management of potential releases of hydrofluoric acid at the facility. Continue reading →

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EPA Looks at Toxic Sites for Renewable Energy Sources

Posted on 5 August 2013 by Ken Zino

Since Re-Powering’s inception in 2008, more than 70 renewable energy projects have been installed on contaminated lands. These early projects represent just over 200 MW of installed capacity, which could power approximately 30,000 homes, and provide a foundation for future development as demonstrations of the latest technologies in both renewable energy and remediation design. Continue reading →

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Cuts to 2014 EPA Budget Threatens Auto Emissions Rules

Posted on 26 July 2013 by Ken Zino

Not surprisingly since the chairman is Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky, the legislation reflects significant efforts to cripple the EPA – “an agency that has been rife with governmental overreach, overspending on ineffective and unnecessary programs, and costly and questionable regulations.” The bill funds the EPA at $5.5 billion, a reduction of $2.8 billion – or -34% – below the fiscal year 2013 enacted level. Continue reading →

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Halliburton to Plead Guilty to Criminal Destruction of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Evidence

Posted on 25 July 2013 by Ken Zino

Halliburton Energy Services will plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of Justice said today. Halliburton was charged with one count of destruction of evidence according to an information filling today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Continue reading →

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Oil Recycling Company and Owner Guilty of Toxic Crimes

Posted on 15 July 2013 by Ken Zino

A North Carolina used oil recycling business and its owner plead guilty to unlawful handling of PCB-contaminated used oil and other crimes today. Benjamin Franklin Pass, 60, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc. of Wilmington, N.C., pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as for making false statements and failing to pay several years of taxes. Continue reading →

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GM and Honda Target 2020 for Viable Fuel Cell EVs

Posted on 9 July 2013 by Ken Zino

The light duty fuel cell vehicle (FCV) has shown promise for decades, but the problem remains that it is space age technology at NASA levels of cost. Not surprisingly, automakers have varying levels of interest fuel cells that always appear to be just a decade or so from commercialization, but interest is rising. Continue reading →

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SunCoke Energy Fixes Clean Air Violations in Illinois, Ohio

Posted on 30 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The main violations alleged relate to excessive bypass venting of hot coking gases directly to the atmosphere, resulting in excess SO2 and particulate matter emissions from the facilities’ waste heat and main stacks, in violation of applicable permit limits. Coke oven emissions are a known human carcinogen. Continue reading →

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Supreme Court Dismisses Ethanol Waiver Case

Posted on 24 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The United States Supreme Court today dismissed a petition by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers or AFPM challenging an EPA regulation that allows for 15% ethanol in gasoline. Continue reading →

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Automaker Defense of Hands-Free Devices Hooey AAA Says

Posted on 13 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is taking on the oft-used automaker defense their profitable selling of hands-free electronic devices that are expanding exponentially in new cars. The latest data show that dangerous mental distractions exist even when drivers “keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.” Continue reading →

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U.S. Sues ExxonMobil over Pegasus Pipeline Oil Spill

Posted on 13 June 2013 by Ken Zino

The complaint covers ExxonMobil’s unlawful discharge of heavy crude oil from a 20-inch-diameter interstate pipeline – the Pegasus Pipeline – that ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas on 29 March 2013. Continue reading →

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