Pollution

Optimists think General Electric and the EPA may agree in January on the final phase of Superfund cleanup of PCBs that polluted the Hudson River.

"BP Monday pleaded not guilty to probation violations relating to its criminal conviction for a major North Slope oil spill in 2006."

"Canada said on Tuesday it will design a system to better monitor whether northern Alberta's huge oil sands projects are polluting waterways after an independent scientific panel found major flaws in the current monitoring system."

"The Obama administration is looking to the Cowboy State as a model for fracturing disclosure on federal lands in the West. Interior Department officials figure it would be hard to argue against an approach developed in petroleum-friendly Wyoming."

"An environmental group that analyzed the drinking water in 35 cities across the United States, including Bethesda and Washington, found that most contained hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen that was made famous by the film 'Erin Brockovich.'"

"A federal buyout of homes and businesses in the Tar Creek Superfund site is nearly complete and is expected to cost about $10 million less than original estimates."

"Two years after the disastrous coal ash spill in Kingston, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of enacting the first federal standards for the disposal of ash from coal-fired power plants."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered General Electric Co to dredge deeper into the Hudson River as part of the next phase of an effort to remove cancer-causing chemicals dumped into the river over decades."

Portland, Oregon is completing a network of "Big Pipes" to replace its aging combined sewer overflow system and reduce the flow of sewage and stormwater into the Willamette River. But how long will this pipe do its job unless it is accompanied by more investments in "green infrastructure" as well?

"The tax-cut bill that the House of Representatives [passed] late Thursday ... provides some energy tax breaks, including a subsidy for producing liquid coal."