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Four more charged in Flint water crisis


12/21/2016

Four officials in charge of Flint's water, including two who reported directly to Governor Rick Snyder, have been named in the fourth round of charges announced by the Michigan attorney general's office as it investigates the city's water crisis.

Two of Flint's former emergency managers and two water plant officials were charged Tuesday for felonies of false pretenses and conspiracy -- the allegations are that they misled the Michigan Department of Treasury into getting millions in bonds, and then misused the money to finance the construction of a new pipeline and force Flint's drinking water source to be switched to the Flint River.

Jerry Ambrose and Darnell Earley, both emergency managers put in charge of Flint during a years-long financial crisis, reported directly to the governor and are the highest level officials to be charged so far. They also face misdemeanors of misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty.

The other two men, Howard Croft and Daugherty Johnson, were city water plant officials involved in making the switch from purchasing drinking water from the city of Detroit, to treating water from the Flint River.

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US Ecology's permit violations anger Detroit neighbors


A hazardous waste processing facility in Detroit — which could gain state approval to expand its storage facilities tenfold — has released excessive amounts of mercury, arsenic, cyanide and other toxic chemicals into the city sewer system more than 150 times since September 2010, a review of Great Lakes Water Authority records shows.

US Ecology is allowed to put pretreated chemical waste into the sewer system, but under strict, permitted requirements.

The Free Press, through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, reviewed records related to the company's wastewater discharge permit going back to September 2010. The records are held by the Great Lakes Water Authority, the regional body that took over wastewater treatment operations from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department on Jan. 1.

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North Sea rig shut down after oil spill off Shetland


October 3, 2016

An oil spill from a North Sea platform is heading away from land, according to BP.

Its Clair platform was shut down on Sunday following the leak.

BP has not yet revealed how much fuel has escaped from the structure, which is 46 miles west of Shetland.

It has, however, confirmed oil is visible on the surface of the water and appears to be moving north.

The firm currently believes that allowing the oil to disperse naturally at sea is the best way to deal with the spill, although other options have not been ruled out.

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Contaminated pond ordered closed at Clean Harbors Colfax


10/17/2016


The retention pond at Clean Harbors Colfax in Grant Parish will be closed following tests that show it had levels of toxins that exceeded standards.

Water from the contaminated pond is released into tributaries that ultimately carry it to the Red River.

State Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Chuck Carr Brown tells The Town Talk (http://townta.lk/2dQ8jvA) Clean Harbors Colfax has been directed to get rid of the pond and replace it with a system "that will provide greater protections to human health and the environment."
 

EPA Plans to Allow Unlimited Dumping of Fracking Wastewater in the Gulf of Mexico


Environmentalists are warning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that its draft plan to continue allowing oil and gas companies to dump unlimited amounts of fracking chemicals and wastewater directly into the Gulf of Mexico is in violation of federal law.

In a letter sent to EPA officials on Monday, attorneys for the Center for Biological Diversity warned that the agency's draft permit for water pollution discharges in the Gulf fails to properly consider how dumping wastewater containing chemicals from fracking and acidizing operations would impact water quality and marine wildlife.

The attorneys claim that regulators do not fully understand how the chemicals used in offshore fracking and other well treatments -- some of which are toxic and dangerous to human and marine life -- can impact marine environments, and crucial parts of the draft permit are based on severely outdated data. Finalizing the draft permit as it stands would be a violation of the Clean Water Act, they argue.

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