A semitruck carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia toppled in Teutopolis, spilling more than half of its 7,500-gallon load, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmental Protection Agency
The Biden administration weakened regulations protecting millions of acres of wetlands, saying it had no choice after the Supreme Court sharply limited the federal government’s jurisdiction over them. It’s a policy shift that departs from a half-century of federal rules governing the nation’s waterways.
Debate over vinyl chloride has simmered for years, but gained a new urgency after the Feb. 3 derailment of a 50-car Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine. Three days later, emergency crews released toxic vinyl chloride from five tank cars and burned it to keep them from exploding.
The change repeals existing language that allowed factories, refineries, power plants and other facilities to exceed their emission limits during shutdowns, startups, and malfunctions.
Extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon.
At issue is a policy Illinois has had since the 1970s that allows factories, power plants, and other industries with air pollution emission permits to exceed their emission limits during startups, shutdowns, or malfunctions.
Right now, coal combustion residuals – commonly known as coal ash – aren’t subject to EPA regulation at many offline power plants.
Chicago Department of Public Health officials determined last year the operation posed an “unacceptable risk” to the health of nearby residents, following Environmental Protection Agency investigations and activism from local residents who said their neighborhood could not withstand the pollution they believe the new Southside Recycling facility will bring.
With large swaths of the U.S. shrouded in smoke from Canadian wildfires, now's a good time to review the basics of the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to build a 25-foot-tall “toxic tower” on Lake Michigan has hit a speed bump.
The 134-year-old refinery, located between Hammond, Indiana, and Chicago, is the biggest in the U.S. Midwest and sixth largest nationally. It processes about 440,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making a variety of liquid fuels and asphalt.
The EPA framed its decision as a way to reduce gasoline prices at a time of market supply uncertainty because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency said its action also encourages U.S. energy independence and supports American agriculture and manufacturing.
The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan.
The survey released Tuesday was the first time the agency asked about lead pipes and gave the best count yet of how many are underground. Illinois ranked second in with 1.04 million lead pipes.
Coal ash, the byproduct created when plants burn coal for power, contains potentially dangerous materials like arsenic, mercury and cadmium that can endanger nearby water supplies. Since coal-fired power plants use a lot of water to keep their equipment cool, they’re often near bodies of water like Lake Michigan.
The plan would limit toxic PFAS chemicals to the lowest level that tests can detect. PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances, are a group of compounds that are widespread, dangerous and expensive to remove from water.
