The Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to build a 25-foot-tall “toxic tower” on Lake Michigan has hit a speed bump.
Environmental Protection Agency
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.
Federal data show 272 hazardous materials releases involving trains in Illinois in the last decade. Predicting when and where environmental problems will manifest is difficult, but the risk is real.
The Environmental Protection Agency told Norfolk Southern to take all available measures to clean up contaminated air and water, and also said the company would be required to reimburse the federal government.
Oil refineries are discharging toxic pollutants into our waterways and the Great Lakes with little oversight from regulators, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit group that advocates for enforcement of environmental law
PFAS are called "forever chemicals" because they fail to break down easily in the environment. Chemicals leach into the nation's drinking water and accumulate in the bodies of fish, shellfish, livestock, dairy and game animals.
The funding, established through the 2022 climate and health law signed by President Joe Biden, marks the largest environmental justice grants the agency has ever offered.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in Sackett v. EPA, which challenges the scope of the Clean Water Act and could have far-reaching implications for the nation's wetlands.
The 6-3 ruling declared that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate emissions from plants that contribute to global warming. The decision also could have a broader effect on other agencies’ regulatory efforts, from education to transportation and food.
