San Francisco Chronicle (6/23, Zito) reports, “The thousands of mine shafts that pockmark the Sierra Nevada and testify to California’s Gold Rush riches have also left a legacy of toxic contamination in some of the state’s popular recreation areas, according to a new study. Soil tests on a handful of…
In the first frantic days after the blowout of the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, crisis managers in Houston, concerned about the potential for an even greater catastrophe, weighed the risks of using more aggressive methods to try to control the well or leaving it alone, according to…
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is investigating a company that installed a gas pipeline through the site of an old landfill in northeast Fort Worth without proper permission. Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners is installing a 30-inch pipeline that runs from just north of Arlington to a network of interstate…
The AP (6/18) reports officials investigating a string of birth defects in rural Kettleman City, CA, “started taking samples of the air, water and soil” while “grieving parents” testified before state legislators about “infant deaths and birth defects in an impoverished farm town next to the biggest hazardous waste landfill…
McDonald’s has recalled 12 million of its Shrek-themed glasses sold in the last month due to the toxic chemical cadmium found on the glasses’ design. Long-term exposure to cadmium can lead to adverse health affects, and consumers who have purchased any of the glasses are urged to stop using them…
Bloomberg News (6/3, Fisk, Calkins) reports, “The US government asked a federal judge to reject Transocean Ltd.’s bid to use a 159-year-old law to cap its liability at $27 million for environmental claims tied to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Justice Department announced an investigation of whether any criminal…
A Miami judge approved a lawsuit for class-action status over the issue of tainted drywall imported from China. The lawsuit will represent 152 families and was filed against homebuilder South Kendall Construction Corp., Palm Isles Holdings, Keys Gate Realty and Banner Supply. The lawsuit alleges that some of the drywall…
In another setback in the effort to stem the flow of oil gushing from a well a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers said that the “top kill” technique had failed and they had decided to move on to another strategy. The abandonment of the top kill technique,…
Plaintiff Andrew McCarrell was awarded $25.16 M in damages in his lawsuit against Roche Holding AG, maker of Accutane. McCarrell alleged in his lawsuit that his use of Accutane resulted in inflammatory bowel disease. McCarrell underwent five surgeries, including one to remove his colon. According to Bloomberg on 2/16/10, McCarrell…
Health workers tracking Libby’s plight estimate at least 400 people have died of asbestos-related illnesses — from W.R. Grace mine workers and family members who breathed in the dust they brought home in their clothes, to those who played as kids in waste piles dumped by the company behind the…