Environmental Enforcement News

The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement valued at over $310 million with Norfolk Southern Railway Company holding the company accountable to address and pay for the damage caused by the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. If the settlement is approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Norfolk Southern will be required to take measures to improve rail safety, pay for health monitoring and mental health services for the surrounding communities, fund long-term environmental monitoring, pay a $15

The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement valued at over $310 million with Norfolk Southern Railway Company holding the company accountable to address and pay for the damage caused by the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the filing of a felony criminal charge and related civil complaint and consent decree under the Clean Air Act (CAA) against TPC Group LLC, a Texas petrochemical company. TPC Group also entered a plea of guilty today to a one-count information charging the company with a violation of the Clean Air Act before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn for the Eastern District of Texas.

The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a settlement with Colonial Oil Industries Inc. that will require the company to pay a civil penalty of more than $2.8 million and spend an estimated $12.2 million to offset the detrimental human health and environmental impacts of Colonial’s alleged failure to meet obligations under the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and gasoline volatility standards.

The Justice Department announced that Intercontinental Terminals Company LLC (ITC) has agreed to pay over $6.6 million to federal and state natural resource trustees to resolve claims for natural resource damages resulting from a 2019 fire at ITC’s Deer Park terminal facility near Houston that released hazardous chemicals.

A Massachusetts man was arrested today in Hanson, Massachusetts, for allegedly possessing dogs for participation in a dogfighting venture at his Massachusetts home.

The Elliott Bay Trustees announced a settlement with General Recycling of Washington LLC (General Recycling) and its affiliates – Nucor Steel Seattle Inc. and the David J. Joseph Company – related to natural resource injuries caused by hazardous contaminants released into Seattle’s Lower Duwamish River.

Apache Corporation (Apache) has agreed to pay $4 million in civil penalties and undertake projects expected to cost at least $5.5 million to ensure 422 of its oil and gas well pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions.

The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced a settlement agreement with the City of Lowell, Massachusetts, requiring the city to reduce sewage discharges into the Merrimack River. Under the consent decree, Lowell will pay a $200,000 penalty for past violations.

The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Holly Energy Partners-Operating L.P. and Osage Pipe Line Company LLC have agreed to pay $7.4 million in Clean Water Act civil penalties and implement corrective measures to settle claims stemming from a pipeline rupture and crude oil spill from the Osage pipeline onto land owned by members of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. In addition to payment of the civil penalties, the settlement requires that the two companies complete the cleanup and remediation of the impacted area and take additional steps to prepare

Guam Waterworks Authority (GWA) agreed to a consent decree with the United States to improve the quality of its sewer system, estimated to cost approximately $400 million, to address unauthorized overflows of untreated sewage and other violations of the Clean Water Act. The Government of Guam is also a party to the agreement.