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Industry & Environment (I&E)
Dow Chemical asked to clean up contaminated sites in the US
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
dow Chemical has been asked to clean-up its act in the us. It's been charged with
spreading contaminants. This comes soon after a row in India over shifting of toxic waste from the Union Carbide factory (owned by Dow) in Bhopal
to a facility in Gujarat (see 'Eyewash', Down To Earth, July 15, 2007). On June 27, the us Environmental
Sub-committee's report to frame water policy for industries
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
"bottled water and soft drinks industry should be charged higher water-cess". This was among a series of
recommendations issued by a sub committee to frame a water policy for industries. The sub committee was formed by the groundwater recharge
council.
The sub-committee stresses on the importance of locating industries based on their consumption capacity and water availability. The report has also
recommended that rainwater harvesting be made mandatory within the catchment, upstream of industries, in addition to within factory premises. On
Lake Michigan gets dirtier
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
The us state of Illinois has reproached environment regulators in Indiana for permitting a bp refinery near the Illinois-Indiana border to dump more ammonia and industrial sludge into Lake Michigan.
Mining giant keen on exploiting Borneo forests
Issue Date: Aug 15, 2007
In short
Issue Date: Jul 31, 2007
>> Avian flu was confirmed in Togo, the seventh West African nation to have reported the outbreak on June 22. The virus caused the deaths of
2,000 chicken in June near Togo's capital Lome.
>> Authorities detected polluted water in the Warragamba Dam situated near Sydney in Australia, after rain lashed the city in the last week of June.
It posed a threat to the city's drinking water supply.
>> On June 22, the Perth Magistrate's Court fined aluminium company Alcoa
Clean-up plan for Union Carbide waste in Bhopal raises concern
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2007
the controversial move by the Madhya Pradesh government to incinerate some waste from the the Union Carbide
factory in Bhopal has met with stiff opposition. Civil society groups have strongly criticised the plan to take the waste to an incinerator in Gujarat.
They say the incinerator at Ankleshwar is badly equipped and the move will merely shift the health hazards and in no way help dispose the toxic
chemical waste. Moreover, the move will rid Dow Chemicals--responsible for the waste's disposal--of the responsibility, say the groups. They moved
EU's REACH regulation evokes controversy
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2007
The eu regulation for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (reach) continues to evoke controversy, even as it enters into force in June 2007. Approved by Parliament and Council in December 2006, reach is one of the longest sagas in eu legislative history.
In court
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2007
Settlement with Naveda The US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency has announced a US $60.7 million Clean Air Act settlement with a Las Vegas-based company Nevada Power. As per the settlement, the company will improve air quality at its Clark power generating station by reducing air pollutants by 2,300 tonnes annually. The federal government had accused Nevada Power of violating the Clean Air Act by undertaking modifications of combustion turbines and increasing emissions of NOx without installing the required air pollution controls.
EU defends groundwater purity law
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2007
on june 13, members of the European parliament voted against diluting a law to regulate toxic chemicals and pesticides in its surface and groundwater. The move has pre-empted an attempt by industry pressure groups to make the law non-binding and let individual European states handle it. The draft directive sets a single limit for these toxics for the European Union (eu).
Logistics giant DHL goes eco-friendly
Issue Date: Jul 15, 2007
dhl is set to go green. The logistics company plans to transmute their entire overland fleet to lpg, a more eco-friendly fuel. The company has around 333 vehicles in India and during its first phase of its go-green campaign, the targets to transform 200 vehicles to the lpg mode. The programme has already been launched in Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai.
