Environment: Safeway to pay fine for leaky freezers

Under settlement with EPA, company agrees to cut emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals By Summit Voice FRISCO — Under a court-ordered settlement, Safeway will pay a $600,000 fine and upgrade equipment and management practices to cut emissions of ozone-depleting refrigerants by 100,000 pounds. The improvements will come at a cost of $4.1 million, according to the

Pollinator crisis: Will new EPA labeling requirements for pesticides help protect bees?

FRISCO — New EPA labeling requirements for  neonicotinoid pesticides will help, but don’t go far enough to protect honey bees, watchdog groups said last week. The changes come amidst growing concern over a global honey bee die-off that threatens food crops. The systemic neonicotinoids are absorbed by the whole plant; when bees come into contact

Beekeepers fight EPA’s pesticide approval in court

Concern over pollination services and colony collapse drive legal challenge By Bob Berwyn SUMMIT COUNTY — Beekeepers around the country are feeling stung by the EPA’s approval of a new pesticide that’s known to be toxic to bees, and are headed to court to try and prove that the EPA didn’t consider all the facts

EPA moves to clear the air in Four Corners region

Conservation groups seek more fundamental shift to renewable energy By Summit Voice FRISCO — After years of back and forth over the toxic pollution spewing from the San Juan Generating Station in the Four Corners region, The EPA and PNM New Mexico have reached an agreement to address air quality issues by shutting down two

Environmental groups challenge EPA’s sulfur-dioxide emission exemptions for Southwest power plants

Fight over regional haze plans now at the federal appeals court level By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — Clean Air Act loopholes in regional EPA-approved air quality plans are unacceptable, according to a coalition of environmental and community groups who last renewed their challenge to the regs in a Denver-based federal appeals court. According to

Environment: EPA hits Wyoming refinery with $378,000 fine

EPA inspection finds multiple violations of environmental regulations By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — Sloppy operations, maintenance and record-keeping have cost a Wyoming refinery $378,000 in fines, according to the EPA, which this week announced a Clean Air Act settlement with the Sinclair Wyoming Refining Company. Along with the fine, Sinclair will update operating procedures,

More data shows groundwater pollution from fracking

USGS sampling in Wyoming appears to support earlier EPA results By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — There’s more evidence suggesting that fracking in Wyoming is polluting groundwater near the town of Pavilion, as U.S. Geological Survey water quality sampling appears to show similar results as an earlier EPA study. The 2011 EPA sampling was one

Environment: EPA approves Colorado clean air plan

Regional haze reduction efforts should help reduce pollution along Front Range and in Rocky Mountain National Park By Bob Berwyn SUMMIT COUNTY — A new EPA-sanctioned clean air plan could be just what the doctor ordered for Rocky Mountain National Park, where rangers had to hoist ozone warnings 17 times this summer, after an average

Particulate pollution drives global warming gap

Harvard research pinpoints climate effects of aerosols By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — Particulate pollution over industrialized regions can at least temporarily mask the global warming signal by reflecting heat back into the outer layers of the atmosphere, according to Harvard researchers, who say that they’ve pinpointed a “warming hole” over the eastern United States.

House GOP votes to gut Clean Water Act

Streams and wetlands protection at issue in political battle By Bob Berwyn SUMMIT COUNTY — A long-running battle over Clean Water Act policies took another turn this week, as the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to block the Obama administration from implementing new policy guidance that would reinstate protections removed by the Bush administration. The