Comments Off on PENNSYLVANIA: Copper Smelter Fined Again for Polluting Ohio River
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, August 4, 2021 (ENS) – Hussey Copper, manufacturer of copper for electric power lines and copper-nickel alloys for desalination plants, is being hit with a second big fine for releasing toxics into local waterways.
Ordered last year to pay a $550,000 criminal fine for polluting the Ohio River at its Leetsdale smelting operation, Hussey today agreed to settle with state and federal authorities in a civil lawsuit, also over alleged violations of clean water law at the Leetsdale smelter in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Leetsdale, a borough of some 1,200 people on the Ohio River 15 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, once had an industrial manufacturing base, with a Bethlehem Steel mill that closed in the late 1970s. Today, residents and visitors enjoy boating, go-karting, arcade games, a museum, an art center, theater, concerts and shops.
Hussey Copper paying $861K in a proposed settlement timesonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Late last week, the Justice Department withdrew nine Trump-era policy and guidance documents that shaped how the Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) enforced environmental law during the past several years. The memo, issued by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean Williams,
1 follows President Biden’s Day One executive order that directs federal agencies to immediately review and take action, as necessary any agency actions that conflict with the new administration’s “important national objectives” to confront climate change, prioritize environmental justice and protect human health and the environment.
TGIF! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill's roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Beitsch at rbeitsch@thehill.com.
By Rachel Frazin - 02/05/21 12:35 PM EST
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has eliminated nine Trump-era directives on environmental law enforcement, including one that ended polluters’ ability to reduce fines by paying for environmental projects.
In a memo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean Williams, a career official, wrote that the policies were “inconsistent with longstanding Division policy and practice and may impede the full exercise of enforcement discretion in the Division’s cases.”
Through its action Thursday, the department restored the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in agency settlements, which are popular with both industry and environmentalists.
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SEPs, which have been used for roughly three decades in environmental cases, allow companies to take actions like cleaning up streams to lessen any fines they may have to pay for environmental violations.