Here are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.

 

  • Remediation of the Central Chemical Superfund site in Hagerstown, Maryland, is not expected to be completed until next year. For more than 50 years, a chemical plant stood on the site and blended pesticides and fertilizers for commercial-grade products.
  • New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the state is joining with other states in the region to oppose hydraulic fracturing operations.
  • A circuit court judge in Kentucky overturned coal ash rules that limited public involvement in how coal ash was handled by utilities.
  • A federal class action lawsuit filed earlier this week in North Carolina alleges that a company that contaminated local drinking water knew the dangers of the chemicals, but ignored its internal studies.
  • Employee wages rose in January at the highest rate in eight years, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent in the first month of the year.
  • The investment firm Science Inc recently closed a venture capital fund that received $75 million in commitments from investors.
  • Mountain Valley Pipeline can use eminent domain to condemn 300 properties in Virginia, according to a recent court ruling. However, the company will need to submit more information before the land can be used for the pipeline.
  • Radioactive waste at a landfill in suburban St. Louis will be removed, and the remainder of the waste will be capped as part of an EPA plan for cleaning up the landfill.
  • Investors from India continue to apply for EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program visas while the program is debated in Congress. India and China are the top two countries that utilize the program.