Hazardous Materials
U.N. agency finds higher enrichment at Iranian site
VIENNA -- Inspectors have located radioactive traces at an Iranian underground bunker, the U.N. atomic agency said Friday -- a finding that could mean Iran has moved closer to reaching the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles.
Date: 05/25/2012 | Nation & World
Study details mercury contamination in Calif. sport fish
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- New findings from the first statewide study of contaminants in fish caught off the California coast show that methylmercury, a toxin that damages the nervous system of humans, was found in high concentrations in more than a third of the locations that researchers sampled.
Date: 05/25/2012 | Nation & World
Doctors report rise in kids eating detergent packs
DALLAS -- Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months, touted as a solution to bulky bottles and messy spills. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them.
Date: 05/24/2012 | Nation & World
Nuclear plant to receive license renewal
RICHLAND -- The only commercial nuclear power plant in the Northwest is hosting an event Thursday to mark the extension of the plant's operating license.
Date: 05/19/2012 | Northwest
Spill causes die-off of salmon in Nooksack River
FERNDALE -- State and tribal environmental officials are seeking information about a spill that caused a small die-off of young salmon in the Nooksack River.
Date: 04/20/2012 | Northwest
Bainbridge Island bans plastic bags
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND -- Bainbridge Island has voted to ban plastic bags.The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to approve the ordinance. The ban takes effect Nov. 1.
Date: 04/12/2012 | Northwest
EPA says it can't regulate lead in hunting bullets
LEWISTON, Idaho -- The Environmental Protection Agency has denied the latest petition from environmental groups that want the agency to regulate the amount of lead used in some hunting ammunition.
Date: 04/10/2012 | Northwest
Agencies prepare for tsunami debris
Later this year, it might not be such an uncommon sight to see a refrigerator, a car bumper or a garage door wash up on beaches in the state.
Date: 04/10/2012 | Local News
Controversial strawberry pesticide pulled from U.S.
FRESNO, Calif. -- A pesticide used primarily in the strawberry industry is being pulled from the U.S. market by its Japanese manufacturer, a surprising move that comes after harsh criticism from environmentalists and farmworkers who claim the chemical is toxic and may cause cancer.
Date: 03/21/2012 | Nation & World
Toxic kids' products bill dies in state House
OLYMPIA -- A bill to ban a pair of potentially carcinogenic flame-retardant chemicals from children's products has died in the Washington state House amid budget intrigue in the Senate.
Date: 03/03/2012 | Northwest
Workers exposed to radioactivity from exit sign near Hanford
RICHLAND -- An eight-person crew at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was exposed to low levels of radioactivity last month while removing an exit sign dating back from 1953.
Date: 03/03/2012 | Northwest
Crews work to clean up Snake River oil spill
BURBANK -- Crews are working to clean up an oil spill on the Snake River Tuesday following a leak of about 44 gallons of oil.
Date: 02/28/2012 | Northwest
3,000 gallon diesel spill in Seattle
SEATTLE -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe says most of a 3,000-gallon diesel spill was contained in a ditch at a Seattle switching yard.
Date: 02/23/2012 | Northwest
Hanford cleanup budget proposed for $2.1 billion
RICHLAND -- President Barack Obama has proposed spending more than $2.1 billion for cleanup at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site in fiscal year 2013.That's about the same amount of money to be spent at south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation in fiscal year 2012.
Date: 02/13/2012 | Northwest
Lawmakers seek ban on toxins in kids' products
OLYMPIA -- Washington state legislators announced plans Wednesday to ban a suspected carcinogen from being used as a flame retardant in children's products.
Date: 01/11/2012 | Northwest
Spilled liquid at Everett transfer station not hazardous
EVERETT -- A garbage transfer station south of Everett was closed for more than two hours Monday afternoon until firefighters could confirm a liquid spilled from an unmarked barrel was not hazardous.
Date: 01/09/2012 | Local News
Rare biotoxin closes Sequim Bay shellfish harvesting
SEQUIM -- A biotoxin has closed Sequim Bay and authorities are banning all recreational harvest of shellfish in the bay. Peninsula Daily News reported that Sequim Bay is the only body of saltwater in the U.S. where diarrhetic shellfish poisoning has been found.
Date: 12/26/2011 | Northwest
New concerns about nuclear waste plant
RICHLAND -- The federal government says a one-of-a-kind plant that will convert radioactive waste into a stable and storable substance that resembles glass will cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and may take longer to build, adding to a string of delays and skyrocketing price tag for the...
Date: 12/11/2011 | Northwest
Hazardous materials teams respond to call about bucket emitting vapors
LAKE STEVENS -- Hazardous materials teams from around Snohomish County converged in Lake Stevens on Tuesday night after reports of an unmarked bucket emitting vapors.
Date: 11/10/2011 | Local News
17 Idaho National Lab workers exposed to radiation
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- At least 17 Idaho National Laboratory workers were exposed to low-level radiation from plutonium while doing clean up at the nuclear research site on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Date: 11/08/2011 | Nation & World
Hanford cleanup could exceed $115 billion
KENNEWICK -- The Hanford Advisory Board believes $115 billion may not be enough to finish the environmental cleanup work at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Date: 11/06/2011 | Northwest
New trouble reported at Japan nuclear plant
TOKYO -- Officials detected a radioactive gas associated with nuclear fission at Japan's tsunami-damaged atomic power plant today, indicating there could be a new problem at one of its reactors. They injected a substance that neutralizes nuclear reactions as a precaution.
Date: 11/02/2011 | Nation & World
Company recalls prawns for undeclared sulfites
BAY CITY, Ore. -- Pacific Oyster Company is voluntarily recalling 194 cases of Nate's Spiced Prawns because of allergy concerns.
Date: 10/29/2011 | Northwest
Cosmopolis pulp mill waste pipe springs leak
COSMOPOLIS -- The Cosmo Specialty Fibers pulp mill in Cosmopolis is shut down Friday while company and city employees repair a leak in a pipe that carries treated liquid to settling ponds.KBKW reported residents were surprised to see foam gurgling out of the ground Thursday afternoon.
Date: 10/07/2011 | Northwest
Early cleanup of Seattle's only river moving ahead
SEATTLE -- Ten years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed the lower five miles of Seattle's only river as a Superfund site, cleanup work on some of the most toxic sections of the Duwamish River is moving forward.
Date: 10/02/2011 | Northwest
Feds, companies reach deal on uranium mine
SEATTLE -- The federal government has reached an agreement with two mining companies to clean up a uranium mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Date: 09/30/2011 | Northwest
Cantaloupe outbreak is deadliest in a decade
WASHINGTON -- Health officials say as many as 16 people have died from possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes, the deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade.
Date: 09/27/2011 | Nation & World
Iran, South Asia worst for city air pollution, health organization says
GENEVA -- Cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and the capital of Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while those in the U.S. and Canada are among the best, according to the first global survey released Monday by the World Health Organization.
Date: 09/26/2011 | Nation & World
More derelict vessels expected in Northwest
LYLE -- In January, the rusty, oil-filled barge Davy Crockett cracked in half near Washougal along the Columbia River, eventually costing $20 million to clean up.
Date: 09/21/2011 | Northwest
Ancient glass offers clue to storing Hanford waste
RICHLAND -- A shipwreck 1,800 years ago in the Adriatic Sea might give scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory better information about how well modern glass might work to contain radioactive waste.
Date: 08/12/2011 | Northwest
High levels of biotoxin found in state shellfish
OLYMPIA -- High levels of a foreign biotoxin has been discovered in some Washington state shellfish.
Date: 08/11/2011 | Northwest
Toxic algae closes Pierce County lake
LAKEWOOD -- The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has closed Waughop Lake in Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood because of high levels of toxic algae. The department said Wednesday that a toxin produced by the naturally occurring algae has reached levels that could be dangerous for people and...
Date: 08/11/2011 | Northwest
Workers digging up some of Hanford's worst waste
RICHLAND -- Cleanup workers have started digging up some of the most hazardous radioactive waste that was buried at the Hanford nuclear reservation when it was helping make nuclear bombs.
Date: 08/04/2011 | Northwest
State files suit on Yucca Mountain consideration
YAKIMA -- Washington state and South Carolina filed another lawsuit Friday to compel the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume its consideration of a nuclear waste dump in Nevada, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced in Seattle.
Date: 07/29/2011 | Northwest
EPA knew about Mont. Superfund sales
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Federal regulators knew potentially contaminated bark and wood chips were being sold from a Superfund site in the asbestos-tainted town of Libby, Mont., for three years before they stopped the practice, according to a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency to U.S. Sen.
Date: 07/18/2011 | Nation & World
Exxon cleanup under way in Yellowstone River
LAUREL, Mont. — An oil pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into Montana's Yellowstone River was temporarily shut down in May because of concerns over rising waters, and regulators twice in the last year warned Exxon Mobil of several safety violations along the...
Date: 07/04/2011 | Nation & World
ExxonMobil pipeline bursts into Yellowstone River (Video)
LAUREL, Mont. — An ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River in Montana ruptured Saturday and leaked hundreds of barrels of oil into the waterway, causing a 25-mile plume that fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts downstream to close...
Date: 07/02/2011 | Nation & World
Fireworks drivers get a break for the holiday
RICHMOND, Va. -- Truckers hauling fireworks nationwide are being given an exemption on federal driving rules for the July 4th holiday, sparking concerns for safety advocates. But the industry says without it, some places wouldn't have enough green to pay for flashes of red, white and blue.
Date: 06/30/2011 | Nation & World
EPA plans to ban some rodent poisons
WASHINGTON -- The government is moving to ban the sale of some popular rat and mouse poisons such as D-Con and Hot Shot in an effort to protect children and pets.
Date: 06/07/2011 | Nation & World
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