In a court filing, BP said it has learned of new allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest among recipients of its multi-billion dollar settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company has again requested a judge to temporarily suspend settlement payments pending the outcome of an investigation into the fraud claims, USA Today reports.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday threatened BP with fines of almost $29 million over alleged natural gas market manipulation in Texas. FERC says BP bought and sold gas at a possible loss, so as to increase the value of derivatives.
Peabody Energy, Marathon Oil and refiner Tesoro Corp. have all listed the social cost of carbon among issues they plan to lobby on. The cost is an estimate of damages from climate change, and has been garnering attention since the Obama administration raised it earlier this year, the Hill reports.
The Port of Tacoma in Washington has agreed to spend an estimated $3 million to restore wetland habitat after alleged violations of the Clean Water Act that the EPA said damaged valuable Puget Sound wetlands. The port and two contractors, Scarsella Brothers and WAKA Group, will also pay a $500,000 penalty. The EPA says port contractors razed vegetation and dumped over 4,000 cubic yards of urban fill materials, including soil, concrete and asphalt pieces, without required permits.
