EnviroPolitics Blog

Takedown of catalytic converter theft ring wins recognition

Bucks County prosecutors and detectives recognized with the 2024 “Investigator of the Year” Award.

The Bucks County prosecutors and detectives involved with the case. — The Bucks County, PA prosecutors and detectives involved with the case. (Bucks County’s DA’s Office)

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The Bucks County prosecutors and detectives credited with dismantling a multi-million-dollar organized criminal enterprise that specialized in the theft of catalytic converters have been recognized with the 2024 Investigator of the Year Award.

The honor was awarded by the International Association of Special Investigations Units, Delaware Valley Chapter, during a banquet hosted by the International Association of Special Investigations Units (IASIU) and the Pennsylvania Auto Crime Investigators Association (PACIA) in Philadelphia.

The award singles out the “extraordinary work” of Deputy District Attorney Edward Furman Jr., Chief Deputy District Attorney Jovin Jose, Deputy District Attorney Megan A. Hunsicker, Detective Tim Johnson, and Detective Richard Munger.

Their nearly yearlong investigation culminated in June 2023 with the charging of a Philadelphia tow yard, along with 11 adult individuals and one juvenile.

Read the full story here

If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month.

Takedown of catalytic converter theft ring wins recognition Read More »

E-battery recycling was a tough business for many in 2024

Recycling startups like Ascend Elements and Redwood Materials still notched some wins in the mission to turn old electric vehicle batteries into new ones.

EV batteries are transported on a conveyer belt inside a large industrial facility — (Barbara Lantz/Canary Media)

By Julian Spector, Canary Media, 10 December 2024

One of the major knocks on the electric vehicle revolution is that batteries pose a massive environmental problem, because of how their ingredients are sourced and how they are disposed of at the end of their life. To counter this, the cleantech sector is vying to spin up modern, efficient battery recycling to break down old batteries and pull out the materials to build new ones.

Over the past few years, the outlines of a domestic battery recycling industry have started to take shape. A cadre of new startups raised a few billion dollars based on promises of recycling breakthroughs that improve on legacy techniques, like pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. The country’s first new-wave battery recycling facilities have opened up and begun operating, and more are under construction.

But 2024 has brought a series of disappointments for the emerging industry, including stalled construction projects, reduced expectations for what new recycling technologies can actually deliver, canceled projects, layoffs, and a catastrophic fire.

Beyond company-specific setbacks, the sector as a whole has struggled with a collapse in the price of several key battery commodities, namely lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Recyclers want to sell their metal outputs for more than it cost them to recycle; they succeed if they become a cheaper source of metals than mining. That’s easier to pull off when prices soar like they did in 2022, but the drop in prices, while delightful for battery manufacturers and customers, scrambled the economics for recyclers.

Read the full story here

E-battery recycling was a tough business for many in 2024 Read More »

This company’s fertilizer poisons farmland. Now, they want Congress to protect them from lawsuits

A company controlled by Goldman Sachs is helping to lead a lobbying effort by makers of fertilizer linked to “forever chemicals.”

By Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times

For decades, a little-known company now owned by a Goldman Sachs fund has been making millions of dollars from the unlikely dregs of American life: sewage sludge.

The company, Synagro, sells farmers treated sludge from factories and homes to use as fertilizer. But that fertilizer, also known as biosolids, can contain harmful “forever chemicals” known as PFAS linked to serious health problems including cancer and birth defects.

Farmers are starting to find the chemicals contaminating their land, water, crops and livestock. Just this year, two common types of PFAS were declared hazardous substances by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Superfund law.

Now, Synagro is part of a major effort to lobby Congress to limit the ability of farmers and others to sue to clean up fields polluted by the sludge fertilizer, according to lobbying records and interviews with people familiar with the strategy. The chairman of one of the lobbying groups is Synagro’s chief executive.

Read the full story here

This company’s fertilizer poisons farmland. Now, they want Congress to protect them from lawsuits Read More »

Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows

By Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press

Water levels have dropped to record lows at the Brick Reservoir in Ocean County, the primary drinking water supply for about 100,000 people.

John Barrett, a Brick resident who lives near the reservoir, used a drone to record a shoreline of sand and rock that he had never before seen exposed to the air.

“It’s a little bit of visual scare, because that’s our main water source for Brick Township,” Barrett said.

Across New Jersey, reservoir levels are dropping fast, but other, less noticeable water supplies are also shrinking. Deep underground, some of the state’s aquifers have dropped to record lows and are continuing to fall fast after months of unusually dry weather.

Read the full story here

Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows Read More »

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public

A small Kansas county filed a lawsuit last week against major oil and chemical companies, alleging the companies made “profit-driven” decisions for decades to deceive consumers about plastics recycling’s effectiveness.

Ford County, Kansas, filed the federal suit against companies including Celanese, Chevron, Dupont, Dow Chemical, Eastman, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell, along with industry trade association the American Chemistry Council.

The class-action lawsuit says the companies promoted plastic recycling as a solution for waste, but their actions did not improve recycling. Instead, they increased production and demand for new plastic products while increasing “issues with the remediation of plastic waste,” the suit says. ACC said the lawsuit is based on information that is “inaccurate, misleading and out of date.”

Read the full story here

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public Read More »

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83

A massive, overnight fire at a Baltimore wood recycling facility in the Woodberry neighborhood prompted I-83 to be shut down and three schools to cancel classes.

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83 Read More »

Takedown of catalytic converter theft ring wins recognition

Bucks County prosecutors and detectives recognized with the 2024 “Investigator of the Year” Award.

E-battery recycling was a tough business for many in 2024

This company’s fertilizer poisons farmland. Now, they want Congress to protect them from lawsuits

A company controlled by Goldman Sachs is helping to lead a lobbying effort by makers of fertilizer linked to “forever chemicals.”

Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83

Subscribe For Latest Updates