We help insurance professionals find environmental risk examples to stay informed & protect customers

As part of our commitment to keeping you informed, we’re excited to offer access to this premier environmental news service for just $50 per month—a great value for staying updated on the latest trends, legislation, exposures and environmental risks that your client may face. Your subscription provides in-depth articles, industry insights, and the latest updates, ensuring you're always informed about what matters most to your clients. Please email us at info@environmentalobserver.com for information on how to get access.

Article
Three Spills, One Source Unknown: Hartsfield-Jackson's Fuel Contamination Problem Isn't Going Away

June 11th, 2026

The world's busiest airport has now contaminated the same river three times in five months, and investigators still don't know where the fuel is coming from. For the third time this year, crews are responding to possible petroleum contamination near the Flint River headwaters at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The pattern began in January, escalated in April, and surfaced again over Memorial Day weekend. Each time, the source has gone unidentified. The January Spill: The One That Set the Standard The first event established the scale of the problem. On January 30, 2026, airport officials reported a spill of Jet A/kerosene fuel from an above-ground storage tank near Terminal T. The response that followed was significant: EPA remediation contractors recovered more than 150,000 gallons of petroleum-contaminated water, of which...

Fort Smith Tank Rupture: When Federal Response Ends, the Insurance Story Begins

May 11th, 2026

The Incident at a GlanceC&S Chemicals, Inc., headquartered in Roswell, Georgia, is a manufacturer of water treatment chemicals. Its product line includes aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminate, sulfuric acid, and sodium hydroxide, sold to municipal drinking water utilities, wastewater plants, and paper mills across the Southeast and Midwest. The company...


West Virginia Chemical Plant Incident: The Insurance Exposure Behind the Headlines

April 30th, 2026

The Incident at a GlanceCatalyst Refiners is a chemical manufacturing subsidiary of Ames Goldsmith Corp., a precious metals manufacturer headquartered in New York. The Institute facility operates in what is historically known as West Virginia's "chemical...


When the Tank Fails: The Longview Paper Mill Disaster and the Liability That Follows

June 3rd, 2026

At approximately 7:15 a.m. on May 26, 2026, a 900,000-gallon white liquor storage tank catastrophically imploded at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. pulp and paper mill in Longview, Washington. The timing could not have been worse. The implosion struck during a shift change, when a larger-than-normal number of workers were on site, including many gathered...

When the Rules Go Away, the Liability Doesn't: EPA's Coal Ash Rollback and the Exposure Left Behind

April 15th, 2026

On April 9, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed sweeping amendments to the federal Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) regulations, the rules that govern how coal...


Article
When the Chemical Isn't Named: Paris, Kentucky Factory Leak

May 20th, 2026

The Incident at a GlanceThe ITW Ramset facility in Paris, Kentucky, is a manufacturing site owned by Illinois Tool Works, Inc., the Fortune 200 industrial conglomerate. The Paris plant operates under the Ramset Red Head brand, producing powder-actuated...