Regulators investigating whether Walt Disney Studios tainted groundwater with cancer-causing heavy metal. Federal and state authorities are scrutinizing the cooling system at Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., to track down sources of chromium 6 that have tainted groundwater in the San Fernando Valley. Authorities have long been aware of chromium 6 contamination in the area and already have identified some companies responsible, including aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. Lockheed paid $60 million to settle claims in 1996 alleging that exposure to chromium 6 and other toxins left residents with cancer and other maladies. Disney has denied using chromium compounds. Los Angeles Times
Western Kentucky utility says it plans to scrap air pollution controls due to federal appeals court ruling. The disclosure by the Big Rivers Electric Cooperative came one day after the Washington, D.C., court rejected an Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to curb long-distance emissions drifting from coal-fired power plants. A spokesman for the utility, which operates four generating stations and a 1,266-mile transmission system, said it could save its customers about $225 million by dropping pollution controls that would have been required by the EPA rule. But he said Big Rivers still plans to install pollution controls required under a separate EPA rule to limit mercury and other contaminants. The (Louisville) Courier-Journal
Alarming increase in West Nile cases reported. Authorities said 1,118 cases and 41 deaths have been reported nationally this year, up from fewer than 700 cases and 26 deaths one week ago. “We’re in the midst of one of the largest West Nile virus outbreaks ever seen in the United States,” said a federal official. Since 1999, when the virus first was detected in the U.S., the worst year was 2003, when 9,862 cases and 264 deaths were reported. Texas has been hit particularly hard this year. About 75 percent of the cases have been there or in Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma or South Dakota. Cases usually flare up in the summer because the illness is most often transmitted from infected birds to people by mosquitoes. Reuters
Consumer Reports blasts Ford’s infotaniment system controls, saying they create driving distractions. An assessment by an automotive editor for the magazine criticized the MyFord and MyLinoln Touch systems, which eliminate conventional knobs and buttons in favor of dashboard touch panels and other advanced technology. “When you’re driving it diverts too much attention away from the road,” Consumer Reports said. As FairWarning reported last year, Ford and others in the auto industry have carried out campaigns urging drivers to pay attention to the road — but, at the same time, they have packed their new models with cutting-edge infotainment systems that encourage multitasking behind the wheel. Inside Line
Two firms cited in heat-related death of a New Jersey sanitation worker. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Waste Management of Trenton, N.J., and Labor Ready Northeast Inc. of Ewing, N.J., each of one safety violation. OSHA began its investigation in June after the death of a 47-year-old sanitation employee who became sick while working during a heat wave at a Waste Management plant. The agency said the employers failed to ensure that workers collecting trash in hot weather consumed enough fluids and also failed to train workers on how to recognize and respond to the signs of heat stress. OSHA proposed fines of $7,000 for each of the employers. The Times of Trenton, OSHA
Recalls: Chamberlain Farm Produce cantaloupes, Dole bagged salads, Wellsley Farms smoked salmon, 2013 Infiniti JX35 SUVs, Kawasaki Teryx4 recreational off-highway vehicles, Kickboard USA scooters, CareBears pacifiers, Energizer rotating night lights, Mansfield Plumbing acrylic bathtubs, whirlpools and air massage bathtubs
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
