EPB diverts some waste from landfill
EPB has partnered with Atlas Organics to divert food waste and other compostable material from going into the landfill.
By offering composting at its downtown headquarters, EPB becomes the first corporation in Chattanooga to divert a large portion of its waste stream from the landfill to composting. Besides food waste, Atlas Organics takes products not typically accepted by recycling companies such as paper towels and napkins, parchment and waxed paper.
“As a leader in sustainability in Chattanooga, EPB decided to take a look at our waste stream and make some significant changes,” said Elizabeth Hammitt, EPB’s director of community and environmental stewardship.
EPB is now using only re-usable or compostable cups in breakrooms and has added composting bins downtown.
Nuclear reactor vessel placed at Vogtle plant
Georgia Power said Thursday it has placed the nuclear reactor vessel inside Unit 4 containment at the Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Ga.
Standing 35 feet tall, the reactor vessel functions as a heat source from the nuclear fission process to produce steam that will generate electricity. The 306-ton reactor vessel was fabricated by Doosan Heavy Industries in South Korea, shipped through the Port of Savannah and arrived at the construction site via train on a specialized rail car.
The placement of the reactor vessel is the latest milestone accomplished at the Vogtle site, which expects to have unit 3 in generation by 2021 and Unit 4 producing power the next year.
California judge says coffee needs warning
A Los Angeles judge has ruled that California law requires coffee companies to carry an ominous cancer warning label because of a chemical produced in the roasting process.
Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle wrote in a proposed ruling that Starbucks and other coffee companies failed to show the threat from a chemical compound produced in the roasting process was insignificant.
A nonprofit group had sued coffee roasters, distributors and retailers under a state law that requires warnings on a wide range of chemicals that can cause cancer. One of those chemicals is acrylamide, a carcinogen present in coffee.
The coffee industry had claimed the chemical was present at harmless levels and should be exempt from the law because it results naturally from the cooking process necessary to make the beans flavorful.
The case has been developing for eight years and is still not over. A third phase of trial will later determine any civil penalties that coffee companies must pay.
Barclays to pay $2 billion fine
British bank Barclays became the latest big bank to reach a multibillion- dollar settlement with U.S. authorities over its role in the subprime mortgage bubble and subsequent financial crisis. But in a rare and notable move, U.S. authorities went further to fine two individual bankers as part of their alleged role in the subprime mortgage crisis.
Barclays agreed to pay $2 billion in civil penalties on Thursday to settle charges that it sold fraudulent mortgage-backed securities to investors between 2005 and 2007, and that it misled investors on the quality of those loans that it sold to the public. Barclays was one the last holdouts of the big banks.
Two former Barclays executives will pay fines as well. Paul Menefee, a banker who helped package subprime mortgages into securities, and John Carroll, who was the bank’s head trader of mortgage-backed securities, will pay a combined $2 million in fines in exchange for having the charges against them being dismissed.
Consumer spending rises in February
Americans increased their spending just 0.2 percent in February, while their incomes were boosted by increased wages and business owners’ income.
The Commerce Department said Thursday the modest spending increase followed an equal gain in January and a rise of 0.4 percent in December. Incomes increased a healthy 0.4 percent.
The report came as a new indication emerged of a healthy job market. The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits dropped by 12,000 last week to 215,000 – the lowest level in 45 years. It’s a sign that employers anticipate solid growth and want to hold onto their workers.