POLLUTION

The City Council in Springfield, Massachusetts, made the first step this week towards passing an ordinance to raise the fine for illegal dumping to $500 for each offense. Currently, the maximum fine is $300, imposed after a series of repeat offenses.

As lawmakers on Beacon Hill continue their budget planning, we finally get a look at the state Senate's proposal.

A Springfield scrap metal company has agreed to pay $165,000 to settle allegations it improperly discharged industrial storm water.

Longtime environmental advocate Thelma Barzottini was remembered recently by Housatonic River cleanup activists and government regulators as a sweet person who was passionate about cleaning up PCBs.

The Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority — a trash-to-energy collaborative in Hartford — will close in the coming months.

If Hartford exits MIRA, people in surrounding towns could soon be paying more to get rid of their trash.

Almost the entire class of PFAS chemicals — of which there are thousands — will be added to the state's list of "Toxic or Hazardous Substances."

There's been another major setback for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker's climate and energy plans.Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said he's done…

The Massachusetts effort to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 has suffered a big setback. Last week, Gov. Baker took the state out of the Transportation Climate Initiative, a multi-state initiative to cut carbon emissions in the transportation sector.

After years of touting a multi-state compact to reduce transportation sector carbon emissions as “critical” to achieving environmental goals in…