EPA ordered to update rules on oil spill-fighting chemicals
Oil spill near the Richmond Chevron Refinery.
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must update nearly three-decade-old regulations about the chemicals that can be used to disperse offshore oil spills.
Some critics say the chemicals are toxic. The judge in San Francisco said Monday that the EPA "delayed unreasonably"? by waiting at least six years to finalize draft regulations updating the 1994 rules.
The agency now has until May 2023 to take final action. The issue stems from the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf Coast. Environmental groups argued that chemical dispersants caused serious health problems to people living there.