Spills

The northbound lanes of the 710 Freeway were closed in Bell Gardens on Monday night after a truck carrying liquid asphalt collided with several cars. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the crash, which occurred about 8:30 p.m. CBS-TV Channel 2 reported that the truck dumped 1,500 gallons of liquid asphalt onto the roadway and that it would take some time to clean it up. It's unclear when the freeway will reopen.

A massive Russian crackdown on Chechnya's bid for independence in the 1990s and the installation of loyal leaders there pushed the Caucasus Muslim enclave from the headlines years ago. But resentment has festered and at times bled into the global holy war being waged by Islamic militants. It appears unlikely that oppression of Chechnya's Muslim majority instigated the attack on the Boston Marathon, in which two Chechen emigre brothers are suspects. The two were young when they arrived in the United States and weren't known to associate with militants.

A brutal sell-off overseas spilled into U.S. markets Monday morning, pushing the major averages down more than 1%. Growing political concerns in Europe and disappointing economic data across the continent fed worries that a cure for Europe's sovereign debt crisis, which seemed to be underway only weeks ago, could be in jeopardy amid weakening growth prospects and popular revolt among wide swaths of the European citizenry. Investors were rattled by data showing manufacturing contracting.

The images from Mayflower, Ark., after a March 29 oil spill were particularly repulsive: A river of black goo running through yards and down the street of a subdivision, and hundreds of workers arriving to clean up an industrial mess in a peaceful burg. But the Exxon Mobil pipeline spill, initially estimated to have released at least 157,000 gallons of crude oil and driven more than 20 families from their homes, represents only a fraction of the regular oil losses from the huge network of pipelines stretching across the United States.

The Nobel Prize. The Lasker Prize. The Fields Medal. The MacArthur Fellowships (a.k.a. “the genius grants”). The Kavli Prize. The Ig Nobels. Among the various awards given for scientific achievement, the Ig Nobels may not be the most coveted  - but they're certainly the most fun. The winners are selected by the Annals of Improbable Research to recognize breakthroughs that first make you laugh, then make you think. “The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative - and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology,” according to the organization's website . The 2012 Ig Nobels Prizes were handed out Thursday night at Harvard University, a place that knows a thing or two about academic achievement.

A toxic waste dump near the San Joaquin Valley farming community of Kettleman City has agreed to pay $311,000 in fines for failing to report 72 hazardous materials spills over the last four years, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control announced Wednesday. Brian Johnson, the department's deputy director of enforcement, described the fines as "a substantial and aggressive penalty. " The penalties were part of a settlement that capped an investigation into the Chemical Waste Management facility, the only one in California licensed to accept polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a carcinogen.

If Ray Davies and Peter Allen had a baby, he might have grown up to be Morrissey, the frail young thing who leads the English group the Smiths in their crusade for individuality. Flitting, swooning, prancing and grimacing all over the Universal Amphitheatre stage Monday night, Morrissey spilled his soul and the fans ate it up. Life is tough for a sensitive specimen like Morrissey, and his melancholy expressions of estrangement make him a hero to his adherents.

A janitor who worked at the Little America Westgate Hotel has filed a $50-million lawsuit against the hotel and several of its officers claiming he was contaminated with toxic PCBs. According to the complaint filed last week in Superior Court, George Guerin, 30, was contaminated over a three-year period when he was ordered to clean up PCB leaks from a faulty electric transformer with mops, rags, solvent and cat litter. Richard W.

The Los Angeles City Council moved Tuesday to make those responsible for hazardous waste spills pay for the cost of cleanup. The council unanimously directed the city attorney's office to prepare a fee schedule for billing those who cause toxic spills. The council also instructed the staff to set up a mechanism for placing a lien on the property of those who fail to pay. The fee schedule and an enabling ordinance must be approved by the council and mayor before they go into effect.

A Union Pacific train carrying industrial materials derailed early Saturday morning, spilling two carloads of soda ash, officials said. There were no injuries, and the ash was not hazardous, they said. Eight cars in the middle of an 80-car train ran off the track in a residential area just north of West Rialto Avenue about 1:30 a.m., Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said. The cause of the crash was under investigation. The ash is used in detergent. The train was also carrying cement, Richmond said.

Only two lanes of the southbound 605 Freeway were open Monday morning in Santa Fe Springs after a big rig crashed and spilled fuel on the road, the California Highway Patrol said. A Sigalert was issued about 4:08 a.m. after the big rig and several other vehicles were involved in an injury crash near the Telegraph Road exit, officials said. The freeway was shut down for about an hour before the carpool lane and fast lane were opened to vehicles, said CHP Officer Ed Jacobs. The fuel spill slowed cleanup efforts, and only two lanes would be open until as late as 8 a.m., he said.

In March, the State Department gave the president cover to open a big spigot that will hitch our country to one of the dirtiest fuels on Earth for 40 years or more. The draft environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline acknowledges tar sands are nasty stuff for the environment, but concludes that the project is OK because this oil will get to market anyway - with or without a pipeline. A public comment period is underway through April 22, after which the department will prepare a final statement to help the administration decide whether the pipeline is in the "national interest.

A big-rig tanker collided with another truck on the 5 Freeway, spilling milk on the busy artery and forcing the closure of all southbound lanes at Magic Mountain Parkway. The accident was reported by the California Highway Patrol shortly before 9 p.m. The agency opened one lane a short while later but traffic was heavily backed up in the area. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene. At least one person was reported injured. No other details were immediately available.

A toxic waste dump near the San Joaquin Valley farming community of Kettleman City has agreed to pay $311,000 in fines for failing to report 72 hazardous materials spills over the last four years, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control announced Wednesday. Brian Johnson, the department's deputy director of enforcement, described the fines as "a substantial and aggressive penalty. " The penalties were part of a settlement that capped an investigation into the Chemical Waste Management facility, the only one in California licensed to accept polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a carcinogen.

Jessica Simpson is having a baby boy! The pregnant star revealed her latest baby's gender on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Wednesday with a semi-crude gaffe that even went unnoticed by the show's host and audience. Who does she think she is, Kate Middleton? The Duchess of Cambridge might have also revealed with a slip-up that she was having a girl earlier this week.... But that's another story. Back to Jessica, 32, who is doing the rounds to promote the new season of her reality competition show "Fashion Star.

An expert witness for those suing BP over the nation's worst environmental disaster criticized the company's investigation of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the civil trial entered its second day. UC Berkeley engineering professor Robert Bea was the first witness in the day's proceedings and told the federal court in New Orleans that BP management's role was not examined. He argued that the company's own investigation of the 2010 spill failed to look at systemic causes, which would include management's actions and the company's cost-cutting culture.

A holding tank broke at a Caterpillar facility in Joliet, spilling about 65,000 gallons of oil sludge and contaminating a three-mile section of the Des Plaines River, officials said. The substance was reported to be hydraulic and cutting oil, said Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. "It is being contained, and there is no evidence of a fish kill or harm to waterfowl," Carson said in an e-mail. Most of the sludge spilled on land, but 6,000 gallons seeped into Des Plaines River water, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer William Mitchell said.

The operator of a Newhall power plant was fined $10,000 Tuesday for failing to contact authorities in September after several hundred pounds of corrosive lime accidentally spilled out a silo and onto private property near three houses. The company, AES Placerita, pleaded no contest in Newhall Municipal Court to one misdemeanor count of failing to report a hazardous materials spill. The company could have been fined up to $25,000, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. William W. Carter said.

NEW ORLEANS - Energy giant BP, behind schedule and $50 million over budget drilling a deep-water well, emphasized cost-cutting over safety, causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, lawyers said Monday as the company's high-stakes civil trial began. Lawyers used PowerPoint presentations to provide a dramatic recounting of the April 20, 2010, explosion and fire in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 crew members. Workers were preparing to temporarily cap the Macondo well 4,100 feet underwater when it blew up. The 30-story drilling vessel about 50 miles offshore burned for two days before crumpling into the gulf.

With the ink barely dry on the record-breaking $4-billion check BP wrote to settle criminal charges stemming from its Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, the energy giant now faces a protracted court battle that could cost it billions more. The civil trial scheduled to begin next week could expose BP to about $17 billion in fines for violating the Clean Water Act. If imposed, the fine would be the largest environmental penalty in U.S. history. The first phase of the nonjury trial will focus on the cause of the April 20, 2010, explosion that killed 11 people and spewed an estimated 4 million barrels of oil into the gulf over 84 days.