Toyota minivans, 175,000 tires recalled

Toyota minivans, 175,000 tires recalled

LOS ANGELES

Toyota is recalling about 30,000 Sienna Minivans worldwide, saying the 2015 models’ overhead assist grips can detach when an air bag deploys.

The automaker says that the grips, which are mounted to the minivans’ roof rails, could detach from the mounting bracket under some conditions, potentially injuring passengers.

Toyota says it’s not aware of any injuries or fatalities caused by the problem.

Dealers will modify the headliner under the second row overhead assist grips at no cost to owners.

Separately, Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas is recalling some of its Open Country Tuff Duty and Nitto Dura Grappler tires due to potential tread separation. Toyo knows of two crashes involving the malfunction. The free recall involves about 175,310 SUV and van tires.

EPA, pipe company settle over 19 spills

COLUMBUS

It took more than two years, but the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with a pipeline company that repeatedly spilled thousands of gallons of drilling slurry into wetlands and streams in eastern Ohio.

Under the agreement, MarkWest Energy Partners will pay more than $300,000 in fines for 19 spills in eastern Ohio from September 2012 to November 2013. Of that, $200,000 will go to the village of Cadiz, near one the largest spills, to pay for upgrades to the Harrison County community’s sewer system; $95,000 will go to the state; and $25,000 will go to researchers at Ohio State University to help find ways to prevent future pipeline spills.

Environmental advocacy groups criticized the EPA last year for dragging its heels. Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler said the settlement took so long to reach in part because of the number of spills.

Nigeria seeks $3.6B in fines from Shell

WARRI, Nigeria

A parliament committee in Nigeria says that Shell should pay $3.6 billion in fines as punishment for a 2011 oil spill. The committee’s decision, made Wednesday, is non-binding. The spill occurred in 2011 of the Bonga oil field.

In 2011, the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency estimated that around 40,000 barrels were spilled when a tanker was loading crude at the offshore platform operated by Shell’s subsidiary SNEPCO, but SNEPCO attributed the spill to “snapped loading hose under water.”

The United Nations Environment Program has repeatedly criticized Shell for not doing enough to clean up oil spills.

Europe to Google: Change your ways

BRUSSELS

European Union institutions are piling pressure on Google to change the way it operates its business and applies EU rules.

The European parliament on Thursday approved a non-binding resolution that calls for the unbundling of search engines from other services that Internet companies offer.

VINIDCATOR WIRE REPORTS