Brian Melley

Associated Press

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast from Manufacturing.net

The Today in Manufacturing Podcast from Manufacturing.net

March 31, 2026

A scientist prepares samples while doing research on PFAS at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab. Understanding of chemicals’ risks has been built on IRIS assessments.

What Happens When the EPA Sidelines Its Independent Chemical Referee

May 20, 2026

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, testifies to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Interior, Environment and related agencies on the budget request for the EPA, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Washington.

EPA Aims to Roll Back Limits on Toxic Wastewater from Coal-Fired Power Plants

May 15, 2026

A SpaceX Falcon9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule attached, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A on Nov. 15, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Elon Musk Gets Apology from California Regulators

April 30, 2026

Bringing the Power of Video AI Tools to the Plant Floor

Bringing the Power of Video AI Tools to the Plant Floor

Video AI agents uncover production floor risks, including missing PPE, idle workstations and operational bottlenecks.

June 5, 2026

This still image from video taken Oct. 4, 2021, and provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows an underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of oil off the coast of Orange County, Calif.

Ruptured Oil Pipeline Off California Approved for Repairs

The underwater pipeline ruptured a year ago.

October 3, 2022

A Los Angeles federal grand jury on Wednesday, Dec. 15 charged a Houston-based oil company and two subsidiaries for the oil spill off the California coast in October.

Texas Pipeline Company Charged in California Oil Spill

Prosecutors said companies failed to respond to eight leak detection alarms over a 13-hour period.

December 16, 2021

In this Oct. 22, 2012, file photo provided by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the platforms Ellen and Elly stand offshore near Long Beach, Calif., in the BSEE's Pacific Region. Oil production in federal waters in the Pacific is down 90% over the past several decades and no new drilling leases have been sold in the region since the early 1980s.

Aging Equipment, Spills Test Ties Between Oil, California

A recent incident has renewed calls to end drilling in coastal waters.

October 15, 2021

Workers in protective suits walk by as dead marine life washed off on a beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.

California Pipeline Likely Damaged Up to a Year Before Spill

Investigators will pore over a year of data on ship movements near the area of the break.

October 11, 2021

Workers clean oil from the sand south of the pier in Newport Beach, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. A leak in an oil pipeline caused a spill off the coast of Southern California, sending about 126,000 gallons of oil into the ocean, some ending up on beaches in Orange County.

Ship's Anchor May Have Caused Massive California Oil Spill

Federal transportation investigators said the pipe was split open at a depth of about 98 feet.

October 6, 2021

This Jan. 12, 2017, file photo shows gas gathering plant on a hilltop at the Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon storage facility near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Attorneys for families sickened and forced from their Los Angeles homes after the nation's largest-known natural gas leak have reached a $1.8 billion settlement with the utility.

Gas Blowout Near Los Angeles Leads to Up to $1.8B Settlement

The blowout led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history.

September 28, 2021

In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 file image made from video from the Office of the Governor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations to Black Americans in Sacramento, Calif. A conservative legal group announced Monday, Oct. 5 that it sued to block California's first-in-the-nation law that requires hundreds of corporations based in the state to have directors from racial or sexual minorities on their boards.

Group Sues to Block Boardroom Diversity Law

The new measure cited statistics showing few of the 662 public corporations headquartered in California had Blacks or Latinos on their boards.

October 6, 2020

Light traffic and a mostly empty parking lot is seen along Pacific Coast Highway at the Santa Monica Pier, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif.

Calif. Scrambles for Protection Gear

The state is trying to acquire about 1 billion sets of gloves and hundreds of millions of gowns, surgical masks and face shields.

March 24, 2020

About 15 people protest Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of the regulatory body for domain names, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company that controls the dot-org online universe is putting the registry of domain names up for sale, and the nonprofits that often use the suffix in their websites are raising concerns about the move. ICANN is meeting this weekend and is expected to rule by mid-February on plans by private-equity firm Ethos Capital to buy the Public Interest Registry for $1.1 billion.

Protesters Have Fears Over Dot-Org Sale

Some fear soaring costs if for-profit company is in charge of registering .org websites.

January 27, 2020

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, second from left, arrives at U.S. District Court Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.

Cave Explorer Describes Humiliation Following Musk Tweet

He helped rescue a dozen boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave last year.

December 6, 2019

In this frame grab from video, Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves court, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk denied that he meant to call a British cave diver a pedophile when he dubbed him 'pedo guy' on social media.

Musk Says Insult Provoked ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet

The Tesla CEO was upset the spelunker had belittled his efforts to build a mini-submarine to transport the boys to safety.

December 4, 2019

In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.

Musk Faces Defamation Trial Over Tweet

The case pits the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly branded a pedophile.

December 3, 2019

In this Oct. 31, 2019, file photo, smoke from a wildfire known as the Maria Fire billows above Santa Paula, Calif. A new technology being tested by California utilities is aimed at diagnosing problems before they could cause power outages or spark wildfires. The technology invented by Texas A&M University was designed to provide greater reliability for utility customers, but its biggest selling point could be its use in preventing disasters.

Technology Could Help Prevent Wildfires

The tool was originally developed to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters.

December 2, 2019

Carlos Lama of Bayside Cafe, which was among businesses to lose power due to PG&E's public safety power shutoff, uses an LED lamp and light from his phone at the counter of the restaurant in Sausalito, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. More than a million people in California were without electricity Wednesday as the state's largest utility pulled the plug to prevent a repeat of the past two years when windblown power lines sparked deadly wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.

Millions Waiting for Electricity

PG&E has warned that they might have to do without power for days after the winds subside because "every inch" of the power system must be inspected.

October 10, 2019