Moody's downgrades Metro transit bonds

Citing its poor handling of federal grants and the restrictions placed on its spending as a result, Moody’s Investors Service said Friday it has downgraded the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority’s transit bonds, while revising Metro’s outlook from stable to negative.

“The downgrade reflects a ramp-up by WMATA of short-term debt as a tool to bridge restrictions on its receipt of federal funds, the result of findings from a Federal Transit Administration audit of the Authority’s grant’s…

New coal-ash suit against Duke Energy filed under seal in N.C. Business Court

Some Duke Energy executives and current and former board members face a new shareholder lawsuit over damage done to the company by years of coal-ash contamination in North Carolina and Virginia.

It is the sixth such suit filed against the company. But this one, filed in the N.C. Business Court, has been sealed so that the complaint and other initial documents cannot be read by the public.

The plaintiff in the case, a Duke (NYSE: DUK) investor in Philadelphia named Judy Mesirov and her law firm…

DEP sets hearing date for Shell cracker permit

The state Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled a public hearing on whether to issue an air quality permit for Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County.

The hearing has been set for 6 to 8 p.m. May 5 at Central Valley High School, 160 Baker Road Ext., Monaca. The department will take oral testimony on the permit application. The plant will convert ethane into ethylene, and then into polyethylene. Based on the permit application, the plant would be capable…

DEQ tells 800 industrial facilities to get the lead — and more — out

Around 800 Oregon industrial facilities are under pressure to significantly cut the amount of lead, copper, zinc and other pollutants they release into Oregon waters.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which regulates stormwater discharge, recently issued new industrial stormwater permits to 800 facilities.

The new permits allow significantly lower amounts of dissolved metals and other pollutants than the ones they replace.

The new benchmarks are part of an agreement with the Northwest…

Multifamily developer UIP makes retail buy in Brookland

D.C.-based multifamily developer Urban Investment Partners has made the jump into retail with its acquisition of a Brookland shopping center in Northeast Washington.

UIP, known for its restoration of older apartment buildings in neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan, spent about $5.5 million for the nearby Brookland Plaza, an 18,000-square-foot retail center just north of Michigan Avenue NE and the Brookland-CUA Metro. It purchased the center earlier this week from two private…