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(AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)

Lake Charles Newspaper Staff Persists Against Rita's Fury

By JEREMY HARPER
When I went to sleep Wednesday, Sept. 21, Hurricane Rita was threatening the Texas coast, promising to pester Louisiana with no more than a quick bout of tropical storm conditions. I was prepared to ride out the fringe of the storm in either my apartment on the second floor of a sturdy historic building in downtown Lake Charles, La., a city of 75,000 about 40 miles inland of the Gulf of Mexico, or in the newsroom of the American Press, the city's daily newspaper where I have worked for four years as a reporter.

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South Carolina: "Lawmakers Often Contact DHEC"

Legislators often contact South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control seeking to expedite -- or influence -- environmental permits.

Environmental Politics

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Source: The State, 07/07/2009

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ExxonMobil Ducks Liability in Baton Rouge

"A lawsuit filed by about 5,700 Baton Rouge residents against ExxonMobil Corp. over a 1993 fire crawled through federal court for almost 15 years and has finally come to an end -- the residents lost, lawyers said."

Chemicals

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Source: Baton Rouge Advocate, 07/07/2009

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"Asheville's Role in Climate Change Grows"

The National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC, is playing a growing role in understanding weather and climate change.

Climate Change

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Source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 07/06/2009

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"Navy vs. Environmentalists Off Florida Coast"

"Perhaps the last thing the Navy is looking for at the moment is a tangle with environmentalists. But that is exactly what it has -- over a proposed $100 million naval warfare training range off the northern Atlantic coast of Florida."

Biodiversity

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Source: NYTimes, 07/03/2009

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FL Breakwater Could Hurt Sea Turtles

"Two of Florida's top politicians are pushing state and federal regulators to approve a taxpayer-funded breakwater that would slow down, but not stop, erosion threatening expensive Palm Beach County condos. But biologists fear the breakwater will block sea turtles from one of the most important nesting beaches in the state."

Biodiversity

Public

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Source: St. Petersburg Times, 07/02/2009

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"Is Drilling To Blame For Texas Quakes?"

"People in North Texas worry about tornadoes, not earthquakes. That's not the case in the small town of Cleburne, just south of Fort Worth. They've had six quakes so far this month. Cleburne happens to sit on a huge, recently discovered natural gas deposit called Barnett Shale. There's been a lot of drilling, and some people wonder if that has triggered the earthquakes."

Disasters

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Source: NPR, 07/02/2009

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Coal-Waste Impoundment Database Offers Journalists a Tool

A cooperative effort of federal and state agencies, coal companies, and environmental groups, the database lists coal-waste impoundments in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

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Florida Lets Sewage Sludge Foul Everglades: Critics

Environmentalists say Florida officials are thwarting a 2-year-old law banning the spreading of sewage sludge on the Everglades.

Pollution

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Source: Orlando Sentinel, 06/30/2009

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Even Mississippi Sediment Won't Save Louisiana Coast

Engineering projects hope to save Louisiana's shrinking coastal wetlands by diverting sediment from the Mississippi River -- but a new study says there is not enough mud in the Mississippi to do the job.

Natural Resources

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Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 06/30/2009