Pollution

"EPA has decided to continue excluding oil and gas waste from federal hazardous waste rules, agreeing with industry that states are already doing the job adequately."

"California's reign as the U.S. state with the worst air pollution continues, with Los Angeles again the nation's smoggiest metro area, according to a new report released Wednesday."

"A bipartisan group of Florida legislators introduced a bill Monday that would ban offshore drilling along Florida’s coast."

"Six-year-old Madelina DeLuca was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just 23 months old."

"Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that she’s open to allowing construction of an oil transport tunnel beneath the channel where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet, despite previously halting work on a tunnel plan developed by her predecessor."

"A lawsuit by Flint residents against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can move forward. U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker ruled the plaintiffs can sue the EPA. Nearly 5,000 Flint residents are part of the lawsuit. It was filed in 2017. The lawsuit alleges the EPA failed to utilize its authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act."

"Multiple coal ash sites in Illinois sit within or adjacent to flood plains, according to environmental watchdogs."

"With countless acres of flat, fertile farmland traversed by major rivers, Illinois is familiar with major flooding.

Just as towns were built along rivers in decades past, so were coal-fired power plants that relied on the water for cooling and transporting coal. Now, those plants — some defunct and some still operating — are also repositories for toxic coal ash that could pose a risk of contamination when floodwaters rise.

"South Carolina’s Republican-majority Senate advanced a measure on Wednesday that would require the state to block new infrastructure to transport or process offshore oil and gas as state lawmakers fear the Interior Department will open the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling."