"RICHMOND -- The Environmental Protection Agency will not appeal a federal district court’s ruling declaring it is illegal for the EPA to regulate storm water as a pollutant as it flows into Virginia waterways."

"RICHLAND, Wash. -- Washington's governor prepared to travel to the nation's most contaminated nuclear site to learn more about leaking radioactive waste tanks there Wednesday, a day after federal officials acknowledged budget cuts may disrupt efforts to empty the aging vessels."

"Forty years ago, when North Carolina banned using deep wells to permanently dump industrial waste, some thought the issue had been decided for good. Now state lawmakers who want to turn North Carolina into the nation’s next fracking hotspot are reopening the case for injecting brines and toxins deep underground."

"NEW YORK -- Just across the East River from midtown Manhattan’s shimmering skyscrapers sits one of the nation’s most polluted neighborhoods, fouled by generations of industrial waste, overflow from the city’s sewage system and an underground oil leak bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill."

In the World War I era, the U.S. Army thought it was disposing of dangerous toxic chemicals in waste pits located near what is now American University. Then residential houses were built on top of the site. Today, the danger and efforts to clean it up are still a problem.

"CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A federal grand jury returned an indictment against the owner of an oil and gas drilling company on Thursday, charging him with violating the Clean Water Act by dumping more than 20,000 gallons of fracking waste into a river in Youngstown."

"Maryland's highest court on Tuesday struck down the bulk of a fraud case against ExxonMobil Corp. stemming from an underground gasoline leak in Baltimore County, reversing most of $1.65 billion in judgments and dealing a stunning blow to hundreds of families."

"After nearly two decades of pollution problems and financial woes, a tire incinerator in one of Illinois' poorest communities will close permanently as part of a legal settlement announced Monday by federal authorities."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- If Congress does not act this coming week, automatic federal spending cuts, called the sequester, will go into effect March 1 that will impact the environment. Funding for parks, energy development, travel, clean air and water, fish and wildlife protection, pollution prevention, and disaster readiness will be cut."

"The former U.S. EPA official who tangled with Texas officials in a drilling contamination case outside Fort Worth said the state's oil and gas regulators were more interested in promoting the industry than policing it."

A surge in the use of fungicides is bringing higher crop yields; but experts warn that there is not enough monitoring of the emerging fungicide contamination of streams -- and that not enough is known about the health consequences.

"Limited data and unreliable estimates on air pollution from oil and natural gas production is hindering the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to police the drilling boom, the agency's internal watchdog said in a report released Thursday."

"Environmental advocates and representatives from the oil-and-gas industry are flocking to the White House following the submission of a draft rule that would govern the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing on public lands."

"Community advocates are outraged that a contaminated playground at a Newark public housing complex remained open, allowing children to be exposed to dangerous levels of lead."

Two retired outdoorsmen -- with help from water researchers -- are testing streamwater in western Pennsylvania. They are struggling to get EPA attention to chemicals they fear could be related to the fracking boom.