"Drinking water in one out of eight Denver homes with lead plumbing may be contaminated with lead — a health hazard that causes brain and nerve damage, especially in children."

"Voters in the city of Wichita rejected fluoridated water on Tuesday, as they did in 1964 and 1978."

"For more than a century, for good or ill, New Jersey has led the nation in coastal development. Many of the barrier islands along its coast have long been lined by rock jetties, concrete sea walls or other protective armor. Most of its coastal communities have beaches only because engineers periodically replenish them with sand pumped from offshore. Now much of that sand is gone."

"Superstorm Sandy delivered only a glancing blow to Delaware, but it brought new focus on man’s attempts to manage nature, to hold back the sea."

"Every time a storm brings flooding to a large metropolitan area, there are calls to improve the levee systems that are designed to prevent flooding."

"Major nations failed to reach agreement on Thursday to set up huge marine protected areas off Antarctica under a plan to step up conservation of creatures such as whales and penguins around the frozen continent."

"Residents of Moonachie and Little Ferry, N.J., are beginning to clear the damage after their communities were inundated by floodwaters. The flooding occurred when a system of levees and berms was unable to control the storm surge pushed ashore by Superstorm Sandy."

"Sea levels are rising faster than expected from global warming, and University of Colorado geologist Bill Hay has a good idea why."

Floods, sewage overflows, and power outages have made public drinking water supplies temporarily unsafe in many utility service areas across the states hit by superstorm Sandy. The best course of action for water users in those areas is to pay attention to messages from local utilities and state authorities.

"The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has created incomplete lab reports and used them to dismiss complaints that Marcellus Shale gas development operations have contaminated residential water supplies and made people sick, according to court documents and other sources."

"CHAUVIN, La. -- Generations of shrimpers, crabbers and oystermen have set out from this bayou village to net their catch. They share an emotional bond with Iowa's farmers: Both harvest nature's bounty to earn a livelihood. These fishermen depend on the sea, just as the nation's top corn growers rely on the rich Midwest soil."

"Set aside the science lessons. The fight over fluoride is as much or more a clash of philosophy."

"Growers are reluctantly trying to irrigate less to preserve their threatened underground aquifer."

"Partisan battles are engulfing the nation’s ocean policy, showing that polarization over environmental issues doesn’t stop at the water’s edge."

"It's been a long time coming, but work is finally under way to contain pollution from one of Portland harbor's dirtiest sites, the former home of a DDT and rocket-fuel maker that's loaded with the full suite of harbor toxics."