EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
"Tongass in Alaska To Get Federal Roadless Protection"
LA Times, 03/09/2011"The federal rule protecting the nation's last remaining stretches of roadless wilderness will apply now to the largest and grandest of the national forests under a court ruling in Alaska, which threw out the exemption granted to the Tongass National Forest."
"Government Sees Major Safety Issues On Alaska Oil Line"
Reuters, 02/14/2011"A U.S. government investigation of the Trans Alaska oil pipeline has found potentially major safety issues on the line that ships 12 percent of domestic oil supply, making its operation risky until repairs are made, according to a letter sent by regulators to the operator and viewed by Reuters on Friday."
"EPA's Review of Alaska's Bristol Bay Includes Pebble Mine"
Anchorage Daily News, 02/09/2011"The federal Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that it will review the consequences of large-scale development projects, such as the proposed copper and gold Pebble mine, in [Alaska's] Bristol Bay watershed."
"Shell Halts Its Plans for Arctic Project"
Houston Chronicle, 02/04/2011"Royal Dutch Shell is scrapping plans to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea near Alaska this summer, after failing to secure key permits for the project."
"EPA Orders Cleanup of Contaminated Stormwater on Oahu Beaches"
ENS, 01/26/2011EPA has ordered Waste Management Inc. to clean upwaste and contaminated stormwater from a landfill that fouled Oahu beaches after heavy rains earlier this month.
Beak Deformities Spread Through NW Crow Population
Vancouver Sun, 12/24/2010"Formerly rare beak deformities are spreading rapidly among crows in southwestern B.C. and Puget Sound, according to researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey."
"To Help Sea Lions, NOAA Restricts Fishing"
Green (NYT), 12/10/2010"To protect the declining population of the western Steller sea lion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will restrict commercial fishing for Atka mackerel and Pacific cod, the animal’s main source of food, off parts of the Alaska’s western Aleutian Islands."
"Climate Change Fans Deep-Burning Fires In Alaska"
Reuters, 12/06/2010"Climate change is fanning longer- and deeper-burning fires in interior Alaska, changing the area from a carbon sink -- where planet-warming gases are stored naturally in the soil -- to a carbon emitter, scientists reported on Sunday."
Court Rejects Challenge to Alaska Water Permit Authority
Greenwire, 11/12/2010"A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to a U.S. EPA decision allowing Alaska to administer part of the Clean Water Act."
"Group Threatens Suit Over Oil Spill Dispersants in Alaska"
Anchorage Daily News, 11/12/2010"A national environmental group is threatening to sue over the federal government's oil spill emergency response plan for Alaska, saying regulators violated the law by not studying whether using chemicals to disperse oil spills would harm the state's endangered and threatened marine species."
"With All Eyes on the Gulf, BP Alaska Facilities Are Still at Risk"
ProPublica, 11/04/2010"The extensive pipeline system that moves oil, gas and waste throughout BP's operations in Alaska is plagued by severe corrosion, according to an internal maintenance report generated four weeks ago."
"Scope of Alaska Legislature's Pebble Mine Study Is Undetermined"
Anchorage Daily News, 11/01/2010"Months after the funding was approved, state legislators still haven't decided how to proceed with a study of the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine."
"Judge: U.S. Army Must Rectify Flawed Studies of Oahu's Makua Valley"
ENS, 10/29/2010"In a long-running legal battle between a Hawaiian community and the U.S. Army, a federal judge today ruled that the community has a right to know how live-fire military training in a nearby valley could damage cultural sites and marine resources."
"Alaska Native Corporations' Contracting Privileges Targeted"
Wash Post, 10/08/2010"Alaska native corporations would lose their special contracting privileges under legislation that Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) intends to introduce next month, a move that will stir debate about the billions of dollars' worth of federal set-aside contracts that the companies receive."
AK Native Corporations: A Promise Unfulfilled
Wash Post, 09/30/2010"For many with a stake in Alaska native corporations, promise of a better life remains unfulfilled."

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