"Among the hundreds of new laws taking effect Tuesday (Oct. 1) is one meant to help the Chesapeake Bay by limiting when, where and how Marylanders should feed their lawns. One scientist, though, suggests homeowners could help the bay better by forgoing lawn fertilizer altogether."

"A U.S. Geological Survey study of Butler and surrounding counties found thousands of acres of land and forest disturbance because of Marcellus shale and traditional gas well drilling."

"Shenandoah Riverkeeper Jeff Kelble filed an appeal in Richmond Circuit Court on Wednesday to overturn Virginia's sewage sludge regulations."

"WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- A federal judge has approved settlement with a Texas firm over the discharge of fluids from a Marcellus Shale natural gas well site in Lycoming County."

"When a powerful storm unleashed 2 inches of rain on Allentown over six hours last summer, that water didn't just saturate lawns, flood roads and dampen basements. It also filled storm sewers with cascading water that blew the tops off manholes along the bloated sewage collection system."

"George Washington National Forest is more than just one of the largest expanses of pristine land in the East. It’s the leafy cradle of the Shenandoah, James and Potomac rivers, a source of drinking water for millions of people in greater Washington."

"WASHINGTON -- A giant of coal-fired power won a $1.6 million lease to build the first wind farm off the coast of Virginia on Wednesday, a development that renewable energy advocates are cheering."

"While the Harbor Point project's millions in public financing have dominated debate in Baltimore this summer, a carcinogen buried beneath the proposed waterfront development has sparked concerns about the safety of neighboring residents and the people who will work at the site in Fells Point."

"Maryland officials pulled back a proposed regulation Monday aimed at reducing farm runoff polluting the Chesapeake Bay after chicken growers warned it could cripple the state's lucrative poultry industry if imposed now."

"PITTSBURGH -- A project examining the local health impacts from natural gas drilling is providing some of the first preliminary numbers about people who may be affected, and the results challenge the industry position that no one suffers but also suggest the problems may not be as widespread as some critics claim."

"Residents have complained for years about thick black smoke and possible pollution coming from the MarkWest gas plant in Chartiers. But the state Department of Environmental Protection said it couldn't take action because it had no evidence. On Tuesday, the department said it had the goods."

"On John Bassler's 143-acre Piney Run Foxhound Training Preserve in Milford, Va., a densely wooded property lined with electrified fences to keep about 30 wild foxes inside contained, the chase is recreation, he said, part of a Virginia tradition commonly known as 'fox penning.'"

"Dozens of dead or sick Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have washed ashore along beaches from Virginia north to New York, including several baby dolphins in Delaware, since early June."

"The non-disclosure agreement prohibiting Chris and Stephanie Hallowich from talking about the 2011 settlement of their high-profile Marcellus Shale damage case in Washington County, or saying anything about gas drilling and fracking, isn't unusual. It happens often in settling such cases. But the insistence that their two minor children, then ages 7 and 10, are also bound by the 'gag order' is."

"Gov. Martin O'Malley said Thursday that Maryland will not meet its ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gases unless the state adopts more aggressive measures he is proposing."