"Documents obtained by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) show that bureaucrats within the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC) granted the oil and gas industry premature access to highly controversial draft regulations for shale gas fracking in the state. New York placed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for gas in order to evaluate the science on the risks posed to drinking water, air quality and the health of New York's citizens and the environment."

"MIDDLEPORT, N.Y. -- A massive arsenic cleanup project could affect the entire village of Middleport. The soil in yards, gardens and even a school campus may have to be dug up and carted away.

How big of an area are we talking about? The village is similar in size to about 500 football fields - and that's a lot of dirt. Residents learned what's in store Wednesday night.

"New Jersey legislators approved legislation on Monday banning the treatment or storage of fracking waste in the state."

"A Brooklyn public school building that had leaking light fixtures will be moved to the top of the list of schools with PCB problems, and the city will replace its lighting very soon, city officials said last week."

"One swarm covered the side-view mirror of a Volvo station wagon in a lot by the Hudson River, trapping a family of three inside. Another humming cluster the size of a watermelon bent a tree branch in front of a Chase Bank on the Lower East Side, attracting a crowd of gasping onlookers. And for several hours, thousands of bees carpeted a two-foot-tall red standpipe on the patio of a South Street Seaport restaurant, sending would-be outdoor diners elsewhere."

"Swaths of Cape Cod's salt marshes are slowly disintegrating. For the human observer, the most notable sign of their decline might be the increase in night herons. They crouch like low, dark smudges on the salt marshes at dawn after feeding on the surfeit of Sesarma crabs through the night."

"Federal officials believe they have identified a highly concentrated pocket of cancer-causing chromium underneath an abandoned factory in Garfield [NJ] that may be the root cause of the large-scale contamination potentially threatening the health of thousands of residents."

"Like most members of the Penobscot Nation, Scott Phillips grew up near the Penobscot River and learned to paddle and fish as a young boy. He took to it like a duck to water. He became a competitive racer and eventually opened his own business selling canoes, kayaks and other outdoor gear. Next week, the first of two dams on the river will be removed, altering the way it's used recreationally. The change could also be a boon to Phillip's business."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Local citizens on Wednesday threatened to sue FirstEnergy Corp. over a huge coal-ash impoundment along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border, alleging the operation is polluting area streams, tainting groundwater, and violating federal waste disposal requirements."

"NEW YORK CITY -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given his city one of the most detailed and highly publicized plans to reduce carbon emissions and to adapt to rising sea levels and other risks posed by climate change."

"RAYNHAM -- A new study on Eastern equine encephalitis shows the number of people in Massachusetts who have contracted the mosquito-borne virus has grown in recent years."

"PORTLAND, Maine -- Frank Knight's decades-long battle to save New England's tallest elm served as an inspiring tale of devotion, so it is fitting that he will be laid to rest in a coffin made from the tree he made famous. Knight, who died Monday at 103, had affectionately referred to the 217-year-old elm nicknamed Herbie as "an old friend." The massive tree succumbed to Dutch elm disease and was cut down two years ago."

"MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Vermont is about to become the first U.S. state to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas."

"PORTLAND, Maine -- On April 23, heavy rains pounded Portland. The next day, many of the city’s most recognizable water bodies were the color of sewage."

The Niagara Falls City Council, recalling the Love Canal disaster, has blocked a plan to raise revenue by using the city's sewage plant to treat the toxic waste from natural-gas drilling.