"As the sand rush intensifies, county regulators are being hired away by the industry, creating backlogs of work and fears of conflicts of interest."

"Amid puzzling indifference shown by elected officials over Enbridge's pipeline plans, townships are stepping up, opponents say—and giving them some hope."

David Hasemyer reports for InsideClimate News October 17, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Under fire for dumping toxic pollution into Lake Michigan, owners of the last coal-powered steamship on the Great Lakes promised four years ago they would eliminate its murky discharges in time for the 2012 sailing season."

"Climate change is expected to drop water levels in the Great Lakes, experts said Wednesday. Levels could drop anywhere from a few inches to several feet as water evaporates in the drought conditions."

"Faith communities see a moral obligation to support a constitutional amendment requiring Michigan utilities to buy more renewable energy."

"Already under pressure to curb noxious air pollution, the owner of four coal-fired power plants in Illinois is facing new legal complaints about toxic chemicals and heavy metals leaching from decades-old waste ponds."

"ST. LOUIS, Mich. -- The sun sets through the clouds on a late summer afternoon, and a wind brushes through wildflowers on a 52-acre site wrapped by the Pine River, softening the sounds of children in a playground nearby. But the dead robins that drop in Teri Kniffen's yard around the corner and the signs scattered in town bear the evidence of unseen hazards, an alphabet soup of toxicity."

"Efforts to clean up one of the largest industrial polluters in Illinois will be delayed until the end of the decade after a state panel voted Thursday to give the owner of a massive downstate power plant more time to slash its lung-damaging emissions."

"NEWARK, Ohio -- Becky and Andrew Snedeker spent their first year of marriage living with her parents while searching for their dream home. They found it on James Street in Newark, but now the Ohio Department of Transportation wants to buy and raze it to clean up a known carcinogen in groundwater feet below their property."

"An increasingly warm climate is worsening the problem of harmful Great Lakes algae blooms by boosting the intensity of spring rains that wash phosphorus into the waters, a scientist said Wednesday during a conference for advocates and policymakers."

"Canada and the United States have updated a decades-old agreement to protect the Great Lakes, adding new commitments to protect aquatic habitats, curb invasive species and help coastal communities adapt to climate change."

"CLEVELAND -- The mystery deepens, as several agencies not only look for the reason why tens of thousands of fish washed up dead along the northern shores of Lake Erie, but seagulls as well."

"Long-awaited dredging will begin this month in Waukegan Harbor to remove soil contaminated with hazardous substances at a Superfund site once described as the 'world's worst PCB mess,' officials announced Thursday at the Waukegan Yacht Club."

"The wildlife agency in Wisconsin, the only state that allows people to use dogs while hunting wolves, faces a lawsuit contending that it is permitting state-sanctioned animal fighting."

"Enbridge Inc plans to restart on Tuesday a pipeline that leaked more than 1,000 barrels of crude onto a Wisconsin field after receiving the greenlight from U.S. regulators."