"The world's largest phosphate miner has cut a deal with the environmental groups that sued it two years ago to block its plans to dig up thousands of acres of wetlands. In exchange for allowing mining to proceed near Fort Meade in Hardee County, Mosaic Fertilizer will buy a 4,400-acre ranch and donate it for use as a new state park."

"A Southwest Florida conservation official is calling a federal judge's ruling on clean water limits a total victory for the environment. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle's ruling in Tallahassee on Saturday ended years of delays in setting and enforcing specific limits on sewage, manure and fertilizer contamination in Florida waters."

"NEW ORLEANS -- A scientific report issued by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration predicts that the Louisiana coast could see about 3 feet of sea level rise along the already low and vulnerable Louisiana coast by 2100 -- a prediction that leaves this Cajun coast drowning and under siege from storm surge for decades to come."

"Across southern Florida, rabbits, raccoons, bobcats and foxes have been disappearing at dramatic rates over the past decade, and invasive Burmese pythons are to blame, a US study said Monday."

"A team of Louisiana scientists is laying the groundwork for creating a new carbon storage industry that could both reduce the effects of global warming and rebuild wetlands along the state’s coastline. Sarah Mack, founder of New Orleans-based Tierra Resources, and Louisiana State University wetlands scientists John W. Day and Robert Lane have come up with a method for measuring the molecules of carbon removed from the atmosphere by the soils and plants that are created with coastal restoration projects."

"Kentucky's leaders should consider the health hazards of mining, moving and burning coal as they craft the state's energy policy, an environmental group said Tuesday.

The Kentucky Environmental Foundation, based in Berea, released a 44-page 'health-impact assessment' on coal and sent copies to Gov. Steve Beshear and the General Assembly.

"A $50 billion, 50-year proposal aspires to stop coastal land loss in Louisiana, build new levee systems to protect cities and even begin to slowly reverse the trend of eroding marsh that has turned the entire southern portion of the state into one of the nation's most vulnerable regions to sea level rise."

"JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi judge has thrown out a $322 million lawsuit verdict that had been hailed as the largest asbestos award for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.

The case began to unravel last year after defense lawyers asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to remove the presiding judge because he allegedly neglected to disclose that his parents had been involved in similar asbestos litigation against one of the same companies. A specially appointed judge, William Coleman, issued an order vacating the verdict and award on Dec. 27.

"The Louisville Water Co. has sharply lowered the levels of hexavelent chromium, a suspected carcinogen, in drinking water after solving a puzzle about the source of the pollutant."

"Louisiana is among the worst states at enforcing federal clean air, clean water and hazardous waste laws, and the Environmental Protection Agency should either force Louisiana and fellow laggards to do a better job, or enforce the laws itself, according to a report released Monday by EPA’s inspector general."

"A federal appeals court today rejected nearly all the claims environmentalists had made against an Army Corps of Engineers decision to issue a permit for a major development in Florida wetlands."

"On July 26, monitors detected something amiss in the already crippled building that shields the reactor at Progress Energy's nuclear plant. The pile of shattered concrete outside meant the utility faced a new problem. The building was still falling apart — a development Progress was in no hurry to reveal to state regulators."

"A new study says nearly two-thirds of New Orleans homes and yards have “dangerous” levels of lead, according to federal standards, a finding the authors believe may be linked to the extensive renovation and demolition of homes after Hurricane Katrina."

"LAKELAND -- A hulking mountain of ash sitting inside the Lakeland city limits isn't exactly a point of pride, but city officials would rather see it stay than go."

"ELDORADO -- Gold prospectors chasing $1,600-an-ounce flecks in river bottoms east of Charlotte also might be sucking life out of the streams, experts say."