"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will take one of the biggest hits of any federal agency if the government shuts down this week, operating with under 7 percent of its employees, according to guidance issued by the agency."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday released its formal, final decision on how to complete the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, a waterway whose depths contain toxins from long-ago industry and more recent sewage overflows."

"With the government on the brink of a shutdown, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to compromise on helium. Legislation passed late last week will keep the gas used in party balloons flowing from a national reserve."

"MARSHALL, Mich. -- People who canoe on, or wade or swim in, the Kalamazoo River near Marshall in southwestern Michigan are not expected to suffer any long-term harm from chemicals left in the water when an oil pipeline burst in 2010, according to a state report."

"NBC Sports Network gave a controversial NRA-sponsored safari hunting show the axe over the weekend, ending a week of controversy that was initially sparked when the network aired an episode in which the host gleefully shot and killed a bull elephant."

"Almost 200,000 tons of contaminated soil would be removed from the 500-acre Ringwood Superfund site — where the Ford Motor Co. dumped toxic paint sludge from its Mahwah factory 40 years ago — under a proposal issued Monday by federal environmental officials."

"In October 2013 a new international convention to control mercury emissions will be open for signing in Japan. Named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the agreement is a response to the realization that mercury pollution is a global problem that no one country can solve alone. The convention was four years in the making, with more than 130 nations agreeing by consensus to a final text in January 2013. It includes both compulsory and voluntary measures to control mercury emissions from various sources, to phase the element out of certain products and industrial processes, to restrict its trade, and to eliminate mining of it."

"Children who did not get vaccinated against whopping cough are one of the causes of the 2010 outbreak of the illness, when more cases were reported than in any year since 1947, researchers say."

"The U.S. Army is spending billions of dollars shifting toward solar energy, recycled water and better-insulated tents. The effort isn’t about saving the Earth."

"In the frantic days after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP lied about how much oil was leaking from its Macondo well and took too long to cap it, plaintiffs' lawyers said on Monday at the opening of the second phase of the company's trial."

"PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- A three-month investigation into the June deaths of 19 Arizona firefighters found that the men ceased radio communication for a half hour before they were killed in a wildfire blaze, but did not assign fault. Some family members say that reluctance could put other lives in danger."

"BP Plc, seeking to reduce potential water pollution fines of as much as $18 billion, will try to convince a judge that less oil spilled in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster than the U.S. claims and that it capped the deep-sea gusher as quickly as possible."

"A Danish shipping company announced Friday the first-ever voyage of a large commercial freighter through the Northwest Passage -- a journey made possible by the disappearance of Arctic ice due to global warming.

"Since Vancouver-based silver and gold mining company Fortuna set up shop in a small town in southern Mexico in 2005, violent attacks have left four local residents dead and many more wounded."

"Prions -- the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer -- can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes, according to new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison."