"Drinking water containing a common herbicide could pose a greater public health risk than previously thought because regular municipal monitoring doesn't detect frequent spikes in the chemical's levels, according to a report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council."

A July 19 fire at Citgo's Corpus Christi refinery released deadly hydrogen fluoride, maimed one worker, and threatened a poor, largely minority community at its fenceline. Now larger questions are being asked -- about how authorities responded to it and whether it could have been prevented.

Feuds and politics seem to have kept former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's state EPA from referring criminal pollution cases to Attorney General Lisa Madigan for at least 2 years.

"Milk may have a wholesome commercial image, but the dairies that produce most of the nation's supply aren't always healthy places to work. Dairy workers are injured at a much higher rate than other workers in the U.S." Most of the West's 50,000 dairy workers are immigrants with families to feed, many undocumented. Government rules to protect them are as weak as skim milk.

Some residents are worried about a rural Nevada dump where decades of toxic refuse lie buried in shallow trenches.

Blue-collar residents near New York's only hazardous waste incinerator worry about strange odors. An investigation showed the plant's emissions are not what they are supposed to be.

Critics complain that "McMansions" have ruined neighborhoods. The McMansion fad fizzled with the real estate bust -- but could it return?

"Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia, according to researchers."

"For decades, the chemical industry has been able to control the debate on whether BPA is harmful to human health. Now the Food and Drug Administration, which had relied on industry-financed studies to declare the chemical safe, is reconsidering its determination. ... Plastics makers [have launched a campaign] to fight federal regulation of BPA, downplay its risks and discredit anyone who characterizes the chemical as a health threat."

New research suggests that atrazine, a popular weed killer found in some drinking water, causes birth defects and health problems at concentrations lower than previously thought.

"A class action lawsuit representing water districts throughout Illinois cites recent research contending atrazine in drinking water is unsafe at any level, even measurements well below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines."

Investigation shows that even the local organizers of astroturf rallies against climate legislation are registered oil lobbyists.

"A state board voted unanimously Thursday to approve an air quality permit for a $10 billion oil refinery that Hyperion Resources wants to build in southeastern South Dakota."

"Alaska's marine waters -- source of 60 percent of the United States' seafood harvest -- show surprising impact as greenhouse emissions undermine the base of the food web."

"As the credit freeze tightened its grip on the economy, the market for green construction -- at least in some respects -- remained strong overall, according to the U.S. Green Building Council and insurers of green construction projects. ...Still, as fewer and fewer banks proved willing to lend money for upfront construction costs, many smaller green builders have been forced to find new ways to see their projects through to completion."