"A settlement reached between environmentalists, the state's pollution regulators and the state's largest steel mill raises questions about the agency's actions -- and invites scrutiny of its leader."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday approved a first-of-its-kind program to cut phosphorus levels in Wisconsin's lakes, rivers and streams."

"LAKEPORT, Mich. -- Diesel fuel from a barge that sank in stormy Lake Huron has reached the Michigan shoreline, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday evening."

"Federal investigators seeking the cause of a North Side train derailment are taking a close look at the tracks, after early scrutiny of the crew's actions and the train itself revealed no glaring problems."

"Until now, scientists could only guess at the amount of plastic waste in the Great Lakes. This week, a team of researchers sets sail to conduct the first-ever survey of plastic pollution in the world’s largest fresh water system."

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A freight train derailment and explosion in Columbus, Ohio, has authorities evacuating a mile-wide area of the city as they try to contain the blaze and determine what's burning."

"WASHINGTON -- When it comes to energy issues, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Josh Mandel agree on two things -- and maybe only two things: First, energy issues and economic issues are inextricably linked. And second, they will probably play an outsized role in Ohio's U.S. Senate race."

"The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said Monday that it would seek to impose a $3.7 million fine -- a record civil penalty -- on the pipeline operator Enbridge over an oil spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan two years ago."

"Bets Thorkelson's opposition to 3M Co.'s hazardous waste incinerator began in the mid-1990s, when she learned that four moms of boys on her sons' hockey team had breast cancer."

"Open train cars filled with sand have raised alarm in St. Paul's St. Anthony Park neighborhood, where some residents wonder if the silica that comprises 80 percent of the unprocessed sand is safe."

"DULUTH, Minn. - The city of Duluth is in crisis mode after a deluge of rain overnight left parts of the community under floodwaters, and a number of animals at the Lake Superior Zoo dead."

"Head in any direction on Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula and you will reach gushing rivers, placid ponds and lakes -- both Great and small. An abundant resource, this water has nourished a small Native American community for hundreds of years. So 10 years ago, when an international mining company arrived near the shores of Lake Superior to burrow a mile under the Earth and pull metals out of ore, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa had to stand for its rights and its water."

"BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- In this predominantly black town with the lowest per-capita income anywhere in this hard-hit Rust Belt state, municipal leaders allowed a development group to take over the heart of a city park that fronts onto Lake Michigan -- land originally bequeathed to the people of Benton Harbor forever."

"GARY — The secluded west side neighborhood once filled with chickens and horses has been replaced by giant yellow excavators and crews in hard hats. No remnants of the Hispanic enclave nicknamed Cowboy Town remain now as the cleanup of the toxic Ralston Street lagoon shifts into high gear after decades of delay."

"TOLEDO, Ohio -- A FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary said Thursday that they discovered and contained a pinhole-size leak spraying radioactive coolant at their Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio."