"The Homeland Security Department program charged with the security of chemical facilities like the former West Fertilizer Co. plant has been riddled with problems so severe since its creation five years ago that federal investigators recently wondered publicly 'whether it can achieve its mission, given the challenges the program continues to face.'"

"Has the GOP found its new Solyndra? On Wednesday the House Oversight Committee held a hearing titled, 'Green Energy Oversight: Examining the Department of Energy's Bad Bet on Fisker Automotive.'"

"MOBILE, Alabama -- Three people were hurt in a fuel barge explosion on the east side of Mobile River on Wednesday night, Mobile Fire-Rescue reported.

"The U.S. military spent $5 million on incinerators at a base in Afghanistan that never became operable, forcing troops to use a type of open-air burn pit that has been linked to serious respiratory problems among veterans, according to a government report."

"Toxics regulators say Exide Technologies has been releasing hazardous waste into the soil beneath its plant because of a degraded pipeline."

"Many of the man-made ponds for storing toxic sludge from coal mining operations have dangerously weak walls because of poor construction methods, according to the synopsis of a study for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement obtained by The Washington Post."

"HATCH, N.M. -- In southern New Mexico, the mighty Rio Grande has gone dry -- reduced to a sandy wash winding from this chile farming community to the nation's leading pecan-producing county. Only puddles remain, leaving gangs of carp to huddle together in a desperate effort to avoid the fate of thousands of freshwater clams, their shells empty and broken on the river bottom."

"Demand for metals is likely to increase tenfold as developing economies surge ahead, putting severe stress on the natural environment, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned."

"At a glance, U.S. EPA's plan to cut an $11.5 million grant program in an effort to meet the sequestration mandate doesn't look like much given the agency's $8.5 billion budget. But that's a lot of money to state and local air regulators who have been counting on it."

"While mainstream environmental organizations lick their wounds over the failure of climate-change legislation and their startling lack of diversity, people of color and those living on low incomes continue to bear the brunt of climate-change impacts."

"In the months before last week's deadly fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, U.S. government watchdogs criticized federal oversight of facilities that make or store dangerous chemicals."

"Supreme Court justices on Tuesday wrestled with the sensitive issue of whether a thirsty Texas water district has the right to access water across the Oklahoma state line."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must meet a court-ordered deadline to issue regulations that clean up power plant water pollution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled [Tuesday]. The decision turns back an attempt by the utility industry to avoid the financial and operational burdens of the regulations."

"BP's largest new oil project in the Gulf, called Mad Dog Phase 2, sits atop a 4 billion barrel oil field. BP blames 'market conditions and industry inflation' for delay."

"A federal appeals court ruled today that U.S. EPA's 2011 retroactive veto of a major West Virginia mountaintop-removal mining project was legal."