Can Environment Sustain Quest for Valuable "Rare Earth" Materials?

December 8, 2010–A US Geological Survey report offers a perspective on the global situation and an assessment of known US deposits. There may be about 13 million metric tons available in 14 states — with the sites generally posing the usual environmental challenges associated with mining and refining.

EPA Offers Air, Water, Sediment, Waste Data from Gulf Oil Spill

August 11, 2010–Reporters can find most of the environmental monitoring data EPA has collected on one webpage in a form that can be queried or downloaded.

Bush EPA Suppressed NM Waste Records To Sidestep FOIA

May 19, 2010–EPA Region 6 officials deliberately stopped creating written records related to their oversight of a New Mexico waste facility in order to thwart Freedom of Information Act requests from a citizens' group, according to an EPA Inspector General's report.

Air Pollution: EPA Proposes Tougher Industrial Boiler Regs

May 12, 2010–The proposed air toxics standards cover emissions from three types of combustion sources and address emissions of mercury, cadmium, dioxin, furans, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid, and other pollutants.

Taxpayer-Funded Feedlots Refuse To Disclose Polluting Emissions

May 5, 2010–Beef and pork factory farms are exempt from federal requirements to report their greenhouse gas emissions but are okay with accepting federal subsidies to capture their methane emissions and turn them into energy.

Surefire Stories Near You: Start with Superfund Data Tools

April 28, 2010–US EPA's "National Priorities List" includes about 1,280 of the nation's worst sites. But there are tens of thousands of sites not on the NPL, and finding them is fairly easy.

EPA Reveals More High-Hazard Coal-Ash Sites

February 10, 2010–Disclosure of 22 electric-utility plans for handling coal-ash waste is a good start... but EPA also released the identities of some 40 more — previously undisclosed — scary ash impoundments.

Coal-Ash Disposal Remains A Front-Burner Issue at EPA

November 11, 2009–Most of the 580-plus coal-ash impoundments and landfills in the U.S. would make a good local environmental story, and the information available on them is growing.

Tracking Trash? There's an App for That

September 30, 2009–MIT researchers have been using custom-made sensors planted on trash in New York City, Seattle, and London to track the circuitous route that trash takes each day. Similar efforts are planned for other cities.

GM Dropout Endangers Vehicle Mercury Switch Recycling Program

August 19, 2009–The Associated Press reports "GM says mercury pollution not its problem anymore," defaulting on its dues payments just as the US government's cash-for-clunkers program is causing the retirement of many older vehicles.