National (U.S.)

"Company said the plant is no longer economically viable."

"The 53,000 water utilities in the United States deliver some of the safest drinking water in the world — a public health victory of unrivaled success that began in 1908 with chlorination campaigns in Jersey City and Chicago. Still, millions of individual cases of waterborne diseases occur annually and related hospitalization costs approach $1 billion each year. In 2007 and 2008, the most recent years for which figures are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 164 waterborne disease outbreaks, almost entirely from protozoan cysts of the parasite Cryptosporidium."

"PORTAGE GLACIER, Alaska -- As she marveled at the site of a shrinking Alaska glacier, the newly installed leader of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that the president told her that fighting climate change should be her primary focus."

"WASHINGTON -- The federal government is fighting with itself over a massive fire at a Chevron refinery in California that sent 15,000 people to hospitals with respiratory ailments."

"WATERFLOW — The sickness came in increments, a slow onslaught of weight loss, stomach pain and extreme diarrhea."

"Koch Industries, which drew protests earlier this year over speculation that it might buy the Chicago Tribune or other Tribune Co. publications, said it's no longer interested in bidding for the newspapers."

"BENTON HARBOR -- While inspecting a house for lead contamination, Steve Weldert came across a child's toy dump truck in a window sill filled with paint chips."

"OTTAWA -- Ever since President Obama said in June that a litmus test for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada was whether it would 'significantly' worsen global warming, Canadian government officials have insisted it would not."

"Even the best national data on chemical accidents is wrong nine times out of 10."

"A Dallas Morning News analysis of more than 750,000 federal records found pervasive inaccuracies and holes in data on chemical accidents, such as the one in West that killed 15 people and injured more than 300."

"In fact, no one at any level of government knows how often serious chemical accidents occur each year in the United States. And there is no plan in place for federal agencies to gather more accurate information.

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Obama administration officials on Friday proposed to update the federal government's 42-year-old exposure limits for silica dust, a move the Labor Department said would prevent 700 deaths and 1,600 new cases of silicosis every year. The proposal would provide new protections for 2.2 million American workers, cutting in half the legal limit for dust exposure on the job."