"One of the nation’s biggest chemical companies will pay $190 million to New Jersey to settle a lawsuit over the cancer-causing pollution in the Passaic River, state officials announced Monday."
"Nearly 400 years after French voyageur Jean Nicolet arrived with a bang on the banks of lower Green Bay — he fired two pistols skyward to announce the white man's arrival in the world's largest freshwater estuary — the same stretch of shoreline was the scene of another fateful landing."
"Problems with natural gas well construction appears to be the primary cause of drinking water contamination from shale-gas extraction, according to a new study published today by researchers from five universities."
"The U.S. Coast Guard and other responders are not adequately equipped or prepared for a “heavy oil” spill on the Great Lakes, according to a Coast Guard commander who is pushing for action."
"Some of the more than 500 million pounds (220 million kg) of pesticides used yearly in the United States are concentrated at levels that pose a concern for fish and water-dwelling insects, the U.S. Geological Survey report on pesticides from 1992 to 2011 said. The levels seldom topped human health standards."
"Water pollution disasters in Mexico have turned into political battles as officials struggled Wednesday to blame each other for the problems."
"The ozone layer that shields life from cancer-causing solar rays is showing its first sign of recovery after years of dangerous depletion, a U.N. study said on Wednesday, in a rare piece of good news on the environment."
"Steve Lipsky’s tainted water well had already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in Texas’ highest court – the biggest test of a state law meant to curb attempts to stifle public protest."
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Department of Environmental Protection officials plan to announce as early as Tuesday a proposed rule outlining a focused plan for mandated inspections of thousands of chemical storage tanks across West Virginia and — Tomblin administration officials hope — ease concerns about implementation of the state’s new tank safety law."
