Pollution

"SPOKANE — Three environmental groups sued a state agency Thursday over the effects of the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant on the water quality of the Columbia River."

"Oil and gas wells across the country are spewing “dangerous" cancer-causing chemicals into the air, according to a new study that further corroborates reports of health problems around hydraulic fracturing sites."

"The pork-loving state faces challenges in protecting water from contamination."

"The nation’s first-ever regulations on the storage and disposal of coal ash have been sent to the White House for final review."

"Climate change has thrown historic rain patterns out of whack. Sanitation departments throughout the Midwest are bracing to keep up with more frequent and intense runoff."

"The BP oil spill left an oily "bathub ring" on the sea floor that's about the size of Rhode Island, new research shows."

"The 2014 season for Lake Michigan's only coal-powered passenger and car ferry comes to a close Sunday, signaling the end of the controversial practice of dumping coal ash into the Great Lake. When the vessel resumes operations in 2015, it will no longer release the waste material into those waters."

"Federal appellate judges greenlighted yesterday U.S. EPA's implementation of a program to curb air pollution that drifts between states."

"West Virginia regulators have revoked the state certification for a Raleigh County laboratory, following the guilty plea of a lab supervisor who admitted he and other employees falsified coal industry samples so mining operations would appear to be in compliance with water pollution standards."