It's true — some public information officers are really paranoid. High Country News reporter Tristan Baurick, trying to report on preservation of a historic chalet in Olympic National Park, found "a bizarre blockade on press freedom, the likes of which I’d never experienced outside a military base or murder scene."
"A disabled Russian cargo ship was en route to port in British Columbia for repairs and the rescue operation was declared officially over Sunday. Now the debate begins."
"Mountain lions in Southern California are under growing pressure from a shrinking gene pool, fragmented by highways and urban sprawl that has left the cats' territories increasingly isolated from each other, a study published on Wednesday showed."
"CN train derailment in Saskatchewan caused petroleum distillate to ignite, forcing about 50 people to evacuate from a nearby community. The CN train derailment comes in the wake of recent high-profile oil train accidents."
"Environmental groups came up short in their fight to prevent freighters from sweeping or washing limestone, iron ore, coal and other non-toxic remnants of their dry cargo into the Great Lakes."
"In July, the transportation department proposed that older cars be retrofitted within two years""
"With a record U.S. harvest just coming in, the river transportation system that is at the heart of the nation's farm economy is overstrained by rising demand for shipping capacity, a low barge inventory, and a dilapidated lock system."
"At least 18 times in the past three years BNSF Railway freight trains rolled west out of Minneapolis pulling cars filled with hazardous chemicals that were not on the train's official cargo list, according to train crew complaints."
"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Mile-long trains filled with millions of gallons of flammable crude oil may be rolling through Kern County next year."
"As a Texas energy company seeks approval for its plan to build a 1,100-mile pipeline carrying North Dakota crude oil across 17 Iowa counties, documents show the state's pipeline safety record has been less than spotless."
