"The Justice Department filed a complaint Monday in federal court against the city of Washington, D.C., and its water and sewer authority, seeking financial penalties for their role in a leak that led to millions of gallons of raw sewage spilling into the Potomac River."

"Belching smoke from a new plastic waste processing plant in central Ohio has stirred opposition to an even larger “chemical recycling” factory planned for Arizona by the same company."

"A bill in the Illinois General Assembly would require certified pesticide users—anyone licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to use Restricted Use pesticides, such as paraquat or fumigant insecticides—to give written or emailed notice at least 24 hours before application at any school, child care facility or park located within 1,500 feet of application that opted to receive them."

"Communities across the US are struggling to cope with impending federal requirements for eradicating two toxic PFAS chemicals from their drinking water systems, utility leaders said at a water policy conference this week."

"In a quiet stretch of western Massachusetts stands a sycamore so old it was around when the Constitution was signed. It’s awe-inspiring, with branches bigger than the entire trunks of most trees. ... In the eastern United States, that rare sense of awe was once supplied in bulk by the American chestnut."

"Climate change and the energy transition are driving a wave of state laws overriding local governments, with both parties driving their preferred policies."

"The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering whether facilities that recycle plastic chemically should be held to the same strict air pollution standards as incinerators. The possible change is alarming environmental advocates who say it would lead to more dangerous pollution spewing into communities, with fewer or no checks at the federal level."

"Risks from cancer and other diseases could be hidden with little accountability if justices favor big firms, critics warn"

"Despite hours of impassioned arguments from Sen. Tina Smith, the U.S. Senate ended a Biden-era moratorium on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed."

"CONGAREE NATIONAL PARK, S.C. — Rising possibly 175 feet above the floodplain, propped up by a trunk 15 feet around at its base, America’s tallest loblolly pine dwarfed the veteran state biologist standing beneath it."