"A Duke University-led study of coal ash contaminants, published Monday, found high levels of toxic arsenic in Mountain Island Lake."

Efforts to remove 17 miles of dioxin-laced muck contaminating New Jersey's Passaic River seem to have failed.

"While backers hail their benefits, the state struggles to regulate operations that put thousands of animals under the same roof."

Even with a non-regulatory approach, getting farmers to participate in water pollution control campaigns in Oregon is proving difficult.

"Residents of Hinkley, made famous by 'Erin Brockovich,' weigh an offer by PG&E to buy homes near chromium-tainted water. Animosity is high between residents wanting to sell and those opting to stay."

After an election and a Tennessee spill disaster in 2008, the Obama administration roared into office vowing to regulate electric utility coal ash. Now, as the tight 2012 election hinges partly on coal (and coal states), the administration's proposed regulations are on hold.

"Four environmental groups have asked North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission for a ruling that would force Duke Energy to clean up groundwater contamination near ash ponds at 14 coal-fired power plants."

"NEW BEDFORD -- A long-departed manufacturing company will pay $366 million to clean the PCB-laden harbor here, the largest cash settlement for a single site in the history of the federal Superfund program, government officials announced Wednesday."

"Oil and gas companies will soon have to start telling U.S. EPA before they 'frack' wells, a development that has caught many in the industry off-guard and rekindled some drillers' most potent fears about federal intrusion."

"Budget cuts to the ozone monitoring department were $13.3m this year, the 25th anniversary of the Montreal protocol."