Despite tens of billions spent under the 1972 Clean Water Act to upgrade the sewage-handling systems of U.S. cities, many have reached capacity and are unable to handle wet-weather flows. The result is that many are "violating the law by dumping untreated or partly treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers and lakes."

Cleanup of toxic chemicals at 26 former Cold War missile sites in Kansas is an unfinished project.

"A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range-turned-tourist destination off Puerto Rico's east coast."

"While the health effects of coal-ash disposal get most attention, a long list of other negative effects are overlooked. They include crushing financial burdens for people, companies, and governments; deepening mistrust of government; years of litigation; depressed property values; and more. These costs outweigh the costs of regulation, cleanup, and mitigation."

"On some days, Russell Keith could simply look up at the sky to gauge how busy his day would be as a paramedic at the largest U.S. base in Iraq. Dark green smoke meant the contractor could count on a 30 to 40 percent spike in his patient load, he told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee last week during a hearing on contractor oversight."

"Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday."

"WEST UNION, W.Va. -- A spill upstream of the town of West Union during the summer has revealed a gap in the system for notifying drinking water systems of possible contamination."

"Wastewater from natural gas drilling in New York state is radioactive, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink."

"Environmentalists are beefing up efforts to increase regulation of a controversial oil and gas drilling technique as interest grows in tapping vast natural gas fields across the country."