"As a domestic energy boom driven by hydraulic fracturing spreads, so could strip-mining for sand needed for the controversial production process, introducing risks to water, air, public health and property values, according to a report issued Thursday."

"Procter & Gamble, the maker of Crest, has just pledged to eliminate microbeads from its toothpastes by March 2016."

"The Obama administration announced a new 5-year plan for the Great Lakes on Wednesday that will accelerate efforts to address toxic pollution, invasive species and farm runoff and restore plant and wildlife habitat."

"TUCSON, Ariz. — Authorities are testing water from the San Pedro River in southern Arizona that may be contaminated with toxic waste that traveled north after a massive copper mine spill in Mexico this summer."

"At first glance it appears to be nothing more than a natural mound swathed in sumac and buckthorn, and shadowed by cottonwoods, like much of the land fronting the Mississippi River gorge. But that mound, actually a dump site, has become the focus of ongoing concerns about pollutants left by the Ford Motor Co. at its former factory site in St. Paul."

"An oil boom in Wyoming is having a filthy side effect. A string of accidents, ranging in geography from a remote gulley in the Powder River Basin to a refinery in downtown Cheyenne, already has made this year the state's worst for oil spills since at least 2009, state records show."

"Coal has been transported around the country by rail for decades. But very little research has been done on what coal does to the environment when it escapes from trains.With two large coal export terminals proposed for Washington state, one federal agency is hoping to add good science to the debate over coal in the Northwest."

"Banamichi, Mexico - Liseth Mendez and Judas Barrios milk two cows covered in a cloud of tiny persistent flies as the sun taints in red the surrounding mountains near a ranch less than a kilometre from the Sonora River."

"It's like Florida's version of The Blob. Slow moving glops of toxic algae in the northeast Gulf of Mexico are killing sea turtles, sharks and fish, and threatening the waters and beaches that fuel the region's economy."

"Three conservation groups accused Dominion Virginia Power Wednesday of illegally discharging coal ash waste into the Potomac River."