"[Minneapolis] Metro cities could be on the hook for $1 billion or more in cleanup costs in coming years as they grapple with contaminated sludge in storm-water ponds that dot the metro area."

"Legacy contaminants are decreasing more quickly than previously reported in three of the Great Lakes, but have stayed virtually the same in two other lakes, according to new research."

"The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has created incomplete lab reports and used them to dismiss complaints that Marcellus Shale gas development operations have contaminated residential water supplies and made people sick, according to court documents and other sources."

Floods, sewage overflows, and power outages have made public drinking water supplies temporarily unsafe in many utility service areas across the states hit by superstorm Sandy. The best course of action for water users in those areas is to pay attention to messages from local utilities and state authorities.

"WASHINGTON -- As Sandy lashed the Eastern Seaboard this week, some environmental groups raised concerns that the superstorm’s brute force could overwhelm feeble storage pits adjacent to fracking sites."

"DETROIT -- In an economically distressed pocket of southwest Detroit known by its ZIP code -- 48217 -- the weekend of September 7-9 was one of the worst, pollution-wise, residents like Theresa Shaw could remember."

"The Macondo well blowout on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico lays bare just how little scientists know about that great expanse of saltwater and its creatures, but in fishing communities from Florida to Louisiana, some people have vital questions of their own."

"CHAUVIN, La. -- Generations of shrimpers, crabbers and oystermen have set out from this bayou village to net their catch. They share an emotional bond with Iowa's farmers: Both harvest nature's bounty to earn a livelihood. These fishermen depend on the sea, just as the nation's top corn growers rely on the rich Midwest soil."