"Scientific studies are turning up answers to a baffling mystery about the Great Salt Lake. The new findings help explain why concentrations of toxic mercury in the lake are higher than anywhere else in the country. The new studies suggest it's not so much our local pollution that's at fault -- it appears to be mainly the world's pollution."

"One of the world's largest oilfield services companies continued to tell U.S. EPA it was complying with an agreement barring the injection of diesel fuel near drinking-water aquifers, documents show, after admitting to Congress that it had violated the pact."

A legal case over the effects of oil sands operations in Alberta by Syncrude Canada Ltd. on ducks is shaping up to be an environmental show trial.

"Responding to reports of environmental contamination in gas drilling areas across the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct a nationwide scientific study to determine if the problems are caused by the practice of injecting chemicals and water underground to fracture the gas-bearing rock."

"A federal judge in Houston on Tuesday shot down a mammoth $100 million December verdict against BP's Texas City refinery, cutting the award to less than half a million and dealing the British oil giant a rare legal victory as it struggles to overcome several years of problems at the plant."

"New tests show that toxic pollution from an abandoned chemical plant near Delaware City is far worse than previously believed, posing even greater future risks to drinking water in the region."

Some Canadian scientists are racing to recover phosphorus from wastewater, where it is a harmful pollutant, for use as a fertilizer, where it can help feed a growing population.

"In a move that it says will save money and is a practical strategy for monitoring the state's waterways, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has proposed loosening its water quality standards."