"The taut rope that was lowering an underwater listening station to the ocean’s floor collapsed on the tug boat’s deck with a slap, signaling to the crew on board that their mission was complete. They had successfully deployed a sound system in the Santa Barbara Channel."

"Three Lake Michigan beaches remain closed after a northwest Indiana steel mill dumped toxic chemicals into a tributary earlier this week, an incident that was not reported to the public until hundreds of dead fish began floating past boaters."

"A study of young children in Canada suggests those whose mothers drank fluoridated tap water while pregnant had slightly lower IQ scores than children whose mothers lived in non-fluoridated cities. But don’t dash for the nearest bottled water yet."

"EPA scientists wanted their agency to ask for a new environmental review of the proposed Pebble mine project but were overridden by political staffers, according to several sources and a key document obtained by E&E News."

"ABOARD A NASA RESEARCH PLANE OVER GREENLAND — The fields of rippling ice 500 feet below the NASA plane give way to the blue-green of water dotted with irregular chunks of bleached-white ice, some the size of battleships, some as tall as 15-story buildings."

"High lead levels have been found in drinking water of all five Vermont schools tested so far in a new state program."

"Environmental officials say heavy metals from coal ash have seeped into groundwater at a Duke Energy complex along Florida’s Gulf Coast."

"Plastic was the furthest thing from Gregory Wetherbee’s mind when he began analyzing rainwater samples collected from the Rocky Mountains. “I guess I expected to see mostly soil and mineral particles,” said the US Geological Survey researcher. Instead, he found multicolored microscopic plastic fibers."

"Floods and landslides have killed more than 270 people in India this month, displaced one million and inundated thousands of homes across six states, authorities said on Wednesday after two weeks of heavy monsoon rains."

"New test results indicate that the extent of the lead contamination crisis in Newark, N.J., may be broader than previously thought and the state now says it needs federal help to respond, according to new court filings."