"Alarmed by chronic problems with lead-contaminated water in downstate Galesburg, federal officials are urging local officials to provide bottled water or filters to residents where testing at household taps found high levels of the toxic metal. Though the small Knox County city stands out for repeatedly exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lead standards, a Tribune analysis of state data has identified about 170 other public water systems in Illinois — serving about 700,000 people in all — where test results exceeded federal standards during at least one year since 2004."

"Vessels continued to skim oil off the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday after about 88,200 gallons of oil were released from a Shell flow line about 90 miles off the coast of Louisiana."

"The Coast Guard said about 88,200 gallons of oil have leaked from a Shell flow line into the Gulf of Mexico, about 90 miles off the coast of Louisiana."

"SANTIAGO - A ban on harvesting shellfish in Chiloé due to a severe red tide outbreak sparked a social uprising that has partially isolated thousands of local residents of the southern Chilean archipelago and revived criticism of an export model that condemns small-scale fishing communities to poverty and marginalisation."

"The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to clear a key procedural hurdle on an annual spending bill for energy and water development programs."

"Fish in the Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries face a greater risk from climate change than previously suspected, a new study suggests, as they’re more likely to become disoriented and die in water that is both starved of oxygen and has become more acidic."

"A fire crackles along the banks of the Yamuna River: a cremation of a young mother, struck by a car while she was fetching water. The stench of the river engulfs the sad assembly."

"After plunking down more than $2.5 billion for drilling rights in U.S. Arctic waters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ConocoPhillips and other companies have quietly relinquished claims they once hoped would net the next big oil discovery."

"As America’s only barrier reefs bleach, dissolve and succumb to disease, experts worry that a $320 million plan to expand oil and cargo shipments through Florida’s corals could worsen flooding and threaten ecosystems crucial to fisheries and tourism businesses."