"NEW ORLEANS — BP finally faced off in court Monday against an army of federal and state prosecutors, lawyers and even its contract partners over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill three years ago, contending that it alone should not shoulder blame for the rig explosion that killed 11 workers and soiled beaches and marshes from Louisiana to Florida."

"Limited data and unreliable estimates on air pollution from oil and natural gas production is hindering the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to police the drilling boom, the agency's internal watchdog said in a report released Thursday."

"Drilling specialists have been pumping heavy fluids into a gas well 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in a bid to halt natural gas moving among underground formations at the site."

A surge in the use of fungicides is bringing higher crop yields; but experts warn that there is not enough monitoring of the emerging fungicide contamination of streams -- and that not enough is known about the health consequences.

"Super mega dolphin pod, which indulged in a feeding frenzy off the coast of San Diego over the holiday weekend, is only the latest in a recent string of odd behaviors by large creatures of the sea."

"This winter, our usually quiet Colorado valley -- so quiet that you can hear the wingbeats of the eagles and ravens that pass overhead -- has reverberated with the growls of trackhoes digging trenches across hillsides and irrigated pastures."

Two retired outdoorsmen -- with help from water researchers -- are testing streamwater in western Pennsylvania. They are struggling to get EPA attention to chemicals they fear could be related to the fracking boom.

"Court reduces company's maximum fine a week before trial over blowout that dumped millions of gallons of oil into Gulf of Mexico."

"Sea Shepherd is claiming victory after Japan temporarily suspended its annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean."

"MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The U.S. Department of Labor wants a federal judge to order the immediate shutdown of a potentially dangerous West Virginia coal slurry impoundment it says hasn't been certified by a professional engineer for two years."