"CLEWISTON, Fla. -- On wind-whipped days when rain pounds this part of South Florida, people are quickly reminded that Lake Okeechobee, with its vulnerable dike and polluted waters, has become a giant environmental problem far beyond its banks."

"The eight-state commission that sets water quality standards for the Ohio River wants a two-year delay on enforcement of a more stringent mercury standard while it considers relaxing those rules."

"Prescription drugs are contaminating Lake Michigan two miles from Milwaukee’s sewage outfalls, suggesting that the lake is not diluting the compounds as most scientists expected, according to new research."

"Fearing the city's primary drinking water source could be at risk of contamination in the years ahead, Ann Arbor officials took action Tuesday night to send a message to the state."

"A theoretical 9.1 quake off Alaska could flood Long Beach and parts of O.C., and force 750,000 to evacuate."

"VIRGINIA KEY, Fla. -- The wastewater plant on this barrier island sits tucked in a northern corner, away from the wading birds, views of Miami Beach and grassy vegetation providing prime picnic spots."

"The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of South Texas. Cities and farmers on both sides of its international border depend on its water. A 70-year-old treaty between the United States and Mexico is supposed to keep the river’s water flowing. But in the last three years, Mexico has fallen behind on its end of the deal. That has heightened tensions between the two countries and jeopardized the future of agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley."

The small Michigan town of Mancelona is the site of one of the nation's largest underground plumes of the toxic industrial solvent trichloroethylene. Wells dug to supply uncontaminated water are now themselves threatened.

"The Eagle Ford shale geological formation unfurls through the lower third of Texas, stretching 400 miles long and 50 miles wide from East Texas to Mexico, from Brazos County northeast of Houston to the Burgos Basin just over the border."

"The world's oceans are turning acidic at what's likely the fastest pace in 300 million years. Scientists tend to think this is a troubling development. But just how worried should we be, exactly?"