"Officials warned people to stay out of the ocean at several beaches in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia after they said medical waste, including hypodermic needles, washed ashore. The source of the waste was under investigation."

"A tiny, vibrant world thrives along the rocky bottom of most streams. As sunlight filters through the water, mayfly nymphs, no larger than your fingernail, cling to algae-coated cobbles. Six spindly legs anchor them against the current, while feathery gills wave gently, drawing oxygen from the flowing water."

"Rust-colored piles of mine waste and sun-bleached wooden derricks loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville — a legacy of gold and silver mines polluting the Arkansas River basin more than a century after the city’s boom days."

"Shrink-wrap sealed around a piece of raw meat. Takeout containers filled with restaurant leftovers. Plastic bottles filled with soft drinks." "A new study shows the extent to which chemicals are finding their way into human bodies."

"Someone who lived with a Missouri resident infected with bird flu also became ill on the same day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday. The disclosure raises the possibility that the virus, H5N1, spread from one person to another, experts said, in what would be the first known instance in the United States."

"A federal appeals court is giving EPA a second chance to justify its rule targeting smog-forming pollution that crosses state lines after the Supreme Court froze the regulation in June."

"New attention to trifluoracetic acid, or TFA, underscores the game of whack-a-mole that scientists and communities face with forever chemicals."

"US lawmakers and the military are pushing for a new definition of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that would exclude a subclass of toxic compounds increasingly used across the economy and considered to be potent greenhouse gases."

"Texas is inching closer to adopting revised oil and gas waste management rules for the first time in four decades." "While environmentalists say the new rule doesn’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells."

"A number of small Black-owned farms in the Gulf South are growing crops with the climate in mind. Hilery Gobert is among them. He owns a 65-acre farm in Iowa, La., that he started farming in 2020. He has been trying to improve the soil since then. To do that, he rotates crops and uses cover crops to keep nutrients in the ground. The land now supports a variety of crops, including okra, figs, Asian eggplants and watermelons."