"The Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge will span New York and five New England states. It will be the 18th refuge created under President Obama."

"New Jersey's first expanded black bear hunt in more than three decades ended Saturday, just days after lawmakers advanced a measure that would remove the animals from a list of game species."

"Hurricanes could start flooding New York City's coastline as often as every 20 years due to the effects of climate change on sea-level rise and hurricane activity, scientists said on Monday."

"Trenton Public Schools have found elevated levels of lead in more than three-quarters of its buildings."

"NEWARK — A $165 million agreement reached by the federal government with one of the companies potentially responsible for contaminating a stretch of the Passaic River will allow early stages of cleanup to begin on one of the nation's most polluted bodies of water, officials said."

"Scientists found that lobster larvae struggled to survive when water temperatures rose 5 degrees F. warmer than current temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, a key lobster fishing area off of New England."

"Hermine is expected to begin weakening as it churns hundreds of miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, but forecasters warn it could continue to impact areas from New York to southern New England with pounding waves, coastal flooding and beach erosion before it moves out to sea."

"When the results of tests for lead in the water at more than 1,500 New York City school buildings were announced in July, officials said that fewer than 1 percent of all the samples taken showed lead concentrations that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Given other safety measures in place, officials assured parents, the water was safe to drink. But a review of how the testing was conducted suggests that the amount of lead in the water that students consume could be greater than the results indicate."

"New England is running out of mussels. The Gulf of Maine's once strong population of wild blue mussels is disappearing, scientists say."