"NEWARK — Elevated levels of lead caused officials in New Jersey’s largest school district on Wednesday to shut off water fountains at 30 school buildings until more tests could be conducted, officials said."

State and federal officials Friday announced a plan to clean up more than a century's worth of toxic pollution from the lower eight miles of the Passaic river, in one of the largest and most expensive projects under EPA's 35-year-old Superfund program.

"HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. — One resident called 911 asking whether the village’s water would burn his skin off. Families have lined up to have their blood drawn and their wells tested. Banks stopped giving out mortgages, and some local residents stopped washing their dishes, their clothes and themselves. Erin Brockovich has been to town."

"Young children in Western New York suffer from the highest rate of lead poisoning in the upstate region – a rate that’s more than three times higher than that in Flint, Mich., where a cost-driven switch to an alternate water system left 4 percent of children tested with signs of lead exposure."

"Biologists discover first salmon spawning since Revolutionary War, drawing new attention to canceled restoration program".

"Gov. Chris Christie’s latest budget proposal honors a decade-old practice in New Jersey: It diverts millions of dollars intended for a lead exposure prevention program to the state’s general fund."

"A man-made chemical used in the manufacture of stain-resistant carpets, waterproof clothing, non-stick cooking pans and other products that make life less messy has spread so far through the environment that it can be found everywhere from the fish in the Delaware River to polar bears in the Arctic — and even some drinking water in North Jersey."