"In the early 1980s, the cancer deaths of four little girls — whose bodies were so tiny they could fit in shoe boxes — forced Hazel Johnson to shift the focus of an organization she'd recently founded."

"The Obama administration has developed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species."

"While lawmakers and the White House ratchet up efforts to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan, boating and fishing communities along the Illinois River are under siege."

"Federal authorities on Monday presented a $78.5 million plan intended to block Asian carp, a hungry, huge, nonnative fish, from invading the Great Lakes."

"Downtown Chicago has the highest peak levels of nitrogen dioxide in the country, and is the only site in violation of new stricter guidelines against the irritant, which inflames asthma and other lung conditions."

"General Motors and Delphi Corp. spent 60 years making door and trunk latches, seat-belt fasteners and other metal parts for cars and trucks before shutting the Franklin Township [OH[ factory in 2007."

"Opponents of planned wood-burning power plants in southern Indiana are watching closely as state officials finish work on an air permit that would dictate what types of wood products the first of the plants can burn."

"Chemicals used in Scotchgard and Teflon are regulated, but metal plating companies got a pass by Bush's EPA."

"Joliet is pushing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to more than double the concentration of cancer-causing radium it's allowed to dump onto farmland in the south suburbs, expanding the potential for deadly radon gas in these increasingly urban communities."