"Fed up with sending their kids' dirty diapers to the local landfill, three Bay Area families launched a business two years ago aimed at turning soiled diapers into compost for farms, golf courses and plant nurseries."

"The company whose pipeline exploded into a fireball in San Bruno this month has reported leaks at a rate six times the annual average for other large pipeline operators, data analyzed by The Times show."

"An activist with the Communities for a Better Environment takes on Big Oil over delaying the state's global warming law."

"Most levees in the city of Sacramento have technically failed a maintenance inspection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because they are bristling with trees and other structural intrusions. But the city won't be penalized — for now — while long-term solutions are being developed."

"One of Northern California's largest polluters may be trying to orchestrate a last-minute deal with Sacramento lawmakers to evade state environmental laws, potentially increasing its toxic emissions and skirting two court rulings."

"California lawmakers have rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags, after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice."

"Five out of nine members of a scientific panel that advises [California] state on toxic chemicals have been fired in recent weeks, following disputes with the chemical industry and a conservative group that targets environmental laws."

"The monitoring is at its lowest level since becoming law more than a decade ago, putting swimmers, surfers and divers at greater risk of exposure to contaminated water, a Times investigation shows."

"Cruise ships and large commercial ships will be banned from dumping any kind of sewage -- even highly filtered wastewater -- along California's coast out to three miles from shore, under new rules from the Obama administration."