"The earthquake that shook the East Coast last week rattled casks holding radioactive nuclear waste at a Virginia plant, moving them as much as 4.5 inches from their original position, the plant's operator said.

The 5.8-magnitude quake shifted 25 casks, each 16 feet tall and weighing 115 tons, on a concrete pad at Dominion Resources Inc's North Anna nuclear plant."

Roberta Rampton reports for Reuters September 1, 2011. [2]

"NEW ORLEANS -- A slow-moving tropical depression was slogging toward the U.S. Gulf coast Friday, packing walloping rains that could drench the region with up to 20 inches (50 centimeters). In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal said he was concerned about the serious threat of flash flooding in his state and he declared a state of emergency Thursday. After devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005, nothing is being taken for granted."

"Texas governor Rick Perry tried to sideline a state commissioner who opposed expanding the scope of a nuclear-waste landfill owned by one of the governor's biggest political donors, Reuters has learned."

"The risk that an earthquake would cause a severe accident at a U.S. nuclear plant is greater than previously thought, 24 times as high in one case, according to an AP analysis of preliminary government data. The nation's nuclear regulator believes a quarter of America's reactors may need modifications to make them safer."

"When state officials published the last Texas State Water Plan five years ago, they conspicuously and controversially chose not to factor man-made global warming into their planning.

Now, with just four months to go until the Texas Water Development Board is required to adopt an updated rendition of the comprehensive water-supply blueprint for the state, the agency is still deciding how to address human-caused climate change, the board chairman told a Houston audience recently."

"A major fruit company's lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration could have a chilling effect on regulators' efforts to get tainted food off the market. Florida-based Del Monte Fresh Produce is striking back at the FDA with a lawsuit after the agency halted imports of its Guatemalan cantaloupes, saying they may be contaminated with salmonella. Such a lawsuit is extremely rare, and the threat of litigation could make officials more reluctant to tell the public about the possibility of contamination in food."

"The world's largest tobacco company is attempting to gain access to confidential information about British teenagers' smoking habits."

"A team of researchers from the University of Colorado has concluded that the hamster-sized mammal is doing better than previously believed, finding the population is holding its own in the southern Rocky Mountains."

"Chinese environmental groups accused Apple Inc. of turning a blind eye as its suppliers pollute the country, the latest criticism of the technology company's environmental record."

"Significant levels of the world's most-used herbicide have been detected in air and water samples from two U.S. farm states, government scientists said on Wednesday, in groundbreaking research on the active ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup."