After the 9/11 attacks, government and industry warned that chemical plants were a prime terrorist target that could kill thousands of Americans. They moved quickly to make it harder for the public to know how large a threat the plants posed to nearby communities. But a decade later, the nation has yet to adopt a comprehensive anti-terrorism program for chemical plants.

"Environmental groups and their critics are trading blows over the findings of a recent Government Accountability Office report on environmental litigation costs. In the face of Republican claims that environmentalists game the legal system to win attorneys' fees, GAO experts examined lawsuits filed against U.S. EPA and found 'no discernible trend' over the last 16 years."

"BRIDGEWATER, NJ -- The floodwaters deposited by Hurricane Irene have submerged a chemical dump in Bridgewater — one of the most toxic sites in the nation — raising serious concerns and spurring several dozen contractors into action even though some sections remain 13 feet underwater."

"Five million people have been affected by floods in the Pakistani provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh, according to regional officials.

At least 133 people have been killed, officials said, and the number is expected to rise.

About 900 villages have been submerged and about 100,000 homes have been completely destroyed.

"A pipeline bill offered by House Republicans on Wednesday would block some safety reforms and ignores other recent safety recommendations made by accident investigators in response to a deadly natural gas explosion last year near San Francisco."

"Operation Helping Hands, the Catholic ministry that employed thousands of volunteers to rebuild nearly 200 homes after Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday it will shut down next summer, sooner than expected, because of its disastrous encounter with toxic Chinese drywall."

Hundreds of anti-fracking protestors rallied outside a Marcellus Shale industry conference in Philadelphia. Aubrey McClendon, the chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Co., called people concerned about the safety of their families' drinking water "extremists," even as an industry-friendly report noted that fracking could be costly to communities.

"KYOTO, Japan — Investigators concluded Thursday that a nuclear plant operator that tried to manipulate public opinion with fake e-mails was acting under instructions from a high-ranking local government official, adding a new twist to a scandal that has hampered Japan's efforts to restart idled nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster."

"Last month's record earthquake in the eastern United States may have shaken a Virginia nuclear plant twice as hard as it was designed to withstand, a spokesman for the U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday."

"Ten years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, public health and safety watchdogs are increasingly concerned that the country's program for securing chemical facilities from terrorists and thefts contains significant loopholes and leaves millions of Americans at risk."