"Echoing her housing commissioner, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Monday that Baltimore's public housing authority has decided 'it is not possible' to pay lead-poisoning judgments that could one day exceed $800 million because the money is needed to improve living conditions for thousands of poor families."

"A Virginia state lawmaker caused a stir in February when he admitted that his resolution declaring U.S. EPA's effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions a 'regulatory train wreck' was written by the coal industry."

"Wildfires fed off what were described as 'perfect' conditions for burning again on Monday across drought-stricken Texas and nearby states."

"The U.S. government lashed out at companies at the heart of last year's Gulf oil spill on Monday, denying reports it had negotiated a deal with BP to resume drilling."

"A new report is suggesting the air at many Quebec construction sites contains levels of asbestos at or above provincial norms, raising fresh questions about whether the substance can be handled safely in Canada."

"A year after the worst coal mining accident in decades took the lives of 29 workers, prompting urgent calls to revamp oversight of one of the country's most dangerous jobs, not much has changed in the lives of those who toil deep underground."

"As the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station continued to dump radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, company officials said that seawater collected near the facility contained radiation several million times the legal limit."

""U.S. water utilities have known about the prevalence of a likely carcinogen in water sources for seven years and have failed to share that information with the public, according to an advocacy group, which released today a 2004 industry study of hexavalent chromium."

"Gov. Terry Branstad and state lawmakers are working to put the state agriculture department in charge of key water-quality programs, a move critics fear will undercut the state's ongoing struggle to clean waterways choked with silt, algae and worse."