"The Obama administration scaled back toxic air rules on heavy industrial boilers, a sign it may be willing to compromise with businesses and Republicans on future air pollution rules."

Hydrofluoric acid is a deadly chemical used in many petroleum refinery operations. When it escapes, it becomes a gas that can race long distances and kill people who inhale it. Safer alternatives are available to refineries. At the urging of petrochemical companies, Congress and the executive branch have kept the dangers largely secret from the at-risk public, so there has been little pressure for refineries to make their operations safer. In a joint investigation the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News found that worst-case scenarios filed by just 50 refineries showed some 16 million Americans at risk from accidental or intentional hydrofluoric acid releases.

"Meanwhile, up in space, a class X solar flare event has triggered the biggest solar storm in four years, which given its large size – had the potential to disrupt ground communications back here on Earth."

"Miami-Dade, amid a changing regulatory environment and slower growth, is looking for cheaper ways to meet future water needs."

"Lawyers for Bayer CropScience are trying to convince a federal judge the company's Institute plant is safe, even as a federal agency that investigated the facility continues to call for more inspections before Bayer's controversial methyl isocyanate unit is allowed to resume production."

The removal of a dam on Twelve Mile Creek in Pickens County, SC, will release a glut of sediment that will bury more deeply PCB-tainted sediments in a reservoir further downstream.
 

"The Supreme Court declined [Tuesday] to take up whether federal regulators and courts take account sufficiently of the economic impacts of "critical habitat" designations under the Endangered Species Act."