Pittsburgh May Have 'Deflected' Attention From Lead-Contaminated Water
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Residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were given 'misleading' statements by health officials who 'deflected' attention from lead-contaminated water, according to the audit."
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Residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were given 'misleading' statements by health officials who 'deflected' attention from lead-contaminated water, according to the audit."
"The quality of sperm from men in North America, Europe and Australia has declined dramatically over the past 40 years, with a 52.4 percent drop in sperm concentration, according to a study published Tuesday."
"In a call to rescind an Obama-era regulation governing hydraulic fracturing on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management is calling for public input on how best to rely on "pre-existing authorities" to manage unconventional drilling."
"Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt vowed Tuesday to cut through bureaucratic red tape that has slowed the cleanup of toxic Superfund sites and follow a task force’s recommendations to act more boldly in holding companies responsible for past contamination."
"HELENA, Mont. -- Crews and equipment from 34 states arrived Monday to help fight four massive wildfires that have destroyed a dozen homes in eastern Montana and forced ranchers to let their livestock loose as the blazes spread unhindered across roads, rivers and man-made fire lines."

A federal court has ruled unconstitutional a Utah law that made undercover filming of livestock operations illegal. What's it mean for similar laws elsewhere? The latest WatchDog has the story, plus news on protecting whistleblowers, a digital journalist's legal guide, shielding of climate info and leaked government reports.
"Michael Dourson, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, founded and ran a toxicology consulting firm whose work enabled DuPont to avoid providing clean water to people in West Virginia after the company contaminated the area around one of its plants with a dangerous industrial chemical."
"State utility and gas regulators ignored a top gas manager's warnings about the risk of earthquakes to aging wells at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field when they okayed it to resume operations, Los Angeles County said Friday in court papers."
"The Atlantic Coast Pipeline intended to carry natural gas across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina would have some adverse environmental effects, including impacts on water resources, forest and other habitats, but most could be reduced to insignificant levels, an assessment by federal regulators found."

The media frenzy whipped up by Shark Week broadcasts mask a harsh reality — humans kill millions more sharks than sharks kill humans, making the real story for reporters the struggle to save sharks. Get ideas and resources on the shark conservation story from this week's TipSheet.