"LOS ANGELES - The fall season has brought a wave of hot, dry weather to California, with parts of the state baking this weekend in triple-digit temperatures and officials expressing concern the summer-like heat could spark a massive wildfire."
"Construction crews are wading into chest high pools of muck in a race against time to install pumps Miami Beach officials hope will help control an annual super-high tide threatening to flood south Florida's popular seaside city next week."
"On his farm in Iowa, Matt Peters worked from dawn to dusk planting his 1,500 acres of fields with pesticide-treated seeds. 'Every spring I worried about him,' said his wife, Ginnie. 'Every spring I was glad when we were done.'"
"[Pennsylvania] State regulators did not consider available water chemistry test results and had limited knowledge of past spills and leaks at Range Resources’ Yeager Farm shale gas development site in Washington County before deciding the operation did not contaminate the nearby private water supply of Loren Kiskadden, according to testimony last week in the ongoing case before the state Environmental Hearing Board in Pittsburgh."
"A half-century ago, the owner and operator of a Pasadena paper mill sent its waste for burial to a site along the San Jacinto River. The black bisque of cancer-causing chemicals eventually leaked from the pits, turning these murky waters into one of the nation's most polluted places."
"A quixotic historian tries to hold oil and gas companies responsible for Louisiana’s disappearing coast."
"Research published Sunday concluded that the upper 2,300 feet of the Southern Hemisphere’s oceans may have warmed twice as quickly after 1970 than had previously been thought."
SEJ's 2015 conference was hosted in the land of weather, water and energy by the University of Oklahoma. Find coverage here. The agenda included video and graphics training, tours and sessions on fracking & quakes, climate change & extreme weather, water rights & fights, Native Americans & diversity, ag & soil health, and more.
"The American Chemistry Council has more than trippled its political spending ahead of the midterm elections as it fights tougher chemical regulations in Washington, according a new report from a watchdog group."
"Four new substances have been added to a list of chemicals that may cause cancer compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)."
