Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV)

"The massive sewage pipe that ruptured and leaked millions of gallons of raw waste into the Potomac River returned to operation Saturday after the completion of emergency repairs."

"On a recent afternoon, deep in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and less than an hour’s drive from Shenandoah National Park, a tricolored bat was moving its mouth rapidly, as if it was trying to chew something. In fact, it was echolocating, using its mouth to shape and direct pulses of ultrasonic sound as a way to survey its surroundings."

"A portion of Baltimore’s suburbs, including the region’s busy airport, has been put under a growth moratorium to control the threat of more wet-weather sewage overflows into the Patapsco River. The stoppage could potentially last for years."

"West Virginia lawmakers in the Senate passed a bill to weaken drinking water protections by loosening regulations for certain aboveground storage tanks. It is the latest move to weaken the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, passed in 2014 after a chemical leak from Freedom Industries along the Elk River contaminated drinking water for nearly 300,000 West Virginians in the Charleston area."

"House Bill 998 by Del. Holly Seibold, D-Fairfax, would require ingredient labels be listed on all menstrual products sold in Virginia, an effort to better inform consumers about possibly toxic substances in the reproductive health items." "As concerns over toxic metals and ‘forever chemicals’ flare, bill would offer consumers more clarity on products if signed into law."

"As Maryland lawmakers weigh proposals aimed at reining in utility companies, lowering electricity prices and expanding the state’s low-carbon energy system, a new audit report has found that the lobbyists who want to influence those decisions have largely operated in the dark—and done so legally."

"A bill banning the pesticide paraquat died last week in the Virginia House of Delegates after the chamber’s Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee voted 22-0, with little explanation, to carry the measure over to next year for consideration."

"The Virginia Senate’s Finance and Appropriations Committee approved budget legislation for the coming fiscal year that ends a tax exemption for data centers on January 1."