Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV)

"Environmental groups presented a federal official with more than 19,000 signed letters and postcards Tuesday asking the U.S. government to set stricter rules to prevent pollution in the Chesapeake Bay."

The Washington City Paper tested 27 public pools in the nation's capital and 37 percent of them came up positive for bacteria that can lead to outbreaks of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, norovirus, E. coli infection and other recreational water illnesses. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=37705

Bayer's plant at Institute, West Virginia, said that it would reduce by 80 percent its production of methyl isocyanate, the highly toxic chemical that killed thousands in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

A crabbing license is a cultural icon for Chesapeake Bay watermen, whose way of life is as threatened as the shellfish their ancestors harvested.

The city of Chesapeake, Va., will extend public water supply lines to residents around a golf course built on fly ash from a coal-burning utility. But the utility and city disagree on how much the utility will pay.

"The Environmental Protection Agency says it's putting the Chesapeake Bay on a pollution diet. The federal agency used the Twitter social networking site to 'tweet' the message Friday to its followers on the site."

"In a victory for environmental groups, a Richmond judge on Tuesday invalidated a permit for a coal-burning power plant being built in southwestern Virginia."

Methane problems in drinking water wells are more common than has been acknowledge by state regulators in Pennsylvania, which is one of the states experiencing a natural gas drilling boom.

"More than twice as many D.C. children as previously reported by federal and local health officials had high levels of lead in their blood amid the city's drinking water crisis, according to congressional investigators, throwing into doubt assurances by those officials that the lead in tap water did not seriously harm city children."