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"The governor declines to declare that one exists. Critics say it's all about business."

"More than 191,000 gallons of toxic chemicals may have been released from the Stolthaven New Orleans petroleum and chemical storage and transfer terminal in Braithwaite during Hurricane Isaac, according to a company report filed Tuesday with the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center. That's just one day after the Louisiana Department of Environmental Qualty assured the public that monitoring at the facility detected no offsite contamination."

"Aging boomers pop more pills to keep fit. Farmers feed more antibiotics and hormones to fatten livestock. Adults and children use exotic shampoos and conditioners to make their hair shiny. Most of these drugs and personal-care chemicals wind up down the drain, into sewage, land-applied sludge, reclaimed water and ultimately the Indian River Lagoon, St. Johns River and other waters."

"It's been seven years since a poisonous cloud spread across tiny Graniteville, S.C., after a deadly train wreck rocked the gritty textile community. And since that tragic morning in January 2005, a group of researchers has been tracking the lingering effects of chlorine on the public health."

"Climate change may be the subject of debate in some places but in South Florida it’s become a costly reality."

"In Miami Beach, where prolonged flooding in low-lying neighborhoods has become the norm after heavy storms, city leaders are weighing a $206 million overhaul of an antiquated drainage system increasingly compromised by rising sea level.

"LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The sooty-looking black gunk has been here for as long as anyone can remember, creeping on the outside of homes, spreading over porch furniture, blanketing car roofs, mysterious and ever-present."

"The National Hurricane Center has placed the New Orleans area under a hurricane watch for Isaac, which is now forecast to make landfall at Gulfport on Wednesday at 7 a.m.  as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph. The new forecast extends the hurricane watch area westward to Morgan City.

"The fallout has begun just one day after a federal appeals court scrapped a major EPA rule designed to curb long-distance drifting power plant pollution -- and Louisville's air quality may pay the price."