"North Carolina's top environmental official says he briefed Gov. Pat McCrory about a negotiated settlement with Duke Energy that would have fined the $50 billion corporation $99,000 to resolve violations for groundwater contamination leaching from two huge coal ash dumps."
"FRESNO, Calif. — President Obama arrived in the heart of California’s parched farmland on Friday afternoon to offer tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance to the state, where the lack of rain and snow this winter has led to the severest drought in its modern history."
"RALEIGH — The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the state environmental agency tasked with regulating Duke Energy after a coal ash spill left the Dan River so polluted that people were advised to avoid contact with the water."
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a request from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to reimburse costs associated with responding to the chemical leak that continues to affect central West Virginia."
"WASHINGTON -- Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer proposed emergency drought legislation Tuesday ahead of President Obama's planned visit to Fresno, as Democrats scrambled to counter GOP charges that trying to save rivers and fish during California's historic drought is destroying the nation's chief source of fruits and vegetables."
"TOKYO — Several industrialized countries have turned their backs on nuclear power as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including one that has already begun permanently shutting functioning plants. That country is not Japan."
"A coal ash spill into the Dan River this week focused North Carolina’s attention on the issue of coal ash reservoirs, but unlined ponds have been leaching waste into the soil for years."
"When chemical companies hired Grant Gillham in 2007 to manage a campaign in defense of flame retardants in couches and other consumer goods, Gillham recalled being "assured that the scientific information they had supporting the safety and effectiveness of their products was valid."
"Weeks after health authorities had told West Virginians that their water was safe to drink again following a toxic spill, schools in Charleston sent students home abruptly last week when students and staff members detected the telltale licorice odor of the leaked chemical."
"The Obama administration used flawed research in devising a plan to strip gray wolves across the continental United States of Endangered Species Act protections, and discounted evidence that failed to support it, a scientific panel said in a report released on Friday."
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