Pollution

"Hundreds of scientists have signed a letter sent to Canada’s prime minister blasting a federal review recommending the approval of the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline as biased, Canadian media reported."

"A new University of Waterloo report warns that natural gas seeping from 500,000 wellbores represent 'a threat to environment and public safety' due to groundwater contamination, greenhouse gas emissions and explosion risks wherever methane collects in unvented buildings and spaces."

"For months, a company that stores giant mounds of petroleum coke on Chicago's Southeast Side has maintained it had nothing to do with gritty clouds of dust blowing into surrounding neighborhoods or black residue staining the sides of nearby houses."

"Carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and particulate matter (PM) are harmful air pollutants that pose significant short- and long-term health risks. Emitted from coal-fired power plants, vehicle exhaust pipes, and other combustion sources, they’re among six primary pollutants monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Clean Air Act. These same pollutants are also some of the most common contributors to unhealthy air inside U.S. homes, due in part to a ubiquitous and possibly surprising activity: cooking."

"Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday they were working to mitigate damage from a spill of crude oil within the Delta National Wildlife Refuge."

"In a rare unilateral action, Delaware regulators have commissioned a wide-ranging environmental evaluation at the idled Evraz Claymont Steel plant, a longtime source of problems ranging from metallic soot and mercury to toxic contaminants in soil and groundwater."

"The largest source of chromium contamination near the Columbia River at Hanford has been removed after workers dug up contaminated soil down to groundwater 85 feet deep."

"Photographer and pilot Alex MacLean wanted to learn more about the Keystone XL pipeline, which if approved will carry oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, so he decided to take pictures from above of the tar sands that will supply oil to the project. What he found shocked him."

"Newly released data from federal researchers suggests that coal ash in the Dan River has migrated fairly dramatically in recent weeks but stayed well upstream from Kerr Reservoir."

"State lawmakers who have been cutting environmental regulations in their quest for to streamline government have a new target: cutting the number of air quality monitors around the state."