Water & Oceans

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up the controversy of the thirsty Fort Worth area's bid to get water from Oklahoma.

"Two Americans face federal arraignment next week in Maine on charges that they were part of a smuggling ring that brought narwhal tusks into the United States from Canada for illegal sale."

"Every day, 50 to 60 broken water pipes are repaired in this megacity of over 20 million residents. Sometimes that means a surprise loss of water for Mexico City residents."

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Efforts to pull the Shell drilling rig Kulluk from its near-shore perch on rocks and gravel moved ahead mainly in secret Saturday, though officials disclosed Alaska has approved a tow plan to a temporary destination in nearby safe waters and that towing could be attempted at any time."

"Chesapeake Bay oysters are being resurrected from the dead. Blue crabs are roaring back. And after taking a huge blow from the monster storm called Sandy, the weakened bay proved in the fall that it could right itself and come back looking fresh."

"Companies will not be able to keep trade secrets for hydraulic fracturing ingredients if a proposed Alaska rule is adopted."

"A Shell Oil drilling rig that ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska has incurred water damage to its deck and electrical systems but is otherwise stable, officials with the response team handling the accident said Thursday."

"Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that was drilling the BP Macondo well when it caught fire and sank off the Louisiana coast in 2010, beginning the nation's largest oil spill, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act and pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines to settle violations of the Clean Water Act and federal offshore drilling safety regulations, the company and the U.S. Justice Department announced today."

"CONCORD, N.H. -- Nearly a decade after it was first brought, a lawsuit accusing two oil giants of widespread groundwater contamination in New Hampshire is expected to present jurors with the most complex and time-consuming trial in state history."

"The U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Dutch Shell were fighting 70 mile-per-hour winds and 40-foot swells as they tried to assess damage to a floating oil drilling ship that ran aground on a remote Alaskan island."