"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will set up its microphones for an all day hearing Tuesday in Galena Park, a community on Houston’s east side in the heart of the enormous Houston Ship Channel refinery complex. It’s the second of two such hearings with the first held last month in a similar community in Los Angeles."
"Small hydropower projects have the potential to bring electricity to millions of people now living off the grid. But experts warn that planners must carefully consider the cumulative effects of constructing too many small dams in a single watershed."
"Local residents are calling it an environmental disaster. A breach of the tailings pond on Mount Polley Mine sent five million cubic metres of toxic waste into Hazeltine Creek, Quesnel Lake and Polley Lake, with fears it could spread far and wide in the coming days."
"Eight Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation wrote President Obama Monday urging him to reconsider his administration's plan to allow seismic testing for oil and gas off the mid-Atlantic coast."
"Mississippi Power will convert from coal to natural gas or retire several units at plants in south Mississippi and Greene County, Alabama, as part of an agreement to end litigation over construction of a coal-fired power plant in Kemper County."
"DENVER — Seeking to head off a costly election-year fight over oil and gas drilling that could threaten vulnerable Colorado Democrats, Gov. John W. Hickenlooper said Monday that he had reached a deal to keep two antifracking measures off November’s ballots."
"TOLEDO, Ohio — It took a serendipitous slug of toxins and the loss of drinking water for a half-million residents to bring home what scientists and government officials in this part of the country have been saying for years: Lake Erie is in trouble, and getting worse by the year."
"U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) has told The Blade she is demanding more transparency from environmental regulators after inadvertently learning during a conference call Sunday that Toledo's tap water has been as high as 3 parts per billion for the toxin found in microcystis algae - three times higher than the World Health Organization standard of 1 ppb."
"Inside Story" editor Beth Daley interviews Tampa (FL) Bay Times' Ivan Penn about his reporting on nuclear power, including the closing of the Crystal River Nuclear Plant, problems with cooling tubes at another facility and the risk to ratepayers for new nuclear power generation in Florida. Photo: Cooling towers at Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida. © Maurice Rivenbark, Tampa Bay Times.
In this issue: Covering the environment, health fallout of unexploded ordnance; special report on risk and resilience/lessons from Louisiana on the realities of coastal iving; freelancers and fellowships, a path for growth; utilizing the National Weather Service to track storm intensity; tapping the environmental journalism 'power grid'; book reviews; and classroom research on long-term relevance of front-page stories.
