"Japanese authorities, now struggling to contain leaks of radioactive groundwater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, were urged two years ago by U.S. experts to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination but decided not to act on the advice."
"Property losses from flooding in Colorado will total nearly $2 billion, about half from housing and half in the commercial and government sectors, catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive estimate of the disaster's economic toll."
"The U.S. government rejected the sale of coal in Wyoming after an auction drew the lowest top bid in 15 years, as the outlook for the power-plant fuel weakens because of cheap natural gas and new rules coming out this week."
"New rules limiting emissions from U.S. power plants that are expected to be proposed on Friday will 'provide certainty' to the coal industry, environment and energy chiefs told lawmakers anxious about the fuel's future."
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ranks the causes of the antibiotic resistance in bacteria that kills an estimated 23,000 Americans every year. One surprise is the finding that hospitals are an even bigger source of resistant bacteria than are food animal feeding operations.
"As Texas’ rivers run dry and lakes fall to record low levels, part of the fight over water supplies is moving underground."
"Coal’s future is being built in rural Mississippi, and so far this is what it looks like: a $1 billion cost overrun, a stew of legal battles, a revolt by ratepayers and a credit downgrade for the local utility."
"Two environmental activists who climbed an OAO Gazprom (GAZP) Arctic rig to protest planned oil extraction were taken into custody following warning shots from Russia’s Coast Guard."
"Colorado's richest oil field -- the Denver-Julesburg Basin -- is buried in floodwaters, raising operational and environmental concerns, as state and industry officials work to get a handle on the problem."
"There was never doubt that the deadly train derailment in Lac-Mégantic caused an environmental disaster, but a report made public this week by Quebec’s ministry of the environment details the extent of the devastation to the soil, river and lake near the disaster zone."
