California

"Not far from Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, there’s a nondescript building that looks like it might be home to stealth startup. But if you walk in the front door, you won’t find cubicles or computers. You’ll find a secret bike shop where people like Robert Jimenez and Terry Mac twist wrenches and true tires all day long, rocking out to AC/DC and Pink Floyd. Then, if you slip into the back room, you’ll see them: 1,300 green, blue, red and yellow Google Bikes, stacked Santa’s workshop-style as far the eye can see."

"Toxics regulators say Exide Technologies has been releasing hazardous waste into the soil beneath its plant because of a degraded pipeline."

"It's the first environmental health screening tool of its kind in the country. California's Environmental Protection Agency is rolling out 'Cal Enviroscreen' which helps pinpoint communities that may be particularly vulnerable to pollution."

"The newly formed group of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep barreled up rugged Olancha Peak last month, the 10 females and four males becoming the first new herd of the endangered animals reintroduced in California in 25 years."

"Supreme Court justices [Tuesday] appeared receptive to the trucking industry's call to strike down a Port of Los Angeles program designed to clean up some of the country's most diesel-polluted air."

"California on Thursday became the latest state to place restrictions on the chemical known as Bisphenol-A and declare it a reproductive toxicant."

"Edison International’s request for a license amendment for a proposed restart of its crippled California nuclear reactor doesn’t pose significant safety risks, federal regulators said in a preliminary finding."

"A court ruling that the U.S. government must consider the environmental impact of 'fracking' on federal lands leased to oil companies offers opponents of the technique a useful weapon in the fierce public debate in California and other parts of the country."

"LOS ANGELES -- Surfers here have long lived by a simple rule: When it rains, no matter how good the waves may be, stay out of the water. Those who do head out to the Venice Pier on a rainy day might have their bravery (or naïveté) repaid with pinkeye, a fever or diarrhea."

"The Home Depot chain agreed to pay $8 million for selling tens of thousands of gallons of paint, varnishes, sealants and other liquid building materials that violated regional air quality rules, the South Coast Air Quality Management District announced Thursday, April 4."