Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI)

Residents of Joliet, Illinois, worry about what coal ash in huge pits will do to their wells -- and their health.

The Great Lakes, America's largest supply of fresh water, and surrounding forests, wetlands, and waterways are threatened by new mining of copper and nickel.

Many cities in Wisconsin still face toxic contamination from municipal gas plants closed six decades ago. Similar sites are found in other states.

"More than a third of Wisconsinites rely on well water in their homes, and we've discovered much of that water could be tainted.  The problem: many families don't have their wells tested.  And those wells could contain invisible poisons."

"Five ethanol facilities in Minnesota have been cited in the past 12 months for widespread air and water quality violations. They have paid more than $2.8 million in penalties and corrective actions."

In an interview, White House "Asian Carp Czar" John Goss outlines his plans for removing the invasive species from the threatened Great Lakes ecosystem.

"For more than six years, a power plant that towers over Chicago's Southeast Side repeatedly has belched out smoke so thick it violates air pollution laws and aggravates respiratory illnesses for residents nearby."

"Illinois is failing to crack down on water pollution from large confined-animal farms, the Obama  administration announced Wednesday in a stinging rebuke that gave the state a month to figure out how to fix its troubled permitting and enforcement programs."

"Michigan could be seeing the beginning of a new boom in drilling for natural gas. Leases for drilling rights are going for unheard of prices in northern-lower Michigan."