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"As North Carolina moves to tap potentially rich natural gas reserves, some warn that the drilling process is fraught with environmental hazards. The Fayetteville Observer explores the debate, and how this new industry could transform the Cape Fear region, in a six-day series this week."

Fracking plans in southern Louisiana have ignited a political firestorm over potential damage to a regional aquifer.

"People who disclose confidential information about hydraulic fracturing chemicals in North Carolina would be subject to criminal penalties and civil damages, under a bill in the state Legislature."

"Two environmental groups say an unlined coal ash pond just outside of Harrodsburg, Ky., is leaking toxic contaminants into the surrounding surface and groundwater, causing a potential threat to nearby residents."

"Chemicals in water from deep underground in hydraulic fracturing wells have caused problems as they get to water treatment plants in other states. It’s a potential problem to consider as North Carolina moves closer to allowing fracking."

"ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- With at least $11 million in government funding spent so far on the CTS Superfund site, neighbors like Lori Murphy see little to show for it."

"Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., requested that the Environmental Protection Agency weigh in on an unauthorized oil drilling incident close to the Florida Everglades."

"Strong storms have been moving over the Southeast since this weekend, spawning tornadoes from Alabama to Arkansas. On Tuesday they trekked further east, spreading heavy rain across the Alabama coast and Florida Panhandle. Rainfall totals for many cities in those regions were so high that they were closer to hurricane totals than spring storms."

"In what could be described as a defeat for the developers of the Bluegrass Pipeline, they announced today they were suspending all capital investment in the controversial project due to a lack of customers agreeing to buy the natural gas liquids the pipeline promised to carry."

"For the first time since Duke Energy’s defunct Eden, N.C., coal plant leaked thousands of gallons of coal ash into the Dan River nearly three months ago, the public is getting a look at how the nation’s largest electric utility company may change its containment of coal ash, a substance environmentalists say is one of the biggest threats to rivers and groundwater across the country."