Pollution

"A federal court has rejected Kansas’ challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) disapproval of an air pollution plan from the state."

"The oil-pipeline leak that fouled a stretch of California coastline last week reflects a troubling trend in the nation's infrastructure: As U.S. oil production has soared, so has the number of pipeline accidents."

"Government prosecutors are investigating the company at the center of the California oil spill for possible criminal sanctions, according to the district attorney of Santa Barbara - a city that helped spawn the modern environmental movement."

"The U.S. Justice Department's recent prosecution of three Duke Energy subsidiaries for improper handling of toxic coal ash marked the most significant federal crackdown on coal ash in history and sends a clear signal to other operators that they could face criminal charges if there's an ash spill or major damage, experts say."

"The U.S. Coast Guard captain overseeing cleanup of oil spilled from a pipeline rupture that closed two California state beaches and fouled offshore waters near Santa Barbara said on Thursday it may take months to restore the area to its natural condition."

"New study finds fracking releases cancer-causing chemicals into the air many times higher than the EPA considers safe."

"Lung and adrenal lesions found in dead bottlenose dolphins stranded along the Gulf of Mexico between June 2010 and December 2012 are consistent with the types of damage that marine mammals sustain from exposure to petroleum products after an oil spill, according to a new study published on Wednesday by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"Cleanup crews fanned out across an oil-fouled California beach on Wednesday to scoop up gobs of petroleum spewed from a burst pipeline in what may be the biggest oil spill to hit the pristine but energy-rich Santa Barbara coastline in 46 years."

"California officials have identified 260 oil company wastewater injection wells that are so shallow or so close to wells used for drinking or irrigation that they could threaten the state’s precious groundwater supplies, new data show."