EHN Sunday: Canadian crude oil rail disaster; Tainted drinking water in California's farmland.

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Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health. At least one person dead in Canadian train derailment, explosion. At least one person is dead and dozens are missing in Lac Mégantic, after a cargo train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning, sending balls of fire shooting into the air. Eighteen hours after the explosion thick plumes of smoke continued to fill the sky. Montreal Gazette, Quebec. http://bit.ly/1aOPq5X California farm communities suffer tainted drinking water. The groundwater underlying dozens of Latino communities throughout the Central Valley has long borne the brunt of the region's industrial-scale agriculture. As the state's population grows and its complex water systems are further racked by climate change, residents across all income levels will become more dependent on increasingly scarce and polluted groundwater. High Country News http://bit.ly/13sznJf Texas lawmakers too busy targeting abortion providers to deal with exploding fertilizer plants. In the two and a half months since an explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer storage facility left 12 first responders dead and at least 200 people injured, two things have become clear. The disaster could have been avoided if the proper regulations had been in place and enforced—and state and federal agencies don't appear to be in a hurry to put those regulations in place or enforce them. Mother Jones http://bit.ly/1809LoA Water squeeze in Oregon pits ranchers against tribes. Two parties with strong ties to the land, the upper basin ranchers and The Klamath Tribes, are pitted against each other for limited water, the latest skirmish in one of the nation's most persistent water wars. And deep historical divisions stand in the way of compromise. Portland Oregonian, Oregon. http://bit.ly/12OvAhM Global threat to food supply as water wells dry up, warns top environment expert. Wells are drying up and underwater tables falling so fast in the Middle East and parts of India, China and the US that food supplies are seriously threatened, one of the world's leading resource analysts has warned. London Observer, United Kingdom. http://bit.ly/1acp8uY Fearing contamination, Chinese pay more for imported infant goods. Chinese parents, who are mostly only allowed to have one child, simply do not want to take the risk of possible contamination in local baby products. Foreign companies know this and many take advantage. Reuters http://reut.rs/14VDQjp Hopes climb amid talks to clean contaminated 'Mt. PCB' in Kalamazoo. John DeKoff lives only a few hundred yards from a mound of 1.5 million cubic yards of potentially carcinogenic, toxic material. While he prefers it stay right where it is, many of DeKoff's neighbors want what one called "Mt. PCB" out of the neighborhood as soon as possible. Detroit Free Press, Michigan. http://on.freep.com/12axVF4 Toxic substances found in Australian reserve. The Environmental Protection Authority has been accused of covering up the discovery of some of the most poisonous substances on earth at levels well above health limits, alarming residents whose children use the tested area as a playground. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia. [Registration Required] http://bit.ly/14zJSar Health risk as crops watered with effluent. Fruit and vegetables grown in NSW are being watered with human effluent because some farmers think it makes good fertiliser, showing "negligent disregard" for public health, a parliamentary inquiry has found. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia. [Registration Required] http://bit.ly/12clxYt Deepwater Horizon: BP cries foul as 10,000 claims flood in each month. The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster had some awful, undisputed consequences: 11 people died when the BP oil rig exploded on 20 April 2010, and oil poured unchecked into the Gulf of Mexico for 86 days. London Observer, United Kingdom. http://bit.ly/14VEg9v Climate change planning, prevention needed to protect Maine fisheries, say officials. Commercial fishermen in Maine will remember 2012 as a year when normal fishing routines did not apply. The reason, according to scientists and fisheries officials, is that water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine last summer were several degrees higher than expected. Bangor Daily News, Maine. http://bit.ly/1a30WYs The elements of destruction. Scotland is facing more than 100 serious threats to our way of life because of rising pollution that is affecting the climate, according to a series of new assessments by the Scottish Government. Glasgow Herald, United Kingdom. http://bit.ly/12v79qU In cargo delivery, the three-wheelers that could. In 2009, Franklin Jones founded B-Line Sustainable Urban Delivery, a company that delivers produce, baked goods, coffee beans, bike parts and office supplies to restaurants, bike shops and other businesses throughout Portland’s downtown area using electric-assisted tricycles that pull 60-cubic-foot cargo boxes with a 600-pound capacity. New York Times [Registration Required] http://nyti.ms/153n69z Enbridge’s tar sands pipelines. While all eyes are focused on the Keystone XL pipeline, oil company Enbridge is quietly planning to expand a web of other pipelines to bring Alberta Tar Sands oil to ports. Living On Earth http://bit.ly/11qvcMG Will fracking in Lancashire's green hills solve Britain's energy crisis? Shale gas extraction could bring jobs and lower emissions. But opponents say the drillers' claims are spurious, and "fracking" is simply too dangerous. London Observer, United Kingdom. http://bit.ly/10GPIpT ‘Gasland’ sequel accuses energy industry of corrupting government. Josh Fox galvanized the U.S. anti-fracking movement with his incendiary 2010 documentary “Gasland.” Now he’s back with a sequel — and this time, he’s targeting an audience of just one. Associated Press http://bit.ly/18FrwsF Gas line upgrade proposed for NY-to-Boston route. In another sign that natural gas is outpacing costlier heating oil, a Texas energy company is proposing to install new pipelines, replace others and build transmission stations in the heavily populated New York-to-Boston corridor. Environmentalists, who say natural gas is only slightly less dirty than other fossil fuels, are protesting expanded gas pipelines. Associated Press http://bit.ly/18FlMiM A painful mix of fire, wind and questions. Investigators are now beginning the task, which will take months, of unraveling how a routine afternoon of cutting fire lines along the edge of a community threatened by flames turned into the deadliest day for wilderness firefighters in 80 years. New York Times [Registration Required] http://nyti.ms/153lvR4 Homes keep rising in west despite growing wildfire threat. The death of 19 firefighters in Arizona this week highlights what has become a fact of life in the West: Every summer, smoke fills the big skies yet people continue to build in the places that burn most. More people live in these areas, and many balk at controls on how and where to build. New York Times [Registration Required] http://nyti.ms/181iSp2 Sequestration sinks stream gauges. The USGS operates some 7,000 stream gauges across the country, used by 850 other organizations for everything from watershed research to bridge design to water supply predictions. Each gauge costs around $14,000 to $18,000 to operate annually, and the budget cuts have jeopardized about 375. High Country News http://bit.ly/12aFAqc New Hampshire bees avoiding colony collapse so far. It appears as though local beekeepers have been spared from a disorder plaguing honey bees throughout the nation. However, researchers say that doesn’t mean New Hampshire won’t be affected in the future. Foster's Daily Democrat, New Hampshire. http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130707/GJNEWS_01/130709510 Ontario honey bees dropping like flies. David Schuit is an apiarist with bees that work to make honey for him. But now he fears the bee business is losing its buzz, and he claims it’s largely because of a rampantly used pesticide that he believes is killing his bees by the millions. Truro Daily News, Nova Scotia. http://bit.ly/153cQhz Edible insect market hindered by legal and cultural barriers in Spain. A 280-square-metre warehouse in Coín, a municipality in the southern Spanish province of Málaga, is home to a unique type of farm, where insects are raised for human consumption and the production of animal feed. Tierramerica, Latin America. http://bit.ly/12caeiZ PETA finds itself on receiving end of others' anger. PETA, considered by many to be the highest-profile animal rights group in the country, kills an average of about 2,000 dogs and cats each year at its animal shelter in Norfolk, VA. New York Times [Registration Required] http://nyti.ms/12PMlh9 More news from today•>70 more stories, including: •Climate: An energy transition in the American west? Kansas coal power; Heat illnesses in Central Valley; Obama channels his inner Al Gore; Oregon Senate rejects 'clean fuels' bill; A comeback on Jersey Shore •Stories from UK, Netherlands; Japan, China, India, Australia, Mexico, Canada •US stories from CT, NY, NJ, PA, IL, LA, KS, TX, MT, CO, AZ, CA •Editorials: Reining in the regulators; California needs comprehensive oil and gas rules; US should lead war on pollution; Good to see FDA take on new tobacco rule; Miami's Atlantis, interrupted; Time to end ethanol subsidies Shortcuts to stories from today about The good news, Avian flu, Climate, Children's health, Air pollution, Cancer, Reproductive disorders, Endocrine disruption, Birth defects, Learning and developmental disabilities, Immune disorders, Environmental justice, Superfund, Water treatment/sewage, Food safety, Integrity of science, Green chemistry. You can also read last weekend's news. Plus: If you were on vacation last week, don't miss last week's top stories... 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