First of 2 parts on Coal's Slipping Grip: New England nears coal-free status.

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Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health. Coal's slipping grip: New England, virtually coal-free, leads the way. The 500-foot candy-stripe smokestack - a fixture on the Bridgeport, Conn., waterfront for nearly five decades - is a vestige of this region’s coal-fired past: New England is virtually coal-free. But it is also also a reminder of coal's heavier pollution burden. Environmental Health News http://bit.ly/16JmrM5 19 firefighters killed in Arizona blaze. Arizona State forestry officials confirmed Sunday night that 19 firefighters died in a wildifire that ripped through the small town of Yarnell, Ariz. Fire officials called it the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona. Arizona Daily Star, Arizona. http://bit.ly/18qoNDx Tailpipe emissions choking New Jersey residents, experts say. New Jersey has made steady progress in improving its air quality over the past 10 years, but it may take another decade to achieve the federal health standard for ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in the smog that smothers parts of the state each summer. Montclair NJ Spotlight, New Jersey. http://bit.ly/13gZbYN Nitrate spike tests Des Moines water supplies. The record surge in nitrates in Des Moines’ water supply is a surprisingly long-lasting health threat that already has cost $500,000 in higher treatment costs and likely will lead to increased rates next year, according to Des Moines Water Works. Des Moines Register, Iowa. http://dmreg.co/13h2zTe New Hampshire: TCE testing process took years. In 2006, state environmental officials confirmed what a Dartmouth College official had suspected years before: Vapor from trichloroethylene, a cancer-causing solvent known as TCE, might pose a threat to the health of people exposed to it. But a response was slow in developing. Hanover Valley News, New Hampshire. http://bit.ly/11TYxxf At one US Army base, a vision for a new shade of green. As base commander at Ft. Bliss, Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard has moved to cut energy use and switch to renewables, increase recycling, conserve drinking water, build bike paths and test an experimental combat outpost that consumes less fuel and water. Los Angeles Times [Registration Required] http://lat.ms/18qC7Yn Fracking waste keeps rolling into Ohio from other states. The shale drilling boom that has helped create a huge supply of cheap natural gas continues to bring more and more fracking waste into Ohio. Columbus Dispatch, Ohio. http://bit.ly/12Bj59a Oil thefts threaten Nigeria's economy, environment. Oil thefts, long a problem in the Niger Delta, are growing at an ever-faster rate despite increasingly dire warnings about the effect on Nigeria's crude production. Some 200,000 barrels a day — representing about 10 percent of Nigeria's production — are siphoned off pipelines crisscrossing the region. Associated Press http://abcn.ws/11TQ2SQ Ghana's crackdown on Chinese gold miners hits one rural area hard. To the people of Shanglin County, gold is a curse. This month, Ghanaian authorities declared their mines illegal and arrested more than 200 Chinese miners, accusing them of polluting the land and abusing local workers. New York Times [Registration Required] http://nyti.ms/14l1Ayl US is not waging war on coal, Energy Secretary Moniz says. The U.S. government is not waging a "war on coal" but rather expects it to still play a significant role, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Sunday, rejecting criticism of President Barack Obama's climate change plan. Reuters http://reut.rs/13kNr6c Heat Wave: Death Valley hits 128 degrees - or is it 129? Blame it on dueling thermometers. The National Weather Service thermometer recorded a peak temperature at 4 p.m. Sunday of 128 degrees in Death Valley National Park, which ties the record for the hottest June day anywhere in the United States. Los Angeles Times [Registration Required] http://lat.ms/1aug7wA Oil platform, destroyed in 2004 during Hurricane Ivan, is still leaking in Gulf. A 32-mile-long oil slick in the Gulf stretches east from the former site of Taylor Energy's Mississippi Canyon 20 A platform, which was knocked down and covered by a landslide during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. New Orleans Times-Picayune, Louisiana. http://bit.ly/1b1NLsf Warning over use of lethal 'bomb' pesticides in United Arab Emirates. Householders have been warned about unlicensed pest-control companies using a pesticide called “bomb” that is potentially fatal. “Bomb”, or aluminum phosphide, has been banned from public sale since 2009 and only licensed operators are permitted to use it. Abu Dhabi National, United Arab Emirates. http://bit.ly/13gZeng Drug trial offers hope for decimated Tasmanian devil population. There is fresh hope for Tasmanian devils, with a new drug treatment showing dramatic improvements in facial tumours that are destroying the marsupials' population. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia. [Registration Required] http://bit.ly/17O9WmY Butterfly decline a worrying portent. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that two brown, mothlike butterfly subspecies are probably extinct in South Florida, which some entomologists say is ground zero for the number of butterfly species on the verge of annihilation. Washington Post [Registration Required] http://wapo.st/119JeSQ Tobacco taxes, smoking bans set to save millions of lives. Anti-smoking measures including higher taxes on tobacco products, bans on adverts and controls on lighting up in public places could prevent tens of millions of premature deaths across the world, researchers said on Monday. Reuters http://reut.rs/1auCyla Bovine TB in milk as well as beef. Raw meat from 28,000 animals a year is sold into the food chain by the UK's Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Now it's revealed that milk from the thousands of cattle infected with TB may have also entered the food chain. The Telegraph, United Kingdom. http://bit.ly/14IwUFR Protecting China's good earth. Cadmium discovered in rice from Hunan Province astonished Chinese residents once again, indicating a more pervasive food safety problem and focusing attention on the dangerous levels of heavy metal soil pollution. Shanghai Daily, China. http://bit.ly/17yjuyV More news from today•>80 more stories today, including: •Crowdsourcing toxicity prediction •Urgent alarm about overused antibiotics •Climate: Brazil's hydro dams could make emissions soar; US governors agree to disagree; Cod stocks not rebounding; Farmers look to new ways of irrigating •Stories from China, Indonesia, India, Australia, New Zealand, Ecuador •Chemical lawsuits •US stories from NH, NY, WI, CO, AZ, OR, CA •Editorials: BP is polluting Lake Michigan; Long overdue; Don't bypass Congress on climate-change policy; Dallas: Plan Commission must craft tough drilling ordinance 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. 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