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| Above the fold. News aggregated by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org | Read today's editorials |
| Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health. Attorney General files criminal charges against Marcellus gas drilling company. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane on Tuesday afternoon filed criminal charges against a Pennsylvania subsidiary of ExxonMobil for illegally discharging more than 50,000 gallons of toxic waste water from a Marcellus Shale gas well site in Penn Township, Pa. Harrisburg Patriot-News, Pennsylvania. [Registration Required] Environmentalists decry proposal to loosen Maine smog rules; paper mill officials say change will spur job creation. Business groups squared off against environmentalists and health experts during a hearing on a plan by the state Department of Environmental Protection to exempt Maine from some anti-smog regulations. Bangor Daily News, Maine. What the frack? New ways of getting at stubborn oil deposits called risky, necessary. Oil developers plan on claiming oil reserves in California through a controversial technique known as fracking. The issue is tied up in such other weighty matters as global warming, the state’s water wars, earthquake safety and geopolitical energy policy. San Gabriel Valley Tribune, California. Pennsylvania fracking boom goes bust. By some measures, unconventional drilling for natural gas, or "fracking," in the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania has dropped by more than 50 percent since its peak in 2010. Experts say that's because of several factors - but the biggest by far is a steep plunge in price. Philadelphia Daily News, Pennsylvania. Former Massey official sentenced to 42 months in prison. A former longtime Massey Energy official will spend 3.5 years in prison for his admitted role in a decade-long conspiracy to hide coal mine safety violations from federal safety inspectors. The probe started with the deaths of 29 miners on April 5, 2010, in an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine. Charleston Gazette, West Virginia. Bakken Shale: As gas continues to go up in the air, North Dakota moves to tighten loose flaring rules. The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division is writing rules that will offer a tax incentive to reduce the amount of gas flared, although state regulators and environmental groups say flaring is likely to continue. EnergyWire Canada inlet restoration program set to breathe life back into an industrialized body of water. In 2007 a bizarre oil spill saw a 12-metre geyser of crude oil sprayed over houses, roads, streams and sewers. Kinder Morgan and two contractors responsible each agreed to pay $149,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. The first of seven projects using those funds is getting under way. Vancouver Sun, British Columbia. '50 dirtiest' US power plants emit more greenhouse gases than South Korea. A new study by an environmental group suggests that reining in a handful of America's coal-fired power plants would have a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Christian Science Monitor Kenya water discovery brings hope for drought relief in rural north. Two vast underground aquifers, storing billions of litres of water, have been discovered in the poorest and least developed area of Kenya. The Guardian, United Kingdom. Rural Kenya harvests water from fog. The misty clouds floating over the Ngong’ hills, on the fringes of Nairobi city, have long provided the Maasai tribal community with dew that keeps the grass sprouting for their animals. Lately, however, Lucy Lotuno and a few of her Maasai peers have learned that the fog also can provide fresh drinking water right on their doorsteps. Reuters Missouri looks at update to water quality rules. Tens of thousands of miles of Missouri rivers, streams and creeks would get protection from E. coli bacteria and other pollutants under a sweeping upgrade to water protection laws being considered by the state’s Clean Water Commission. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri. Dust bowl worries swirl up as shelterbelt buckles. Drought now threatens a 1,000-mile line of trees that has provided a giant windbreak that shielded crops, and prevented erosion, since the 1930s. All Things Considered, NPR. Warming climate begins to taint Europe's blood supplies. A whole new set of ungovernable pathogens are being loosed on the world's blood supplies. A warming climate has allowed blood-borne tropical diseases to flourish where once they were unheard of, and they're getting around. ClimateWire Clover fire in Shasta County sent up a 'wall of smoke.' Within minutes of igniting, the Clover fire in Northern California's Shasta County, where there has been scant rain since at least the beginning of July, sent up enough smoke to look like a moving black wall, prompting school evacuations, a district official said Tuesday. Los Angeles Times [Registration Required] Study supports nuclear waste disposal near Great Lakes. New geology research says radioactive wastes are unlikely to enter groundwater from a proposed Canadian disposal site less than a mile from Lake Huron. Midwest Energy News, United States. Experts debate how to improve Great Lakes program. An Obama administration program that has spent about $1.3 billion to rescue Great Lakes ecosystems on the verge of collapse due to a combination of ailments – invasive species, toxic and nutrient pollution, wildlife habitat destruction – should be fine-tuned to make sure it's getting the job done, scientists and advocates said Tuesday. Associated Press Crude that exploded in Lac-Mégantic was mislabelled: Officials. Canadian transportation investigators have alerted U.S. regulators that the train of North Dakota crude that unleashed a deadly fireball in Lac-Mégantic contained explosive oil that was improperly labelled. Globe and Mail, Ontario. Secrets of fracking fluids pave way for cleaner recipe. The recipes for fracking were until the last few years secrets guarded by the companies that drill. But in the face of widespread concern about water contamination, 21 U.S. states have adopted mandatory disclosure rules for the mixtures, making it easier for scientists to assess their impacts. Nature Proposal to protect Antarctic waters is scaled back. A proposal by the United States and New Zealand to create a huge ocean reserve in Antarctic waters has been sharply reduced in scale after opposition from Russia and other nations with large fishing industries. Environmentalists warned that the ambitious project was being badly undermined. New York Times [Registration Required] Monsanto pours $4.6 million into anti-GMO labeling campaign. The Monsanto Co. has jumped into Washington state politics in a big way. With a check for nearly $4.6 million, the St. Louis-based Fortune 500 company has more than doubled the money raised by opponents of Initiative 522, which would require labeling genetically modified foods. Puget Sound KUOW Public Radio, Washington. More news from today 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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