Environment
August 14, 2012 -
Local officials in Assumption Parish, La. are upset that they weren't warned by state and corporate officials that a salt mine where a massive sinkhole recently appeared was used for the disposal of radioactive waste from oil and gas drilling.
August 9, 2012 -
Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish has been evacuated after a massive sinkhole opened up last week following months of mysterious bubbling, rumblings and a strong diesel smell. The community sits atop an old salt mine where companies including Chevron and Dow Chemical store gas products, and the structure may be failing.
August 8, 2012 -
The unprecedented use of chemical dispersants following BP's Gulf disaster led to complaints of health problems among cleanup workers and local residents. A coalition of groups is now suing the EPA in hopes of spurring regulatory action.
August 7, 2012 -
As sea levels rise due to global warming, politicians across the hard-hit South are blocking efforts to address the problem.
August 2, 2012 -
Activists are calling for a federal investigation of alleged police brutality and harassment of mountaintop removal protesters following a nonviolent action at a West Virginia mine last week.
August 1, 2012 -
The University of Texas promoted research by a faculty member as an independent study of fracking's environmental hazards -- but it turns out the scientist holds a big financial stake in a fracking company and sits on its board, which he failed to fully disclose. Meanwhile, another conflict-of-interest controversy over fracking arises in North Carolina.
July 30, 2012 -
Twenty people were arrested over the weekend while blocking the largest mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia. Meanwhile, scientific evidence of the human and environmental health damages caused by such mining continues to mount. Will U.S. lawmakers approve legislation imposing a moratorium?
