As drought blankets much of the western U.S. and Canada, so do grasshoppers, Mormon crickets, and other associated bugs. The cyclical insect infestations, which are occurring in pockets in every state west of the Mississippi and in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, range from light to very severe.
"FRESNO, Calif. - A hazardous-waste landfill suspected by Kettleman City residents of causing birth defects has been inaccurately testing treated contaminants for five years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says."
"A local agency that's completed hundreds of lead paint remediation projects across San Diego has halted two jobs and launched an internal inquiry as it acknowledges that it may have improperly dumped lead waste for the last decade."
The "citizens" initiatives on California's ballot are increasingly being sponsored by corporations. Opponents of Proposition 16 say it would lock into the state constitution a perpetual monopoly for Pacific Gas & Electric.
Fishermen like walrus-mustached Larry Collins, captain of the Autumn Gale in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, face an agonizing choice.
Local officials in Carlsbad, Calif., see salvation for their water-starved community in a huge proposed desalination plant. Poseidon Resources, the company hoping to build it, says building it won't cost taxpayers and ratepayers a dime. But tough investigative reporting shows that southern Californians would pay at least $640 million over 30 years for the project.
"The water supply of more than 2 million Californians has been exposed to harmful levels of nitrates over the past 15 years -- a time marked by lax regulatory efforts to contain the colorless and odorless contaminant, a California Watch investigation has found."
A new report by the US Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, US Forest Service, other federal agencies, and university experts says the water-hogging reputation of the two species has little merit, but found that effects on wildlife are mixed.
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $27.6 million to settle allegations that it improperly handled and dumped hazardous waste at stores across California in a case that led to changes in the retailer's practices nationwide, prosecutors said Monday."
"The federal government is pressing forward with a policy that could require trees to be stripped from California levees, eliminating what shade and wildlife habitat remain along the state's rivers."
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