Disasters

"Anniversary of Exxon spill in Arkansas puts spotlight back on 48,400 miles of pipelines made with flawed technique phased out 40 years ago."

"Huge fireballs illuminated the early dawn skies of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday as an explosion and fire killed four people and injured as many as 16 others on a large oil platform in the southeastern Bay of Campeche, Mexican officials said."

"Oil giant says area is making a rapid recovery but evidence mounts that wildlife is still struggling to rebound, five years after Deepwater Horizon spill".

"The surge that's scheduled to hit the American coastline Wednesday isn't coming from a hurricane, but it could still leave a feeling of helplessness in its wake. Flood insurance rates are set to skyrocket when a new bill goes into effect on April 1."

"The Obama administration reaffirmed a 2008 government auction of Arctic drilling rights on Tuesday, delivering a major victory to Shell Oil Co. as it aims to resume exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea this summer."

"Royal Dutch Shell will resume drilling off Alaska after suspending operations for two years in the wake of an accident, the special U.S. envoy to the Arctic said on Monday, but gave no details as to when.'

"Dolphins are dying in unusually high numbers. Sea turtle nests are declining. Tuna are developing abnormally. And pelicans and gulls are still suffering from the lasting effects of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico five years ago, the National Wildlife Federation warned in a report released Monday."

"If a new rule takes effect, about 95 percent of all pipelines would be subject to stricter safety testing because of their age, location and other factors."

"A group of Democratic senators wants to improve the safety of transporting oil by rail in the United States, following a series of high-profile derailments that led to fires and explosions."

"The embattled chairman of the Chemical Safety Board resigned late Thursday after President Obama asked him to step down, a White House official said."