Disasters

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke Energy's CEO says while the company and its shareholders will pay to clean up a coal ash spill in the Dan River, its customers will shoulder the costs of closing the rest of the utility's coal ash ponds across North Carolina."

"WASHINGTON -- From roads and bridges to power plants and gas pipelines, American infrastructure is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to a pair of government reports released Thursday."

"The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the company for evidence of criminal wrongdoing in a massive coal ash spill. But this comes too late for some North Carolina residents, who feel abandoned by regulators."

"On Thursday, a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee will hold a hearing on rail safety, taking a specific look at the recent accidents plaguing states like North Dakota, home to the Bakken formation, which produces crude oil."

"A worker at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station gives his eyewitness account of what happened there on March 11, 2011, in the immediate wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami that caused three of the station’s reactor cores to melt."

"NEW ORLEANS — In a setback for BP as it deals with the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal appeals court on Monday ruled that the company would have to stick to its agreement and pay some gulf businesses for economic damage without their having to prove it was caused by the spill."

"OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Nearly 25 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the southern coast of Alaska, sea otters in the most affected parts of Prince William Sound have recovered to their pre-spill numbers, a federal report released on Friday showed."

"RALEIGH, N.C. — Last June, state employees in charge of stopping water pollution were given updated marching orders on behalf of North Carolina’s new Republican governor and conservative lawmakers."

"The storm 'is going to be a real mess,' said Bruce Sullivan, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Maryland."

"The House is expected to vote as early as next week to partially repeal a 2012 law that overhauled the National Flood Insurance Program, which is tens of billions of dollars in debt."