Disasters

"A provision tucked into the debt ceiling legislation is rekindling debate about the nation's ability to pay for soaring catastrophe losses as coastal development and carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise.

The nation has struggled for years to find an effective way to help communities rebuild homes, businesses and infrastructure after natural disasters. Now, in a collision between downward federal spending and an upward presence of catastrophes, Congress is moving to pre-fund disasters.

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State officials are insisting that a huge Alpha Natural Resources coal-slurry impoundment in Raleigh County is safe, even as new tests that might confirm that analysis have continued to be delayed, records showed Monday."

"Salmonella Was Spotted in Arkansas Plant and in Stores as Early as 2010; Legal Rules on Bug Prevented Recall Until Aug. 3."

"A storm battering the northeast Chinese coast on Monday whipped up waves that threatened a dyke protecting a chemical plant, forcing residents to flee while soldiers and firefighters rushed to fill the breaches, news media said."

Texas' record drought will damage entire ecosystems for years to come.

"SCRIBA, N.Y. — Officials at Constellation Energy are investigating a leakage in a containment structure that caused the shutdown of the Nine Mile Point Unit 2 reactor on Lake Ontario over the weekend.

In the days after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown began, Japanese officials let evacuees go into areas of high radiation, downplaying and withholding information about the danger."

"A key natural gas pipeline which crosses southern New York state is in danger of rupturing and could pose a safety threat, according to a recent report from regulators."

"Shell cleared a major hurdle Thursday in its effort to begin a two-year drilling program in the Arctic Ocean next summer, receiving a conditional exploration permit from the federal agency that oversees offshore oil development."

"A U.N. report has criticized Shell and the Nigerian government for contributing to 50 years of pollution in a region of the Niger Delta which it says needs the world's largest ever oil clean-up, costing an initial $1 billion and taking up to 30 years."