Disasters

"The White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling, the Interior inspector general says in a new report."

"Drilling experts and corporate rivals testifying before a presidential oil spill commission blasted BP Tuesday for decisions about the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that might have removed obstacles to the April 20 blowout that led to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill."

Critics of a presidential commission's preliminary findings that largely supported BP's internal probe of the Gulf oil spill questioned Monday how anyone could suggest money wasn't put ahead of safety in the days before the disaster.

Former cleanup workers say much oil still remains in the 40-mile stretch of Michigan's Kalamazoo that was contaminated by a late July spill from a pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners.

"Eager to win approval for its stalled plan to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell is beginning a public lobbying campaign, including national advertising, on Monday."

Hurricane Tomas seems to be worsening conditions favorable to the spread of cholera in Haiti, where some streets have been turned into rivers.

"The causes of the massive Gulf oil spill will be laid out for the first time Monday by investigators working for President Barack Obama's independent commission, potentially shifting the blame and settling disputes between companies over the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history."

"A brown substance is killing coral organisms in colonies located 4,600 feet deep about seven miles southwest of the failed BP Macondo oil well, according to scientists who returned Thursday from a three-week cruise studying coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) demanded -- and won -- $360 million from BP to build sand berms along the Gulf shore to block oil. Since little oil is left on the surface, those berms no longer make sense. This week Jindal finally agreed to redirect most of the $140 million that remains toward coastal restoration.

"For nearly 10 months, more than 1 million people in Haiti's earthquake camps have been walking a precarious line: Trying to get out and find good homes without losing their tents and the possessions they still have. Now a potential hurricane threatens to upend that careful balance. The Haitian government has called for the voluntary evacuation of all the quake zone's camps ahead of Friday's expected arrival of Tropical Storm Tomas, telling residents to find somewhere else to go."