Energy & Fuel

"The Vermilion Middle Fork is a swift-flowing river winding through lush forests, rolling prairie and craggy cliffs in central Illinois. Designated as one of the country’s “National Scenic Rivers,” it is subject to federal and state protections, popular with paddlers and home to wildlife including 24 endangered or threatened species. But the river’s banks butt up against three massive pits filled with toxic coal ash produced over five decades by the Vermilion coal-fired power plant... ."

"At DOT's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the agency's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) hosted an in-depth discussion of what went wrong during a March 2014 explosion at an LNG facility in Plymouth, Wash., that led to five injuries and $72 million in property damage."

"In California, there is so much solar energy that grid operators have to switch off solar farms. One solution of dealing with the additional power generated is to share the renewable wealth across state borders – but in the West, it's sparking some not-so-neighborly opposition."

"Regulators are wrangling with bankrupt coal companies to set aside enough money to clean up Appalachia’s polluted rivers and mountains so that taxpayers are not stuck with the $1 billion bill."

"MOSIER, Ore. — Local politicians and residents reacted with shock and anger Monday as Union Pacific began running trains through this tiny Columbia River Gorge town just three days after a fiery derailment forced residents to evacuate and water and sewage systems to shut down."

"RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed legislation late Monday reviving a special commission tasked in 2014 with managing the cleanup of coal ash in North Carolina that Duke Energy keeps in pits."

"Gas is cheaper than it has been in over a decade, and a nation weary of cutting back is getting behind the wheel and spending to make road trip memories."

"Through the Smoke and Fumes Committee, industry blurred the science surrounding air pollution and worked to forestall unwanted regulation."

"An oil-train derailment and fire has damaged essential city services in a small Oregon town, authorities said Sunday. The Mosier waste water treatment plant and sewer system are not operational as a result of the derailment Friday of 16 of the 96 tank cars on a Union Pacific train. A fire in four of the cars was extinguished Saturday morning."

"COLUMBIA, SC --  Since a power company began digging up coal ash from a leaking waste pond west of Myrtle Beach, arsenic levels have dropped dramatically in groundwater, according to an environmental group that pushed to have the ash removed."