Pollution

"SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- For a long time, the lake that lends its name to this city was taken for granted by most here and treated as a sewer by some of the nation's biggest polluters."

"Stabilization work [was] set to begin Saturday at the Gold King Mine in southwest Colorado as part of continued cleanup efforts at the site after last summer’s massive wastewater spill."

"A vocal and growing number of residents in northeast Fresno are convinced water from the city’s Surface Water Treatment Facility is primarily responsible for corrosion in their pipes, causing discolored water – and in several dozen instances, lead contamination – to flow from their household faucets."

"The Obama administration on Thursday finalized rules that will require companies to have strict safety and environmental protection plans in place before they drill for oil or natural gas in the Arctic Ocean."

"Outside Susan Holmes' house in southeastern Oklahoma, visitors are welcomed by an entryway lined with oxygen bottles and a machine that collects and concentrates oxygen from the air."

"Last week [Canada's] federal government moved to list microbeads as a toxic substance under the Environmental Protection Act, thus giving the government power to ban the use of the microplastics (plastics smaller than five millimetres in size) in items such as body washes, cleansers and toothpastes."

"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved expanding a wastewater permit for a South Texas coal mine over vocal opposition from locals Wednesday."

"The mostly working-class, black neighborhood of Uniontown, Ala., claimed a coal ash landfill was ruining their community. They got sued for it."

"Lead-contaminated water in the drinking fountains at a U.S. Capitol office building has prompted officials to offer blood testing to lawmakers and staff, according to information provided to congressional offices."

"Arsenic. Lead. Mercury. Sulfuric Acid. At a closed Duke Energy power plant, at least 10 billion pounds of coal ash containing these toxins and more are sitting on the banks of the Ohio River – a source of drinking water for more than 5 million people."