Pollution

""Major business groups are in the midst of a coordinated, multimillion-dollar effort aimed at sowing opposition to the Obama administration’s smog pollution regulations."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency settled a lawsuit with North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corp., requiring the company to spend more than $5 million in penalties and other costs as it resolves alleged Clean Air Act violations."

"Politicians, activists, tribes and media outlets have expressed shock at last month's abandoned mine spill in Colorado, which sent 3 million gallons of polluted water down the Animas River. But environmental advocates and groups that have for decades been trying to clean up the legacy of unregulated mining say the incident pales in comparison to the broader problem of tens of thousands of mines leaking across the country."

"After decades of inaction, the federal government in September will release its second major rule affecting coal ash from power plants in less than a year."

"Carl Johnson and son Justin, who have complained for years about spills of oilfield wastewater where they raise cattle in the high plains of New Mexico, stroll across a 1 1/2-acre patch of sandy soil — lifeless, save for a scattering of stunted weeds."

"Regional air quality officials have tightened rules on odors and fumes coming from thousands of wells at hundreds of urban oil fields in Southern California. The move comes after coordinated campaigns by people living near oil operations in Huntington Beach, Whittier, and South Los Angeles."

"Steering his Toyota 4Runner through a dirt path in the town of Cerrillos, Todd Brown points to one of the piles of waste rock that have been sitting for decades in one of the most mineral-rich mining districts in the state."

"An independent study of water quality in the Animas River after the Gold King Mine spill shows major human health concerns were short-lived, though slight spikes in pollution might occur with runoff."

"High levels of radioactive contaminants have been found in coal ash in major coal-producing regions of the United States, raising concern about the dangers of this unregulated waste, researchers said Wednesday."