Pollution

"When a mile-wide tornado roared through Joplin, Mo., it killed 158 people and injured thousands. And it also kicked up toxic remnants from the city’s industrial past that are still haunting its residents on the third anniversary of the disaster."

"A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a major decision in the long-running battle over the 2010 gulf oil spill, leaving in place an earlier ruling that forces the British oil company BP to pay some businesses for economic damages without the businesses having to prove the losses were directly caused by the spill."

"The removal of a 2,500-ton deposit of coal ash in the Dan River from a spill in North Carolina has begun."

"As North Carolina moves to tap potentially rich natural gas reserves, some warn that the drilling process is fraught with environmental hazards. The Fayetteville Observer explores the debate, and how this new industry could transform the Cape Fear region, in a six-day series this week."

"CHERRYVALE, Kan. — Recent lead levels among children tested in a southeast Kansas town that was home to a zinc smelter were 'significantly' higher than statewide and national levels, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment."

"One of the world’s largest titanium manufacturers has agreed to pay a record $13.8 million penalty for producing and dumping banned cancer-causing chemicals at its Henderson factory."

"Two environmental groups say an unlined coal ash pond just outside of Harrodsburg, Ky., is leaking toxic contaminants into the surrounding surface and groundwater, causing a potential threat to nearby residents."

"The Obama administration is considering cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants by reaching beyond the plants themselves -- an unusual approach that could run afoul of anti-pollution laws."

"Oil refineries would be required to cut emissions and begin monitoring levels of toxic air pollutants at their fence lines with neighboring communities under standards proposed Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."