Pollution

The Great Lakes, America's largest supply of fresh water, and surrounding forests, wetlands, and waterways are threatened by new mining of copper and nickel.

"Canada's lakes and rivers are awash in harmful contaminants, but new documents warn the federal government's murky understanding of the problem is putting the country at risk."

"Arizona Public Service Co. plans to partially close one of the nation's dirtiest coal-fired power generators, the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico, company officials said Monday."

Low-income residents of small towns in California's San Joaquin Valley, often Latinos, suffer from unhealthful drinking water caused by the valley's booming agriculture. Now some activists are fighting back.

New York state is strewn with abandoned wells -- the relics of drilling booms before the current gas bonanza. Their owners are long gone, but they have left a legacy of pollution, sticking taxpayers with the cleanup costs.

Many cities in Wisconsin still face toxic contamination from municipal gas plants closed six decades ago. Similar sites are found in other states.

"The Chesapeake Bay does not like your lawn. That green grass is probably coated with pesticides and fertilizers and studded with pet poop. All that washes off in the rain and causes environmental problems downstream in the Chesapeake."